Roaming wild in Toronto’s streets, three queer adolescents hone their survival skills and scheme to run amok in a gay club. Julien (Matteus Lunot), a brash runaway, serves as pack leader, with timid Otis (Harlow Joy) and buoyant Tony (Zion Matheson) following in his wake. When some impetuous petty crime admits them into the promised land (and ushers in exhilarating depictions of beat-driven youthful abandon), it also imperils Dawn (Miyoko Anderson), Julien’s de facto guardian. Once Dawn fails to return home, the guilt-ridden kids form a search party that ultimately uncovers darker realities.
Joseph Amenta’s first feature is an open-hearted love letter to childhood friendships and a powerful testament to the queer community’s perseverance and adaptability. Through rhythmic cutting and sublime compositions, they capture moments of revelry and repose, and coax increasingly complex performances from their young cast. Serving up a cocktail of irreverence and melancholy, Amenta lends intoxicating atmosphere and intimate understanding to these precious kids’ quest for belonging.
Q&A Sept 30 & Oct 2
Presented by
Media Partner
Community Partner
Matteus Lunot, Zion Matheson, Harlow Joy, Miyoko Anderson, Krista Morin, Trevor Hayes
Canada
2022
English and Tagalog with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Things You Kill
Thirty-something professor Ali leads an apparently stable life. But when his ailing mother dies under ambiguous circumstances, he starts to unravel, resulting in an act that shatters our understanding of his person.
Miroirs No. 3
Following a car crash that kills her boyfriend, piano student Laura is physically unhurt but emotionally distraught. A local woman takes her in, but she gradually realizes she's in the midst of an eerie, mysterious family situation.
Image: © Schramm Film A4 Kopie
Ghost Elephants
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Erika Chow + Blue Giant
Revered pianist Hiromi Uehar composed the score for this electrifying jazz anime, about a young man who wants to be the next John Coltrane. Before the film, tenor sax Erika Chow will lead a quartet through selections from the soundtrack.
Image: © 2023 BLUE GIANT Movie project ©2013 Shinichi Ishizuka, Shogakukan
Credits
Executive Producer
James Hyslop, Alyson Richards, Alex Jordan
Producer
Alexandra Roberts, Danny Sedore
Screenwriter
Joseph Amenta
Cinematography
Liam Higgins
Editor
Alexander Farah
Production Design
Dialla Kawar
Original Music
Casey MQ & Skyshaker
Director
Joseph Amenta
Joseph Amenta is a genderqueer filmmaker based in Toronto who focuses on post-genre stories immersed in the underbelly and subcultures of the LGBTQ community. They have produced, written, and directed short films that have been screened at international festivals and broadcast across Canada, Europe, and Africa. Their short Haus (2018) was selected for the International Competition at the 2019 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and their next short Flood (2019) premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. They received the Toronto Screenwriting Conference Breakthrough Artist Award for their script for Soft.