The Circle Project: What Fools These Mortals Be & Harlequino’s Folly
Opening Reception
Saturday October 31, 2pm – 4pm
Exhibition Oct 31 to Nov 7
KW Atrium Studio, 351 Abbott Free
Gather with The Circle Project community for the opening of two works created through artistic collaboration with people who have lived experience of incarceration.
What Fools These Mortals Be is a stunning riff on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, co-created with Adad Hannah and 14 women with lived experience of incarceration.
Harlequino’s Folly is a Commedia dell’Arte extravaganza co-created with Adad Hannah and nine performers incarcerated in William Head, a men’s minimum-security prison on Vancouver Island. Participating artists and collaborators will share their experiences of making the work and answer questions.
Hours: Mon closed; Tues to Fri 4pm-7pm; Sat, Sun 1pm-4pm
Carnegie Community Centre
Senior Lounge Programming
Tuesday November 3, 9:30am – 5pm
Carnegie Community Centre Basement, 401 Main
Free with Carnegie membership
9:30am – 11:30am Bingo
Bingo! an all time favourite! Come enjoy a fun and social game with friends and the community. Small prizes to be won.
1pm – 5pm Senior Lounge Movies
Come for movies and popcorn – sit back, relax and enjoy two great movies with fresh popcorn.
Carnegie membership is required ($1), available at front desk.
A Film and Musical Tribute to Bud Osborn:
Just Poems (About Drugs) (2026, 30min)
with the Lonesome Monsters
Tuesday November 3, 7pm – 9:30pm
SFU Djavad Mowafaghian World Arts Centre
149 W. Hastings
$0 – $35.
Tickets: Bud_Osborn_Tribute.eventbrite.ca
Bud Osborn (1947-2014) was a poet, community organizer, and activist in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Many regarded Bud as a hero for his work to develop safe, supervised injection sites, his protests over the unnecessary deaths in the DTES due to AIDS, and his contribution as a founder of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU). This evening is an opportunity to gather and reflect, through film and music, on Osborn’s life, work, and legacy.
We will screen the short film Just Poems (About Drugs) directed by Vancouver-based filmmaker Ryan Sudds. The camera follows members of VANDU, who reflect on Osborn’s legacy and VANDU’s ongoing work to improve the lives of people who use drugs. Like VANDU itself, the film is a work-in-progress. Each screening is a unique version that builds on VANDU’s ongoing work with further explorations of its recent history. Followed by a Q&A.
The film is followed by a rare, live musical occasion: Osborn’s former band, Lonesome Monsters, reunites! Featuring Graham Ord (saxophone and flute) and Paul Blaney (bass), original musical collaborators of Bud’s and prominent members of the Vancouver jazz scene. Vancouver actor, filmmaker and singer, Steven Schwabl, joins the musicians to read from Osborn’s poetry depicting the harsh realities of life on the streets with intensity and gripping dark humour. Combining words with live improvisational music, the effect is visceral and moving.
周明輝影像檔案選映
11月5日，周四
下午 5-7 點
401 號，加麗基社區中心一樓劇院
周明輝（Sid Chow Tan, 1949−2022）是市中心東端的傳奇紀錄影像工作者與社區組織者。他以四十年的時間，用鏡頭記錄東端與唐人街社區的抗爭與勝利、歡慶時刻與日常生活。本次活動放映的影片，是從他留下的非凡影像新聞檔案中重新精選而成，這些作品均由義工製作，當中既有近期完成數碼化的錄影帶，也有歷來深受喜愛的舊作。
從他親身參與的人頭稅及排華法案平反運動，到至今仍在持續發生的反士紳化、反逼遷行動，周明輝的鏡頭捕捉了人們的團結、幽默與階級意識；正是這些特質，為他的社運藝術注入了生命力。本次放映的視頻，彰顯了社區媒體的創造力，也激勵我們鼓起勇氣，一起塑造屬於我們的現實世界。
本次放映謹向眾多朋友、社區組織者，以及社區電視台的義工與職員致以衷心謝意，並與他們團結同行。有頼他們的付出，這些影片才得以製作、播出及保存。放映影片由周明輝的合作夥伴雷大心（Byron Peters）整理編選。
From the Archives of Sid Chow Tan
Thursday November 5
5pm – 7pm
Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main Free
Legendary Downtown Eastside documentarian and organizer Sid Chow Tan (1949 – 2022) spent four decades documenting the struggles, victories, celebrations, and everyday lives of DTES and Chinatown communities. This screening features new selections from his extraordinary archive of volunteer-produced video journalism, with recently digitized tapes and old favourites alike.
From within the Head Tax and Exclusion Redress movement to ongoing mobilisations against gentrification and displacement, Sid captured the solidarity, humour, and class-consciousness that animated his art of activism. These selections inspire the creative power of community-based media and the courage to shape our realities together.
Presented with gratitude and in solidarity with the many friends, organizers, and community television volunteers and staff who made possible the production, broadcast, and archive of these videos. Videos compiled by Sid’s collaborator Byron Peters.
Incandescence (2024, 104 min)
Thursday November 5, 8pm – 10pm
Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Free
Wildfires are burning with increasing intensity around the world. Following the rhythms of the seasons, directors Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper’s film Incandescence is an immersive cinematic experience, weaving on-the-ground footage with extraordinary stories of survival and adaptation that transform our understanding of wildfire. The film takes shape from the ancient patterns embodied in fire: destruction, aftermath and rebirth. From the flightpath of bees to an osprey’s aerial perspective, floating over the landscape: the Earth comes back. Film generously provided by NFB.
W, the Film (2016, 30 min)
Friday November 6, 4:30pm – 5:30pm
SFU Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, 149 W. Hastings
Free or by donation. Tickets: W_The_Film.eventbrite.ca
“W” is a film by Steven Schwabl about humour and obsession, and the illumination that comes from striving to accomplish what you are driven to do. Shot on film over many years and featuring footage of a bygone Vancouver, “W” tells the story of a man who moves from the mountains to the city, into an apartment directly across from the old Woodwards ‘W’. Over time, he sees the ‘W’ everywhere and becomes obsessed. Why is it there, and what does it all mean? Perhaps only Reinhold Messner, widely considered the greatest high-altitude climber of all time, can help. Followed by a Q & A with the filmmaker.
Life at OPS
Friday November 6, 7:30pm – 9pm
SFU Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, 149 W. Hastings
$0 – $35. Tickets: life_at_ops.eventbrite.ca
Featuring a collection of short films and videos by Nathaniel Canuel, Life at OPS aims to raise awareness about the importance of the Overdose Prevention Society (OPS) and follows the wonderful souls fighting to survive in an unjust society. OPS is an organization that faces backlash from those opposed to harm reduction and progressive drug policies. This project presents the organization’s reality, depicting everyday life at the busiest peer-led supervised consumption site in Canada.
Reimagining Justice: The Circle Project
Video Screenings & Community Sharing Circle
Saturday November 7, 12pm – 3pm
Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Free
Join The Circle Project community, including artists with lived experience of incarceration, for a screening of three co-created video installations, followed by a sharing circle inviting us to reflect on the power of art to imagine — and help create — a world beyond prisons. Everyone is welcome!
