“Resonating throughout each character is the connecting theme that they are all victims of circumstance. Each character is driven by incidents which both haunt and inspire them. The complexity of their dynamics and dark intentions leave you conflicted about what you hope happens for the story’s resolution.” Catch Bombay Black, written by Anosh Irani and directed by Rohit Chokhani, at this year's Fringe Festival!
Read More“Rest In Power has its roots in my first series about gender-based violence, When Honour Kills (2006), which was my response to a rash of honour killings in the lower mainland in the early to mid-2000s. It questioned this notion of honour that is so powerful families are willing to kill their daughters over it. And let’s be clear here, just daughters, never sons. The two women from that series, Jaswinder Sidhu and Amandeep Atwal, are also featured in Rest In Power.”
Read More“[This leads us] back to the myth that I choose to work with: it’s a story about a king of Iran, whose name is Zahak. By the kisses of the devil, two snakes start growing from his shoulders. He is very afraid of his snakes and seeks a doctor to help him. But the devil transforms himself into a doctor and instructs Zahak to cut off the heads of the young people of his country, make a meal of their brains, and feed it to his snakes.”
Read MoreDuring my childhood, when we grew tired of the trampoline or playing Lego, I would often invite the boy next door over and we would spend the afternoon making collages. Armed with scissors and glue sticks, we flipped through old magazines and cut out absolutely everything that peeked our interests, from cute dogs to plates of spaghetti. Working together, we would fill giant sheets of paper with our random cut outs, not satisfied until all of the white vanished.
Read More“Part reference to early animation and comic art, part manic cynicism, Jaik Puppyteeth’s artwork is as magnetic as it is disturbing... The familiarity of cartoonish characters and wavey speech bubbles cleverly lures audiences in, only to shock them with themes of self-loathing, societal doom and hyper-sexuality.” Maybe you're familiar already? Or maybe this is your first introduction to Jaik Puppyteeth's work. Either way, don't be shy.
Read More“Watching This is Our Youth is at times deeply frustrating. Privilege runs rampant and unchecked, leaving you wanting to interrupt and offer the characters the advice they so desperately need... And though the way they channel this fear and insecurity is aggravating at times, it would not be so if the audience weren’t invested, as the quality of this production allows them to be. It is perhaps the strongest indication of why Han Bridge describes the play as a 'horrifically accurate depiction of the millennial mentalities that defines our ‘politically-correct’ 2017 world.'”
Read More“Beauty? For the longest time, I’ve always loved it. I used to paint very “beautiful” paintings and then I sort of started turning away from that... I realized it doesn’t need to be dark or grotesque intentionally; of course it can have elements of it, but I also enjoy the delicacy of beauty. I like the idea of beautifying creepy things. Beauty is very relative.”
Read MoreWhat a treasure it is, to learn from creative women! Amber Dawn and Anoushka Ratnarajah, Artistic Directors of this year's Vancouver Queer Film Festival, speak to their creative collaboration and its fruitful results. “Amber and Anoushka beam support for one another and seemed to be incredibly in-sync on just about everything... The power duo embody this year’s festival theme of Love and Resistance—loving through art, activism, conversation and community while resisting troubling and problematic patterns that have historically suppressed marginalized voices.” Film fans rejoice!
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