FilmForward Director's Spotlight: John Cameron Mitchell

We are delighted to present John Cameron Mitchell as this year’s featured director. As writer-director of the now-classic Hedwig and the Angry Inch and 2006’s ground-breaking Shortbus, Mitchell is one of queer cinema’s most treasured artists. This spotlight screening of Hedwig and the Angry Inch will be followed by a conversation with Mitchell and Montreal-based author Matthew Hays (View From Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers).

Nominated for a Golden Globe, and winner of Best Director and Audience awards at the Sundance Film Festival, Mitchell has been widely recognized for his creative output—more than this, however, he’s brought to the screen a queer perspective that never ceases to challenge, even as it entertains. Whether through the eponymous Hedwig (who else could bring a transgendered Eastern European rocker-diva to such heights?) or through the delicate balance of humour, gravitas and sexuality achieved by Shortbus, Mitchell has brought us images that resolutely defy categorization, embrace diversity and possess a near-inexplicable joie de vivre. What, really, could be more queer than that?

We encourage you to arrive early for this film screening as a special performance of Muck by Maya Seuss will occur in the Theatre Lobby at 6:30pm.

For more JCM, see our Masterclass and our youth screening of Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig.

John Cameron Mitchell /USA /2001 /35mm /

Total time: 95 min

Matthew Hays has been a film critic for the Montreal Mirror since 1993. His articles have appeared in The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Advocate and The Toronto Star. View From Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers book launch to follow the Director’s Spotlight.