In 2022, interdisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome created his most groundbreaking and visionary exhibition yet with Assembly, a multimedia extravaganza of sculpture, dance, collage, spoken word, artificial intelligence, and participatory workshops exploring Black and Queer cultures. Co-directed by Newsome and Johnny Symons, this vibrant documentary explores the inner workings of Newsome’s imagination as he took Assembly from a simple idea to a profound collaboration with dozens of other artists, creating an immersive space of empowerment.
Drawing on his lived experience as a queer Black man, Newsome’s work transcends assumptions of race, sexuality, technology, and abstract art as he guides audiences to think about the future: But one innovative avenue of exploration is building Being: The Digital Griot, a non-binary AI trained on bell hooks and revolutionary thinkers. Through its transformation of New York’s Park Avenue Armory, Assembly showcases a one-of-a-kind event built around decolonization, storytelling, and resistance.
Presented by
Media Partner
Community Partner
USA
2025
English
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Carrie Lozano
Producer
Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons
Cinematography
Rashaad Newsome, Keenan Newman, Johnny Symons
Editor
Ash Verwiel
Original Music
M Jamison, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Rashaad Newsome, Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Rashaad Newsome
Rashaad Newsome is an award-winning filmmaker, multidisciplinary artist, and innovator whose projects defy conventional boundaries. Blending film, performance, technology, and community organizing, his visionary works craft immersive experiences that challenge outdated narratives and create new spaces for Black, queer, and trans stories to thrive. Newsome’s short films have screened in arts institutions, at film festivals, and on PBS, and recent awards for his work include the 2022 Newfest Emerging Black LGBTQ+ Filmmaker Award, the 2022 Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica Award for Computer Animation, and the 2025 Creative Capital Award.
Filmography: Build or Destroy (2021)
Photo by Jeff Vespa
Johnny Symons
Johnny Symons is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker who has directed and produced multiple award-winning LGBTQ-themed feature documentaries. His work has screened at more than 200 international film festivals and received support from funders such as Sundance, Tribeca, ITVS, Catapult, HBO, Frameline, and the California Council for the Humanities. He is a former fellow in the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and a longstanding member of New Day Films. Currently, he is a professor and MFA coordinator at the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University.
Filmography: Daddy and Papa (2002); Beyond Conception (2006); Ask Not (2008); Out Run (2016)
Photo by Luz Gallardo
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Departures
Two lads meet at an airport gate and begin monthly trips to Amsterdam together. Their chemistry is off the charts, but it's Jake who's calls the shots while Benji is the one who's emotionally invested. Comparisons to Pillion and Trainspotting are on mark.
The Richest Woman in the World
Isabelle Huppert plays cosmetics CEO Marianne in this teasingly ambivalent satire inspired by the Bettancourt Affair, when L'Oreal heir Francoise Bettancourt scandalized France by frittering away her fortune on a notorious celebrity photographer.
