MacIvor retrospective starts May 22

Director on his work in queer theatre and film

Check out Xtra arts editor Gordon Bowness’ conversation with MacIvor at last summer’s Writing Outside the Margins festival in Toronto.

Pasts Imperfect: Cinematheque Ontario, partnering with the Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, presents Pasts Imperfect: The Films of Daniel MacIvor from May 22 to May 26.

Featuring key films in the unique oeuvre of one of English Canada’s most acclaimed playwrights, performers and filmmakers, this retrospective opens with John Schlesinger’s seminal Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), to be introduced by MacIvor as the film that most impacted his work.

Other guests include filmmaker Amnon Buchbinder, who will introduce Whole New Thing (2005), a hilarious and poignant story that follows a precociously intelligent boy throughout his crush on his English teacher (played by MacIvor); and Laurie Lynd and Karen Lee Hall, director and producer of The Fairy Who Didn’t Want to Be a Fairy Anymore (1992), a Genie-award winning absurdist fantasy starring MacIvor (who also wrote the script).

The series also includes MacIvor’s emotionally devastating debut feature, Past Perfect (2002), and the assured and exquisitely performed Wilby Wonderful (2004), which features an ensemble cast of Canada’s best-known actors (Paul Gross, Rebecca Jenkins) in roles MacIvor wrote especially for each of them.

On occasion, the number of editors and other staff who contribute to a story gets a little unwieldy to give a byline to everyone. That’s when we use “Xtra Staff” in place of the usual contributor info. If you would like more information on who contributed to a particular story, please contact us here.

Read More About:
Culture, TV & Film, Toronto, Arts, Theatre

Keep Reading

Mya Foxx with an up arrow behind her; PM with a down arrow behind her

‘Canada’s Drag Race’ Season 6, Episode 3 power ranking: Big Sister

Social strategy comes into play in a big way—but does it pay off?
Icesis Couture and Pythia behind podiums

‘Canada’s Drag Race’ Season 6, Episode 3 recap: Pick your drag poison

Season 6’s top 11 queens get to choose their own adventure: Snatch Game or design challenge?
The cover of Casanova 20; Davey Davis

Davey Davis’s new novel tenderly contends with the COVID-19 pandemic

“Casanova 20” follows the chasms—and—connections between generations of queer people
Two young men, one with dark hair and one with light hair, smile at each other. The men are shirtless and in dark bedding.

‘Heated Rivalry’ is the steamy hockey romance we deserve

The queer Canadian hockey drama packs heart and heat, setting it apart from other MLM adaptations