Companion Piece
To be Sound is to be Solid
Erin JohnsonAn oceanographer’s attempt to map the entire seafloor by 2030 parallels a filmmaker’s attempt to decipher the opaque queer history of a modernist seaside home through its complicated and circuitous floor plan.
2 Sussex Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 1J5
Sidewalk-level entrance, elevator and ramp available, door width 32 inches, no automatic doors. No accessible parking on-site. Four wheelchair accessible seats in the cinema. 15 step-free seats in row 9. Accessible gender-neutral washroom located on the 2nd and 3rd floor.
For a map to Innis Town Hall, click here
With queer coupledom at its core, Companion Piece consider closeness through friends, family, kin, companions, lovers, partners, and community, as well as the manifold forms they might take in the private sphere or in the public realm. Together, they ask:
Where does one find tenderness, and how might it be expressed? What forms can romance take, and which relationships make space for it? How does one choose to share intimate information? What weight can a song bear? What security might a hallway offer? What knowledges does the city hold? What can be learned from the ocean floor? And how does all this change over time?
These questions weave together works by Erin Johnson, Keenan MacWilliam, Anureet Watta, João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata, all of which consider the complexity of intimate relationships.
Please join us for a conversation with the filmmakers following the screening. Artist Alize Zorlutuna will also be in attendance. For tickets to Alize's performance, see here.
Erin Johnson (1985, US) is a visual artist based in New York who Filmmaker Magazine named one of 2022’s “25 New Faces of Film.” Her short films and immersive installations interlace documentary, experimental, and narrative filmmaking devices to interrogate notions of collectivity, dissent, and queer identity. Johnson received an MFA and Certificate in New Media from UC Berkeley in 2013 and attended Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture in 2019.
Anureet Watta is a poet and filmmaker. Their works explore queerness outside of the omnipresent heteropatriarchal gaze.
Their first film, ‘Kinaara’ was made on a zero budget, and their second short, ‘Oranges in the Winter Sun’ was produced by Lotus Visual Productions . They hope to make their third short this year. Currently they are a part of the Writer’s Ink Screenwriting Lab where they are developing their first feature.
Keenan MacWilliam is a filmmaker, writer and artist who’s distinct style exudes an undeniable spontaneous quality. Her work, is both deeply personal and universal. Keenan brings into focus daily experiences that are often overlooked through subtlety and essence of gesture. Keenan has been commissioned by the SHED, The Highline, has shown work at the Geneva Biennial, and is a recipient of the CCA Grant in support of her autobiographical film.
João Pedro Rodrigues is an internationally renowned Portuguese filmmaker. When he was 8 years old, his father gave him a pair of binoculars and he decided to become an ornithologist. He always travels with his binoculars, to foray into nature and watch birds. João Rui Guerra da Mata was born in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique. He spent his formative years in Macau, China. He has been working in cinema since 1995.
Erin Johnson
Keenan MacWilliam
Anureet Watta
João Pedro Rodrigues
João Rui Guerra da Mata
