From Vancouver’s entertainment district to Seoul’s “B-rate” cinemas, and the depths of an athlete’s physical injury, these documentaries are threaded by the desire for just a bit of action. As a competitive Street Fighter player in the MovieLand scene, Kerr Holden’s The MovieLand Movie is a visual ode to the legendary arcade that closed in 2021. Through it, she spotlights the arcade’s regulars and staff through a montage of heated rivalries and custodial perspectives. As told by an orange elven drag queen, and narrated by concession snacks and other friendly objects, Minki Hong’s Paradise shares queer histories of Seoul’s gay bars and movie theatres which were repurposed as cruising spots in the early 90’s. The program concludes with Holden’s latest, Judas Icarus Twists His Wrist, which features a local wrestler recovering from a wrist injury. Weaving between scenes of artistic and physical discipline, it shows us the embodied will to execute one’s craft.

Steff Huì Cí Ling lives on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. She is a student, labour researcher, and occasional film programmer. 

This program is rated 14A  |  Total runtime 57.5 minutes

The MovieLand Movie, dir. Kerr Holden
2017 | Canada | 14 | video | Manitoban premiere

The Movieland Movie is an abstracted and fragmented look at the history of one of North America's oldest running video arcades. Mesmerized by the flickering worlds the arcade offers, patrons of Movieland lose themselves in a world of play. They chase high scores, blow off steam, and compete for the coveted title of Street Fighter II champion of Movieland. 

Paradise, dir. Minki Hong
2023 | South Korea | 30.5 | video | Canadian premiere

Paradise revisits South Korea’s era of authoritarian development (1970s-80s) through the lens of queer livelihood. Despite the harsh realities of successive dictatorships, compulsory military service, and expectations of marriage and childbirth, six elderly gay men reveal how they converted second-run theatres and nearby bars into popular sites of erotic liberation, same-sex friendships, and romantic encounters. Using rare footage of Seoul’s only extant second-run movie house, visual archives, and historical animation, Paradise documents South Korea’s vibrant gay underground before the solidification of democracy and the introduction of the internet in the 1990s. Along the way, it follows the pain and joy of queer citizens, whose stories appear for the first time in this empowering film of self-discovery and community building.

Judas Icarus Twists His Wrist, dir. Kerr Holden
2024 | Canada | 15 | video

Clocking in at the baptism for the dead factory.

While the ritual of baptism for the dead is unique to the LDS faith, Jera MacPherson uses her ex-Mormon experience of the ritual to explore structures of power and themes of labour, community, and purity culture.

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