Pleasure Dome
In-person roundtable conversation with Âwsémoon Shab, Madeleine Scott, Lina Wu, Trâm Anh Nguyễn, and M.O. Guzman.
Pleasure Dome Spring 2023 season — April 26, 2023 at Small World Music Centre
Defining freedom yields many interpretations, especially when you ask a queer person. What does freedom look like to you? And what are you being freed from? These questions are pondered and interpreted through the works presented in this series. The works speak to each other in vital ways, creating a deeply rich dialogue that ultimately answers the ways in which we, as queer individuals, free ourselves from the restraints that try to hold us back. These restraints, be they physical, mental, or social burdens from others, societal pressures to conform to heteronormativity, or troubled perceptions of the self, are examined and confronted in bold ways by the artists in this series. They define the act of freeing oneself physically, mentally, spiritually, socially, and sexually through a beautifully queer lens. This series consists of 10 short works made by 2SLGBTQ+ Canadian and international artists. All of the works were made between 2020-2022, and were vetted during our open-call submission process in 2022.
Playing as a part of this programme:
ELE OF THE DARK
Dir. Yace Sula | USA | 2022 | 13 mins
UP CLOSE
Dir. Sam Gurry | USA | 2021 | 3 mins
RAIN TO EAVES
Dir. Lina Wu | Canada | 2021 | 3 mins
TO BOYHOOD, I NEVER KNEW HIM
Trâm Anh Nguyễn | Canada | 2022 | 4 mins
A STORY THAT DOESN’T HAVE TO DO WITH ME
Kym McDaniel | USA | 2021 | 7 mins
GRAND MOTHER TONGUE
Chanelle Lajoie | Canada | 2022 | 4 mins
DON’T TEXT YOUR EX
Jo Güstin | Canada | 2022 | 13 mins
IS THIS LIBERATON?
M.O. Guzman | USA | 2020 | 7 mins
AESOP HAND SOAP
Madeleine Scott | Canada | 2022 | 5 mins
ANYMORE
Madi Piller & Âwsémoon Shab | Canada | 2021 | 10 mins
REIMAGINING QUEER LIBERATION
TOUCHING NATURE TOUCHING YOU
Pleasure Dome Fall 2023 season — Streaming online from October 10 - 17, 2023
This program features ten experimental works by artists and filmmakers working across Canada and internationally, including in Iran, Mexico, Egypt, Croatia, the USA, and the Netherlands. With works ripe with both humor and the vagaries of frustration and grief, this screening invites audiences to reflect on the nuances of “nature,” changing environmental and social ecosystems, and the relationships between ourselves and others— both beings and materials.
Playing as a part of this programme:
GENITAL REVEAL PARTY
Dir. Hogan Seidal | 7 mins
IRANI BAG
Dir. Maryam Tafakory | 7 mins
LUCAS
Dir. Jessica Quiroz | 18 mins
T4T
Dir. Emily M Van Loan | 3 mins
SHRIMP LOVE
Sarah Fitterer | 9 mins
NATURAL DISASTERS
Tiffany Jiang | 4 mins
TO THE EARTHEN RED
Nika Pećarina | 19 mins
THE RAIN
Mena El Shazly | 4 mins
EMBERS FROM YESTERDAY, AFLAME
William Hongxiao Wei | 10 mins
FEAR DEATH BY WATER
Leslie Lawrence & Sophia Simensky | 27 mins
WASTELAND
Toronto Theatrical Premiere
In-person Q&A with Jonni Peppers
Pleasure Dome Spring 2024 season — May 14, 2024 at Small World Music Centre
“Hold on sailor / Hold on partner / Your family will find you / Your pain will guide you”
Wasteland is a five-part anthology film by experimental animator Jonni Peppers. Peppers’ hand-drawn, tactile approach to animation establishes a unique experience for viewers with its profound character dynamics and emotionally devastating situations – all while constantly reminding you that everything and everyone is made of paper and other stationary materials. A suspension of belief is mandatory to appreciate the spectacle of Peppers’ fictional world.
Within these five interconnected short films, Jonni Peppers introduces viewers to the lives of several residents of the titular Wasteland, each with their own burdens to bear. They navigate a broken world teeming with escalating fears and dangers of the modern age. The ever-looming threat of rejection, failure, and the inability to find your place in the world are constantly circling overhead. Wasteland’s residents must carry on with the best intentions as they encounter conspiracy theorists (The Earth is Flat), children’s TV shows with sinister undertones (Goodbye Forever Party), cult leaders (The Final Exit of the Disciples of Ascensia), and people plagued by an unknown sausage-related illness (Dr. Sam Mulaney’s Burden). Within the boundaries of Wasteland, Peppers gives each character their own visual style guide, shifting animation techniques in the blink of an eye to step into a new perspective and explore the emotional subjectivity of reality.
The absurd, hyperreality of Wasteland’s setting and characters are deliberate choices, as Peppers notes in her artist statement about the works: “Each visual choice is intentional and meant to contrast with popular animation and the way we typically consume it. I’m of the belief that every single ‘rule’ that we are presented in animation school, and in the animation industry at large, are all fake”.
Wasteland is the first part in a larger series called The Blindfold, which includes Secrets and Lies in a Town of Sinners (2020), Barber Westchester (2022), and upcoming projects Take Off Your Blindfold, Adjust Your Eyes, Look in the Mirror, See the Face of Your Mother (2024) and The Cone Layer (2026).
Playing as a part of this programme:
THE EARTH IS FLAT
Dir. Jonni Peppers | USA | 2016 | 7 min
GOODBYE FOREVER PARTY
Dir. Jonni Peppers | USA | 2017 | 20 mins
DR. SAM MULANEY’S BURDEN
Dir. Jonni Peppers | USA | 2017 | 4 mins
WE ARE ALL DYING IN THE WASTELAND
Dir. Jonni Peppers | USA | 2018 | 4 mins
THE FINAL EXIT OF THE DISCIPLES OF ASCENSIA
Dir. Jonni Peppers | USA | 2019 | 45 mins