A free outdoor screening is set to take place in Kingston’s City Park on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. 

The event is being co-presented by Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, Kingston Canadian Film Festival (KCFF), and Kingston Punk Productions (KPP) Concerts.

Attendees are encouraged to dress warmly, bring their own food and drink, as well as a blanket or chair for seating. The hosts are also asking attendees to wear a mask and distance themselves from people outside their household.

The Journal discussed the upcoming event with Modern Fuel’s Executive Director, Anne-Sophie Grenier, and KCFF’s Associate Director, Megan Sirett.

The event will feature a short film by Alvin Luong, an award-winning multidisciplinary artist who’s set to present a solo show at Modern Fuel later in October.

“People can expect to be a little surprised and a little challenged,” Grenier said in an interview with The Journal.

A short film by award-winning filmmaker Ana Valine, will also be shown. Valine was previously based in Vancouver and has recently relocated to Kingston.

“This is a good opportunity for Kingston to get to see work by a new artist in our community,” Grenier said.

The screening will also feature DJ LK (Laura Kelly), who will provide the music at the beginning of the event and between the screenings.

Judy Versus Capitalism by Canadian director Mike Hoolboom will also be screened. The film is a documentary about Canadian activist Judy Rebick and her fight for women to have autonomy over their bodies. The film recounts her iconic moments as an activist while documenting the personal histories and themes in her life.

“The film has themes of the personal and political, private and public­—a conversation that is as timely as ever,” Sireet said.

Director Mike Hoolboom is known for his work in re-mixing and experimenting with footage. This experimental approach is what drew KCFF to screen his film in their approaching event.

“We thought this would fit well in the context of a larger program with the short films from Modern Fuel,” Sirett said. “Also, we thought a movie that was shot in Super-8 that has a dream-like, slightly surreal quality to it would be really cool to see on an outdoor screen.”

The collaboration between Modern Fuel, KCFF, and KPP was sparked by their mutual desire to share art with the community­—something that has been difficult to do during the isolation of the pandemic.

“Since so many of us have had to adapt our presentation formats this year, it’s an opportunity for us to still present some in-person programming and introduce KCFF audiences to Modern Fuel and KPP and vice versa,” Sirett said.

Grenier and Sirett are both happy with this collaboration, as Kingston’s many arts organizations have formed a community to help support one another through their shared interest of art and performance.

“Many arts organizations in town frequently collaborate and co-present events,” Sirett said. “It’s a great way of introducing new audiences to each other’s work and for a bit of cross-pollination between multiple artistic disciplines.”