Door Prize
Door Prize
John GreysonMars Brito, a trans bike courier, is killed by an SUV. Is he the victim of an accidental 'door prize', or is this murder? His case becomes a city-wide obsession, with hourly true crime updates and rewards for clues. While this murder mystery unfolds, a Toronto trans activist (also named Mars) works with his friends on an operatic memorial, creating arias for each of the 375 trans murders that were committed around the world that year. Door Prize weaves together documentary, drama, and opera scenes into a hybrid film that explores issues of media spectacle, solidarity violence, trans visibility, and anti-trans violence.
Chase Joynt and John Greyson will be in conversation after the screening of Door Prize
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 of Innis Town Hall, click here
Images Festival is committed to providing an accessible festival and continues to work to reduce barriers to participation at our events. This year, we are implementing a COVID-19 policy to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission for all, and to prioritize the participation of people who are disability-identified, immunocompromised, or part of an otherwise vulnerable group.
The following guidelines will be in place: Self-Assessment: We ask that staff and participants screen themselves for COVID-19 before visiting the exhibition.
Mars takes approximately two Earth years to complete its orbit around the Sun, while Venus takes about seven and a half months. Despite their different cycles, every 18-24 months, the two mythically-linked planets align and create opportunities for astrologically significant events. Love, desire, creativity, strategic action, and will power are activated here on Earth reflecting the fraught, storied interplay between Mars' passion and Venus' harmony.
A “Double Mars-Venus Transit” is when both Mars and Venus are simultaneously moving from one astrological position into another, while still being in relation to each other, twice in a short period of time. As Mars and Venus dance above, those earthly manifestations of love, desire, creativity, strategic action, and will power become ever more activated, pushed and pulled. If these two planets are conjunct, this is good; if they are square, watch out! If they move from one into another, well then there is potential for chaos and grave misunderstanding.
Filmmaker and activist John Greyson begins his latest feature film Door Prize under this starscape. The sustainable, safe future promised by “green” transit solutions is called into question as John brings together brilliant scenes in color and black-and-white, silence and full audio, from so-called Toronto to the Thar desert. Created in close collaboration with Chase Joynt, this film spans documentary, drama, and space opera, as it follows the death of Mars Brito—a fictional trans bike courier—through a citywide, gamified, true-crime crusade.
As Mars Brito’s death is investigated, another narrative unfolds with the same actors playing different characters. Centered around another person named Mars—not a bike courier this time, but a fictional trans activist—a community of comrades and opera singers create a memorial for the real-life 375 trans folks who were murdered worldwide in 2021.
Under the influence of double Mars and Venus transits, Door Prize contributes to urgent conversations about trans activism, queer solidarity, and the politics of putting murder on screen. This whirling film deftly addresses media spectacle, trans visibility, and anti-trans violence while maintaining its commitment to solidarity—never speaking for and always speaking with.
Active listeners from HELD Agency will be available for this program.
John Greyson
A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and recipient of the 2000 Toronto Arts Award for film/video as well as the 2007 Bell Award in Video Art, John Greyson is a queer filmmaker, video artist, writer, activist, and educator whose productions have won accolades at festivals throughout the world.
