FESTIVAL PRE-LAUNCH EVENT

FESTIVAL PRE-LAUNCH EVENT

Marketing graphic with white squares and main text reads "Public Speaking Workshop". Two male presenting people stand on stage in front of TED X sign.
  • Saturday October 15, 2-5 PM

TD Commons Green Space, 945 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario

MALPENSANDO / 2022 / English / Canada / 120 minutes

These students impressed in their Level 1 Grad Show and are now back for more! Come and witness 6 weeks of hard work and dedication boiled down to one amazing comedy night! These students will speak from the heart and (hope to) make you laugh till you drop!

Originally from Costa Rica and Colombia, Stephan Dyer and Juan Cajiao are bilingual corporate leadership and communication trainers who also happen to be award-winning comedians and improv experts. 

Leaving their executive positions in the banking world in 2017 to pursue their professional careers in stand up comedy, they have successfully founded MalPensando, a bilingual (English, Spanish) comedy and public speaking school.

CREATIVE TEAM
Juan Cajiao
Stephan Dyer
This program was made possible by the generous support of The Slaight Family Foundation in partnership with North York Arts.
CONTENT WARNINGS
Loud sounds
Swearing / Mature language
Sexual Content
Keywords: BIPOC Experience | Community | Depression | LGBTQ2S+ | Racism
#RWMFest #MoreThanRebellion
COMMUNITY PARTNER

In person screening — Friday, October 28th at 6 PM
Camh Auditorium 
1025 Queen Street West, Toronto

Streaming across Canada October 27th to November 6th

LES PRIÈRES DE DELPHINE | DELPHINE’S PRAYERS | Rosine Mbakam | 2021 | Belgium / Cameroon | 91 minutes | Toronto Premiere | French with English Subtitles

On October 28th at Rendezvous With Madness enjoy an in person screening of the film Les Prières De Delphine/ Delphine’s Prayers directed by Rosine Mbakam. The event features a post-film talk with the director.

Les Prières De Delphine/ Delphine’s Prayers is a brutal and intimate portrait by Rosine Mbakam, a Cameroonian filmmaker based in Belgium who introduces us to her friend and compatriot Delphine, a young Cameroonian girl who after the death of her mother and the abandonment of her father’s parental responsibilities, was raped at the age of 13. She engages with sex work to support herself and her daughter and ends up marrying a Belgian man who is three times her age, hoping to find a better life in Europe. Seven years later, the European dream has faded and her situation has only gotten worse. Delphine, like others, is part of a generation of young African women crushed by patriarchal societies and left with Western sexual colonization as the only means of survival. Winner of the IndieLisboa Award for best film, Les prières de Delphine is a candid story of courage and strength in the face of racism, misogyny and poverty.

For accessibility Les Prières De Delphine | Delphine’s Prayers is also available online via Workman Arts & Cinesend from October 27th to November 6th 2022  

Keywords: Domestic Violence | Racism | Family | Generational Trauma | Colonialism
Genre: Documentary
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

In person screening — Saturday, November 5th at 7 PM
Camh Auditorium 
1025 Queen Street West, Toronto

Streaming across Canada October 27th to November 6th

WHEN WE REACH OUT, WHO SHOULD RESPOND?

Luke Galati | 2022 | Canada | 57 Minutes | English | 

Saturday, November 5th at Rendezvous With Madness come enjoy an in-person screening of the film When We Reach Out, Who Will Respond directed by Luke Galati.

After the film, stay for a dynamic conversation about police brutality and mental health crisis response as it relates to the city of Toronto and its community.

Featured speakers: Luke Galati, activist Desmond Cole, Director & Principal Consultant at Policing-Free Schools Andrea Vásquez Jiménez and the manager of the Toronto Community Crisis Service pilot at Gerstein Crisis Centre Andrea Westbrook; conversation moderated by Asante Haughton.

Toronto filmmaker Luke Galati’s documentary When We Reach Out, Who Should Respond? was born out of a tense interaction he had with police during a bipolar episode. In the documentary, he follows his own mental health journey in an effort to change emergency response and to end mental illness stigma.  

The film spotlights the Toronto Community Crisis Service, a pilot service responding to mental health-related calls with nurses and crisis workers, rather than police officers. When We Reach Out, Who Should Respond?  examines the need for alternative crisis response models through a series of interviews with politicians, activists, and crisis workers advocating for change. Galati’s thoughtful documentary invites audiences to engage in a necessary conversation about compassionate alternatives to police intervention during a mental health crisis.

Screening with
Hanging On | Alfie Barker | 2021 | United Kingdom | 16 minutes | English
A creative documentary spotlighting the strength of a community united when faced with eviction.

For accessibility When We Reach Out, Who Will Respond is also available online via Workman Arts & Cinesend from October 27th to November 6th 2022

Keywords: Police Violence | Bipolar Disorder | Systemic Racism | Class
Genre: Documentary (feature) Documentary (short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

Streaming across Canada October 27th to November 6th

GEMMEL & TIM
Michiel Thomas | 2021 | United States | 91 minutes | English

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the award-winning documentary film Gemmel & Tim directed by Michiel Thomas  available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

In the span of 18 months, two gay Black men died of drug overdoses inside the West Hollywood home of political donor Ed Buck. Yet, it was four years (and many public protests) before a federal jury convicted Buck for his crimes. Writer-director Michiel Thomas’s documentary Gemmel & Tim tells the story of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, the two men who died in Buck’s home under suspicious circumstances.

Throughout the film, their family and friends reminisce about their lives and share the shocking details surrounding their deaths. The film paints a touching portrait of love and regret as friends and family come to grips with the tragic loss of their loved ones. Gemmel & Tim is also a scathing indictment of America’s broken justice system, calling out the blatant racial inequalities persisting decades after the abolition of Jim Crow.

Screening with

Lay Me By The Shore | David Findlay | 2022 | Canada | 18 minutes | English

Introducing a young cast of first-time actors, Lay Me by the Shore follows a week in the life of Noah, a high school senior in his final days of school as he comes to terms with his best friend’s passing. Bathed in the warm light of long June days and with the intimidating spectre of an unknown future looming, the tale is told from the perspective of the recently departed. Through the prism of grief, the film highlights the raw and potent emotions of youth.

Keywords: Addictions | Racism | Class | Overdose | Trauma
Genre: Documentary (feature) Documentary (short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

PUBLIC SPEAKING THROUGH COMEDY

PUBLIC SPEAKING THROUGH COMEDY

Marketing graphic with white squares and main text reads "Public Speaking Workshop". Two male presenting people stand on stage in front of TED X sign.
  • Sunday October 30, 7 PM

Comedy Bar, 945 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario

MALPENSANDO / 2022 / English / Canada / 120 minutes

These students impressed in their Level 1 Grad Show and are now back for more! Come and witness 6 weeks of hard work and dedication boiled down to one amazing comedy night! These students will speak from the heart and (hope to) make you laugh till you drop!

Originally from Costa Rica and Colombia, Stephan Dyer and Juan Cajiao are bilingual corporate leadership and communication trainers who also happen to be award-winning comedians and improv experts. 

Leaving their executive positions in the banking world in 2017 to pursue their professional careers in stand up comedy, they have successfully founded MalPensando, a bilingual (English, Spanish) comedy and public speaking school.

CREATIVE TEAM
Juan Cajiao
Stephan Dyer
This program was made possible by the generous support of The Slaight Family Foundation in partnership with North York Arts.
CONTENT WARNINGS
Loud sounds
Swearing / Mature language
Sexual Content
Keywords: BIPOC Experience | Community | Depression | LGBTQ2S+ | Racism
#RWMFest #MoreThanRebellion
COMMUNITY PARTNER

POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ

POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ

WATCH ONLINE
Oct 29 – Nov 7 available across Canada

ACCESSIBILITY

Celeste Bell and Paul Sng / 2021 / English / UK / 96 mins

Marianne Joan Elliott-Said (aka Poly Styrene) is a punk rock legend. She entered the music business as
a rebellious teenager with big dreams and then willed those dreams into reality. As the frontwoman for her band X-Ray Spex, Poly Styrene was the first Black woman in the UK to front a successful rock band. She would go on to earn legions of fans by producing defiant songs about consumerism, class, and
racial identity.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché looks at the icon’s life and career from the perspective of her daughter, the film’s co-director, Celeste Bell. Bell uses archival footage, electrifying live performances, and her mother’s diary entries to celebrate Marianne Joan Elliott-Said, and Poly Styrene. Narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this intimate portrait of a punk icon offers a candid look at a reluctant public
figure who struggled with fame while battling mental illness.

 

SCREENING WITH ABSOLUTE PANIC
TJ McEachran | 2019 | Canada | 1 minute | English
A music video for “Absolute Panic,” a song from R U Experiencing Discomfort?, the debut album by
Vancouver’s punk band, Bedwetters Anonymous made by its bassist/vocalist.

 

Keywords: Gender | Immigration | Mother & Daughter | Punk rock | Racism
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Hot Docs logo

Jo, Don't Go There

Jo, Don't Go There

a note from Oliver Jane, Creator of Jo Don’t Go There

Sometimes the “show must not go on” and that’s ok.

When I made the decision to not move forward with my piece Jo Don’t Go There in Rendezvous with Madness 2020, I was encouraged by my friend and contact at Workman Arts to write a short reflection for all of you in lieu of the show. Here you will find some rambling, musing, and reflecting. Thank you for taking a brief moment to reflect with me.

When I agreed to move forward with the project several months ago, I was excited by the challenge of transferring my live performance pieces to video web content. Unfortunately, I found that meeting the demands of a precarious/always changing pandemic environment made completing the project difficult. I am an artist that lives with chronic pain, Rheumatoid Arthritis, PTSD symptoms, and OCD symptoms. The greatest lesson I have learned from managing all of these is that I should not go beyond my limits. Unfortunately, working in solo-isolation and not having funding to adequately compensate others to do the much-needed-tasks to make this project show-ready was bringing me close to my limits.

Since I made the choice to pause the show, the phrase “the show must go on” has been echoing through my mind. Upon reflecting on the nagging presence of this phrase within my mind, I recall that I have, almost exclusively, operated within creative environments where that sentence is espoused. I have worked in so many creative environments where the expectation to see a show to its completion is demanded of artists, producers, and production teams: no matter the cost. My years training to be an artist and working professionally have been colored by watching many friends and colleagues sacrifice their physical and mental health to see work to its completion. For many years I have wondered if creative communities should let go of the phrase “the show much go on” and refrain from normalizing the practice of sacrificing physical and mental wellness amongst artists. What I have witnessed in theatre schools and amongst theatre makers has made me consciously attempt to avoid working myself beyond my limits so that I do not worsen my already-sometimes-very-challenging health.

So I say once again, to comfort myself and to encourage those who find themselves also facing projects, businesses, and plans that need to be put on pause, closed, or canceled as a result of the pandemic: “the show must not go on” and that’s ok.

I’d like to offer gratitude to the team who has assisted me during this process. Though the show will not be viewed in this festival, I am continuing the reflect on and develop the body of work I have made thus far. I feel I must offer my deep gratitude to all those who gave me their time and talents.

  • I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with my older brother, a very skilled video editor, who has been a cherished peer, mentor, and teacher (of art and life) for these last several months.
  • I am grateful to the handful of talented musician friends who were willing to do some work on this project for free, for very low fees, or for barter.
  • I am grateful to Workman Arts for supporting me as I adjusted the show to the changes brought about by the pandemic. This is my second experience working with Workman Arts, and I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate the work Kelly, Scott, Cara, Paulina, and the rest of the team working behind the scenes at Workman Arts do to make this really special festival happen. And during a pandemic, no less!
  • Finally, I am grateful for organizations like Workman Arts that are actively striving to foster greater diversity of representation within the Ontario and Toronto creative community. I hope you all will continue to support and patronize Workman Arts even after the festival has passed.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the festival, you remember to stay safe, you do what you can to support and aid the most vulnerable in our communities, you donate to groups and organizations that are trying to address the already existing racial and economic inequality within North America that has been exacerbated by the pandemic, and you all focus your energies on taking care of your immunity and your mental health while the world faces global crisis. I know I will!

I send love and gratitude to you all.

-Oliver Jane

goat(h)owl theatre / Lead Artist, Performer, Creator, Writer: Oliver Jane / Collaborator, Performer: Leah Pritchard / Collaborator, Performer: Jillian Rees-Brown / Video Collaborator, Editor: Jon Jorgensen

Enter the mind of Jo, a nonbinary trauma survivor, video artist and clown. Meet Jo’s consciousness embodied: their performative imaginary friend Oli Oli Ennui, a snarky clown who doesn’t take all this modern art stuff too seriously. If you know Jo’s personal story (hailing from NYC, navigating OCD and PTSD while occupying space in Toronto during the pandemic), do you know Jo? If you hear Oli sing punk-injected cabaret, do you know their soul? Experience Jo’s multimedia happening: a video series, music playlists, Instagram uploads, photo exhibition and a live installation performance at 651 Dufferin Street. This collection of fragments resonates in permanent refrain: Do you know me now?

Founded by Maria Wodzinska and Oliver Jane in 2017, goat(h)owl generates collaboratively devised experiences. Grounded in the body, at the core of every piece is a question. We take flight through our investigation of the thematic territory, of our position to the question, and of our will-to-know. We attempt to affirm the unknowable with proposals — playing in-front-of/with/around an audience. We want to shake up sedimented modalities of meaning and truth-telling with our moving ensemble. We point the eye to the kaleidoscope of forms created. Do we invite the audience to make meaning? Yes. Do we make meaning? Come and see.

CONTENT WARNINGS

Loud Sounds, Mature Language, Nudity, Rape and/or Sexual Violence, Sexual Content, Suicide

ALSO OF INTEREST

Mad Poetry Apothecary

Mad Poetry Apothecary

THIS PROJECT IS PART OF THE RE:BUILDING RESILIENCE EXHIBITION.

A photographic still life image with an ink bottle, books, a round analog clock with Roman numerals, large transparent bottles containing handwritten messages on yellowed paper, and a quill pen spelling out “Mad Poetry Apothecary” on a piece of paper.

Creator: Hanan Hazime

GENRE: POETRY

TYPE: WORKSHOP

Join multidisciplinary artist and creative writer, Hanan Hazime, for an online poetry workshop and art installation. Instead of psychiatric medicine, participants  of “The Mad Poetry Apothecary” will be prescribed creative prompts that encourage mental wellness. Participants will be guided through the creation of mixed-media poetry postcards and given the opportunity to virtually showcase their work. Those who would like to participate in the virtual art installation but cannot attend the online workshops have the option of submitting their poetry postcard via email. All levels of writing and artistic skills are welcome. Folks with lived experience of mental health and/or addiction issues are highly encouraged to contribute their voices to this project.

Click here to view the virtual Mad Poetry installation.

Hanan Hazime is a multidisciplinary artist, creative writer, community arts educator and writing instructor living in Tkaronto/Toronto. She also identifies as a Lebanese-Canadian Muslimah Feminist and Mad Pride Activist. Through her intersectional and interdisciplinary artwork, Hanan aims to push boundaries, question arbitrary binaries, dispel stigmas and shatter stereotypes. Her primary mission as an arts educator is to provide accessible arts education to marginalized communities with a special focus on crafting safe, empowered spaces for Muslims, individuals with mental health challenges, folks with disabilities and BIPOC youth to discover and enhance their writing and art skills.

Online Workshop on ZOOM
Two Dates Available
  • Wed, Oct 21, 3 PM
  • Sat, Oct 24, 6 PM

If you’d like to participate in the workshop over email, please click here to register.

ACCESSIBILITY

ASL interpretation or live transcription during this event is available by request; please contact justina_zatzman@workmanarts.com if you require these or other services to take part.

Self-Care Kits are available for free curbside pickup to ticket holders. Kits can be picked up from 651 Dufferin Street between the hours of 12PM-9PM, October 15-25. If pickup is not an accessible option for you, contact justina_zatzman@workmanarts.com for accommodation.

Hanan Hazime will be participating in the virtual panel discussion Literary Balms: the Healing Properties of Art and Text on October 19, at 4 PM. Click here to book a ticket.

Queen Latifah Give Me Strength

Queen Latifah Give Me Strength

THIS PROJECT IS PART OF THE RE:BUILDING RESILIENCE EXHIBITION.

A simplified icon depicting a person in a hospital gown hooked up to an IV drip placed within a photograph of a hospital hallway.

Creator: Rochelle R

GENRE: THEATRE

Queen Latifah Give Me Strength centers around a woman’s struggle with her identity and her expectations of being disregarded and ignored by the medical industry. Queen Latifah Give Me Strength depicts the frustration, isolation and raving madness that comes with being a Black woman who must rely on medical professionals to stay alive. After an anxiety-filled evening watching the classic 90s film, Set It Off, featuring Queen Latifah, the main character is faced with her strange connection to the celebrity. In a search for answers about her health, she turns to the icon she had once forsaken. Previous version partially developed during Emerging Creators Unit 2020 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

Rochelle R (She/They) is a Canadian-Caribbean multidisciplinary theatre artist, writer, producer and advocate for Black, Queer, Mentally Ill/Disabled communities. Rochelle is passionate about promoting and developing opportunities for Black Artists and encouraging difficult conversations about intersectionality. Rochelle holds a BA in English and Theatre Studies from the University of Guelph and continues to pursue additional training within the GTA and Peel regions. Select companies and programs include b current (Playwriting) bcHUB, Buddies in Bad Times (Play Creation) Emerging Creator’s Unit, Nightwood’s Young Innovator’s Program (Arts Administration/Producing), PIECE OF MINE Arts, dance immersion’s Legacy Leaders Program and more.

CONTENT WARNING

Mature Language, Violence, Loud Sound 

Please Note: There is one virtual ticket available for the entire Re:Building Resilience Exhibition. Whether you’d like to see one project or all of them, you only need to book one ticket to access everything. The exhibition runs October 15-25, and all purchasers will be sent a link to view the virtual content. Any ticket bought prior to October 15 will receive a follow up email on the 15th with the link.

ACCESSIBILITY

Self-Care Kits are available for free curbside pickup to ticket holders. Kits can be picked up from 651 Dufferin Street between the hours of 12PM-9PM, October 15-25. If pickup is not an accessible option for you, contact justina_zatzman@workmanarts.com for accommodation.

Rochelle Richardson will be participating in the virtual panel discussion Resistant Bodies: The Intersections of Self and Health on October 21, at 1 PM. Click here for more information.

ALSO OF INTEREST