Join us for a special screening and discussion to mark World AIDS Day. Our film program will be a series of short films, titled Viral Interventions. The six new short films from Nepal, Bulgaria, Brazil, Ecuador, and Canada tell urgent and extraordinary stories about living with HIV today. The techniques are as diverse as their makers: from lush animation and staged floral portraits, to radical sex performances and hybrid documentary mash-ups. Their voices are equally unforgettable, brimming with laughter, tears, fury, and joyful activism. Together, they explore autobiographical stories from around the globe about this pandemic, which still claims more than half a million lives every year.

Viral Interventions is a York University research-creation project led by John Greyson and Sarah Flicker that, since 2020, has commissioned artists, activists, and scholars to collaborate on making new films about living with HIV today. The world premiere of these films will be presented in collaboration with TIFF in Toronto on Saturday, November 30, and we are honoured to be able to bring these to our community in Ottawa. 

Following the films, we will have a performance and fireside chat about the future of HIV with artist and performer BOA, from Canada’s Drag Race.