Current and Upcoming

Thursday, January 26th, 7:00 p.m.
Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space, 4th floor, 401 Richmond St. West

Considering the current Ford government’s funding scandals, and cuts, and dreams for
more radical ways of governing the city, this program looks back on a history of protest,
labour, and resistance in Toronto. The archive of the 1990’s is uncanny: similar economic
conditions, and a provincial government helmed by the divisive figure of Mike Harris,
inspiring creative technologies of protest, as seen through a feminist lens.

About the Series:
This is the Feminist Archive is a vital screening series that looks to reconcile the feminisms
of the past with the feminisms of the 21st century. The films and videos of this series point
to a path forward for feminism, whether in reaction to, or in alignment with, past feminist
approaches. Many examples of early feminist video/film engage, or invent avant-garde
strategies, while also engaging in intersectional interrogations. This season focuses on the
movement’s preoccupations with politicizing the domestic sphere, analyzing the female
body in public space, and the deployment of portable cameras as instruments of protest.
The undoing of abortion rights in the U.S., and the war on trans and racialized bodies on
both sides of the border makes these works from the 20th century both prescient
and uncanny. Through talks with featured artists and filmmakers, this screening series
looks at the legacy of Canadian women’s media-making while also considering its future
Please look out for additional screenings!

 

Co-presented with the Feminist Recycling Group

Robert’s Paintings, by Shelley Niro

Robert’s Paintings, by Shelley Niro

We invite you to join us on January 15, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. for an exclusive exhibition walkthrough with Jesse King, curator of SKY & BONE (401 Richmond St. West, suite 128). At 6:00 p.m., at the Bachir/Yerex Presentation space (401 Richmond St. West, 4th floor), the City of Toronto’s Market Gallery presents a special screening of Robert’s Paintings (directed by Shelley Niro), an intimate and deeply moving portrait of acclaimed artist Robert Houle. Experience how Houle transforms memory into art, using his paintings as powerful sites of testimony, where childhood experiences, Canada’s colonial history, and the stories of others who walked similar paths come vividly into view. Attend this screening to witness art as memory, resistance, and remembrance.

FREE tickets are available here.

Image credit: Robert’s Paintings, by Shelley Niro (2011)

 

Presented By TD Bank GroupToronto History Museums

VIDEO OF THE MONTH: “Kaali,” by Leena Manimekalai

VIDEO OF THE MONTH: “Kaali,” by Leena Manimekalai

For January’s Video of the Month, we present Kaali (2022), a short film in which the indigenous spirit of Kali descends upon filmmaker Leena Manimekalai, and walks the streets of downtown Toronto on a summer night, on a quintessential trip of being, becoming, and belonging. The performance depicts Kali’s loitering, sharing delightful moments with humanity.

“By imbibing the deity’s pagan form, Manimekalai participates in the Indigenous tradition of being possessed by goddesses or spirits. Her performance critically revisits issues of LGBTIQ+ rights, refugee crises, genocidal history and Hindutva politics that she has engaged with in her earlier films” (Santasil Mallik in The Conversation).

January is Tamil Heritage Month in Canada!

 

 

Leena Manimekalai

Leena Manimekalai is a published poet and a self-taught filmmaker. She was a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) India Breakthrough Talent of the year 2022-23. Her award-winning films across genres and lengths have been screened across the world at about hundred prestigious international film festivals. Her work of cinéma vérité, Sengadal / The Deadsea (2011), on Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and Indian fishermen, won the NAWFF Award at Tokyo for the Best Asian Woman Cinema, and was recognized with the prestigious Indian Panorama selection after legally defeating the initial ban by the Indian Censor Board. One of her documentaries on gender justice, Goddesses (2008), has won her the Golden Conch at the Mumbai IFF and nominations for the Horizon Award in Munich and Asia Pacific Screen Award in Melbourne. White Van Stories (2013), a docu-feature on enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka that was shot entirely underground, was broadcast on BBC’s Channel 4 and won accolades at the Aljazeera IFF. Her mockumentary on transgender rights, Is it too much to ask (2015), was co-produced with NHK Japan and won the Best Documentary Award at the Singapore International Documentary Festival, and Jury Mention at Film South Asia, Nepal. Additionally, Leena has received the Charles Wallace Art Award, the EU Fellowship and the Commonwealth Fellowship for her work in Cinema and Gender. She has published six poetry collections and is completing a non-fiction feature, Rape Nation, that traces the lives and struggles of rape survivors across the Indian subcontinent. Wonder Women, a series she collaborated on as a line producer in India, won a Daytime Emmy for Best Travel and Adventure Program in 2017. Her second fiction feature is Maadathy, an unfairy tale (2019), about “invisiblised” dalit lives; it started its journey with a grand opening at the 24th Busan International Film Festival, followed by many festival selections and awards, including a FIPRESCI JURY AWARD. She recently graduated with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Film from the York University, Toronto. In 2023, she was an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Toronto.

Image credit: Kaali, by Leena Manimekalai (2022)