London, Ontario
Dec 10, 3pm EST
The Embassy Cultural House is proud to present a screening of the powerful, experimental documentary, Photo Booth (2022) by Canadian director, activist, and artist John Greyson. To follow is a conversation between Greyson and Michael Lynk, Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Law at Western University and Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories from 2016 to 2022. The program will also include a screening of Montreal-based, Palestinian artist and teacher, Razan AlSalah’s 2017 short film, أبوكي خلق عمره ١٠٠ سنة، زي النك your father was born 100 years old, and so was the Nakba.
John Greyson’s ability to weave a tapestry of ideas, histories, emotions and potentials and Michael Lynk’s knowledge of and experience with Palestinian human rights issues will ensure both a compelling and critical discussion. In the words of the respected Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, “he thinks of the journey of thought across borders,” and we hope that this event will inspire further conversation of Palestine in London, Ontario, and abroad.
Our Partners:
Films
Photo Booth
In this split-screen opera-documentary about boycott activism, two Palestinian brothers plot with novelist Jean Genet in Jericho to sabotage the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. Their method? Secure the collaboration of Buddy and Pedro, Toronto’s famous naked gay singing penguins. Photo Booth weaves together diverse doc, opera, and video art scenes, blending humour and song to explore the politics of boycott, staged in a surreal landscape of megaphones and photo booths, twelve-tone and split-screen, frisbees and teargas, Gaga and Gaza, solidarity and silence.
John Greyson (writer/director) is a Toronto video/film artist. A pioneer of the new Queer Cinema, his many features, shorts, and transmedia works use humour and song to explore queer activist issues. The winner of 4 Teddies, 4 Canadian Screen Awards, and Best Film Prizes in over 30 international festivals, his works include: Photo Booth (2022), International Dawn Chorus Day (2021), Mercurial (2018), Gazonto (2016), Murder in Passing (2013), Fig Trees (2009), Lilies (1996), Zero Patience (1993), The Making of Monsters (1991), and Urinal (1989).
