Illustration by Robert John Paterson
This month’s selection features a visually provocative documentary that follows the iconic Canadian band Arcade Fire– granting its audience a unique access to get up close and personal with its influential musicians. The hallucinatory musical séance directed by award-winning Kahlil Joseph, is more than a music video, more than a concert film, and more than a glimpse behind-the-scenes – a hybrid approach to the music documentary genre that, like the music itself, comes in waves.
In order to shake things up a bit, we will be hosting a PRE-film social event featuring special guest Patrick Nickelson– a PhD candidate in Musicology at the University of Toronto. Patrick will be joining us at the Labyrinth Lounge to talk about the historiographic and narrative trends in recent music documentaries. Searching for Sugarman, Twenty Feet from Stardom, and Montage of Heck are just a few of the mainstream films that come to mind and have garnered critical praise over the past few years. Join us for a break down of the music documentary format – taking a critical look at music’s role in popular documentary films.
As an accompaniment to this discussion, we will be listening to none other than Arcade Fire’s album Reflektor. You don’t have to be a music connoisseur to weigh in on the conversation, nor do you have to be familiar with the Arcade Fire discography – that’s part of the fun about meeting before the screening! The Lab is located at 298 Brunswick Avenue– where we will have the entire lower level to ourselves! Don’t forget to join our Facebook page or mailing list to stay in the loop, and to contact one of our members in case you have trouble finding us. We will be there at 7:00 pm and hope to see you there.
We will make our way to Bloor Cinema for the 9:00 pm screening. Can’t join us ahead of time? Listen to the album on your way over and meet us there!
If you’re new to the club shoot us an email so that a member of the HS Doc Club crew can greet you at the door. For any other questions or further inquiries, please email theharvardseal@gmail.com.