Summer is here and that means it’s time for the Toronto Outdoor Picture Show’s Another World film programme! This summer-long programme of free open-air cinema will be held in parks all across Toronto. The event will feature a mix of feature films from around the world alongside shorts from Canadian filmmakers. This year’s programme invites audiences to embark on a journey beyond accepted reality into the unknown possibilities of existence.
The season will debut with a five-day opening weekend at Fort York (June 22-26), followed by weekly screenings on Sunday evenings at TOPS’ signature series Christie Pits Film Festival (Christie Pits Park, July 9 – August 27) and Thursday evenings at Corktown Common (July 6 – August 10), as well as three consecutive nights at Bell Manor Park (August 17 – 19) this summer.
The programme includes dystopian thrillers such as The Matrix and Night Raiders, as well as fantastical worlds of time-shifting and parallel universes like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Coco, and Everything Everywhere All At Once. There are also stories in which non-human creatures take centre stage such as E.T., The Wizard of Oz, Jumanji, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Black Panther, Jurassic Park, and Pan’s Labyrinth. TOPS will welcome audiences into treasured spaces of the everyday where dreams take flight and alternate worlds are made possible with films like Paris is Burning, Amélie, Brokeback Mountain, and Korean-Canadian filmmaker Anthony Shim’s recent TIFF Platform-winning Riceboy Sleeps.
This year, TOPS is excited to expand its accessibility features for attendees. In addition to its barrier-free programming that is free/pay-what-you-can for all, with all film content presented with open captioning for deaf/hard of hearing attendees, this summer TOPS will present five screenings with optional audio description (AD) for blind, low vision, or visually impaired audience members. AD scripts for these selected programmes of shorts and features will be written and pre-recorded by local audio descriptionist Rena Altman, who says, “Audio description is a fascinating area of media accessibility. My job as a writer is to take what is sometimes a deeply complex visual story, figure out what key elements the creators wanted to emphasize, and then translate that into narration – all without trampling dialogue or key audio information.”
Don’t miss out on this exciting event! Check out the complete list of dates and films at the TOPS website. Bring your friends and family to experience the magic of Another World under the stars in Toronto’s beautiful parks.
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TORONTO OUTDOOR PICTURE SHOW
Screening venue # 1 – Fort York National Historic Site (100 Garrison Road, Toronto)
Time: Gates 7PM / screening at sundown (approx 9PM)
Food available for purchase on-site
NOTE: Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for sale; Fort York is TOPS’ sole licensed venue
Thursday, June 22, 2023
Night Raiders (Danis Goulet, 2021, Canada) – Short: Wakening (Danis Goulet, 2013, Canada)
This screening will be presented with optional pre-recorded Audio Description available
Danis Goulet’s films Night Raiders and Wakening are together an Indigenous futurist wake-up call for the present and the future we are headed toward at light speed. Night Raiders is a dystopian sci-fi thriller about a mother’s (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) search for her daughter (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart), taken captive by a state-run institution.
Friday, June 23, 2023
Everything Everywhere All At Once (Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, 2022, USA) Short: Short Round Up (Nobu Adilman, 2018, Canada)
A middle-aged Chinese immigrant (played by Michelle Yeoh in a Best Actress Oscar-winning performance) is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.
Saturday, June 24, 2023
Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993, USA) Short: Lichen (Lisa Jackson, 2019, Canada)
30 years ago this summer, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park redefined the dinosaur adventure film, and it endures as a popular classic today. The towering dinosaurs of the ill-fated prehistoric amusement park look as spectacular as they did in 1993, though it’s the memorable performances of the film’s dynamic cast (including Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Samuel L. Jackson, and Wayne Knight) and the earnest found-family drama at the heart of the thrill ride that makes this modern monster movie more than the sum of its fossilized parts.
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006, Mexico/Spain) Shorts: Lira’s Forest (Connor Jessup, 2017, Canada) + The Spadina House (Taso Alexander, 2018, Canada)
In master storyteller Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, set in Falangist Spain of 1944, the eight-year-old stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer of escapes into an eerie but captivating secret world populated by a mysterious faun, fairies, and other fantastical creatures.
Monday, June 26, 2023
Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes, 1998, USA) Short: Private Flowers (Haui, 2023, Canada)
A fictional story set in London of the 1970s, when real-life underground and glam rock artists like David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and Queen were taking both sides of the Atlantic by storm, Velvet Goldmine reimagines that world through an enigmatic David Bowie-esque figure (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who fakes his own death to withdraw from public life, and the journalist (Christian Bale) who investigates the story, in this queer classic by Todd Haynes.
Screening venue # 2 – Corktown Common (155 Bayview Ave, Toronto)
Time: Event start 7PM / screening at sundown (approx 9PM in July, 8:30PM in August) Food and non-alcoholic beverages available for purchase on-site
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Paris is Burning (Jennie Livingston,1990, USA) – Shorts: Monologue Harmonic (Bawaadan Collective, 2021, Canada) + Music video: Too Late (ft. Desiire & Tafari Anthony) – (Radha Pithadia, 2021, Canada) 7:30pm – Ball performance featuring Toronto Kiki Ballroom Alliance
This screening will be presented with optional pre-recorded Audio Description available
Jennie Livingston’s legendary documentary Paris Is Burning gave audiences an in-depth look at Harlem’s history-changing ballroom drag culture of the 1980s. The film highlights the community’s drag Mothers, legendary ball-walkers and heads of extravagant Houses who laid the foundation for generations of drag families performing – and growing – today.
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) Short: Requiem for Romance (Jonathan Ng, 2012, Canada)
In early nineteenth-century China, in the waning years of the Qing dynasty, a renowned swordsman (Chow Yun-Fat) who yearns for enlightenment decides to give up his legendary Green Destiny sword: the sharp four-hundred-year-old blade of heroes. To mark the end of a blood-stained career, he entrusts the excellent female warrior (played by Michelle Yeoh) with the precious weapon. A story of adventure, unrequited love, and mythology.
Thursday, July 20, 2023
The Matrix (Lana & Lilly Wachowski, 1999, USA) – Short: Roots and Chains (Francis Lacelle, 2015, Canada)
Directed by sisters Lana and Lilly Wachowski and featuring an all-star cast including Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving, The Matrix follows a rogue group at the end of the 22nd century who believe a prophecy that a messiah-like figure known as “The One” will restore humanity in a world overrun by advanced A.I. In this dystopian future, humans are created in a lab, rather than born, destined to live in a world that is artificially simulated for them.
Thursday, July 27, 2023
Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001, France) Short: Arlo Alone (Nicole Dorsey, 2017, Canada)
Despite being caught in her imaginative world, Amélie, a Parisian waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey in the pursuit of her own true love. A major cultural touchstone at the turn of the millennium, this cult classic by Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet takes the audience into a world of Amélie’s active imagination, imbuing the familiar with wonder.
Thursday, August 3, 2023
The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998, USA) – Shorts: 7A (Zack Russell, 2018, Canada) + The Pink (Ingrid Haas, 2023, Canada)
This screening will be presented with optional pre-recorded Audio Description available for blind, low vision, or visually impaired audience members.
Utterly unaware of the thousands of cleverly hidden cameras watching his every move, for nearly three decades, Truman’s entire existence pivots around the will and the wild imagination of a ruthlessly manipulative television producer, Christof-the-all-powerful, a Moses Znaimer-esque TV-God of an extreme 24/7 reality show: The Truman Show.
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018, USA) – Short: The Drop In (Naledi Jackson, 2017, Canada)
Prince T’Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new king. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must lead his people to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.
Screening venue # 3 – Christie Pits Film Festival (Christie Pits Park, 750 Bloor St West, Toronto)
Time: Event start 6PM / screening at sundown (approx 9PM in July, 8:30PM in August) Food and non-alcoholic beverages available for purchase on-site
Sunday, July 9, 2023
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009, USA) – Shorts: Foxed! (James E.D. Stewart, Nev Bezaire, 2013, Canada) + Hedgehog’s Home (Eva Cvijanović, 2017, Canada)
A story of Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and his wild ways of hen heckling, turkey taking, and cider sipping, nocturnal adventures, alongside a band of rural creatures. He is too rebellious. He is too wild. To show Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) that he can be responsible, he is going to try “just one more raid” on the three nastiest, meanest farmers neighbouring his fox hole. It is a tale of crossing the line of family responsibilities and midnight adventure and the friendships and awakenings of this country life that is inhabited by Fantastic Mr. Fox and his friends.
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Viking (Stéphane Lafleur, 2022, Canada) – Shorts: NASA please pick me up (Greg Kondrak, Matt Hall, 2023, Canada) + Life on Mars (Sebastian Ko, 2021, Canada)
The first manned flight to Mars is underway and the organizers of the mission are worried about the astronauts and if they will be able to get along to achieve their objectives. They recruit a crew of civilians who exhibit the same personality traits of the astronauts, and ask them to live in a simulated environment in the middle of the desert. Soon the five faux astronauts assume their new roles, trying to problem solve the personality conflicts and scenarios presented to them by the organizers. Will they be able to work together to provide solutions for the astronauts on Mars? Or will this replicated crew face the same challenges?
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (Written by Daft Punk, directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi, supervised by Leiji Matsumoto, 2003, Japan & France) – Shorts: Sinvergüenzilla in “First Kiss” (Anita Abbasi, 2021, Canada) + A Trip to the Moon (Georges Méliès, 1902, France)
Set to music and lyrics by Daft Punk, directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi, supervised by legendary animator Leiji Matsumoto, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is an anime dreamscape meets concert film. An unscrupulous music executive and his flunky kidnap a blue-skinned techno band of aliens, rob them of their identities, pass them off as human, and foist them on an unsuspecting public on Earth. After their arrival and their impact on the human population, the members of the band try to piece back their identities, escape from the clutches of the evil music executive, and return to their own world.
Sunday, July 30, 2023
Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2006, USA) – Short: Rift (Keith Hodder, 2012, Canada)
This screening will be presented with optional pre-recorded Audio Description available
Brokeback Mountain, Wyoming. Their acquaintance began in the warm summer of 1963 when cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist ended up on the sheep farm of Joe Aguirre. They were looking for work, and under unexpected circumstances the two men developed a secret and profound relationship that could only exist in seclusion.
Sunday, August 6, 2023
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004, USA) Shorts: I Think I Like It Here (Charlie Tyrell, 2021, Canada) + Bee Problem (Roney, 2021, Canada)
Much to his surprise, timid Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) is shocked to discover that the love of his life, sparky Clementine (Kate Winslet), has had him erased from her memory. As a result, hurt and angry, Joel wants to pay her back in the same coin, going as far as to undergo a painless but intricate medical procedure to do the same. As the once-cherished recollections of Clementine gradually fade away, giving way to a soulless black void, something unexpected happens. Now Joel has second thoughts, toying with the idea of stopping the irreversible process. Who said ignorance is bliss?
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Riceboy Sleeps (Anthony Shim, 2022, Canada) – Short: Desi Standard Time Travel (Kashif Pasta, 2022, Canada)
After losing her husband in Korea, So-young relocates to Canada in the 1990s with their young son, Dong-hyun (or David). There, they must fight for acceptance and respect. Dong-hyun is brutally bullied by his classmates, and he isn’t helped by the timid, distinctly Canadian racism of his teacher and principal, who consider the family “troublesome.” At work, So-young battles loneliness and racist and sexist comments. As they negotiate with their separate circumstances, the rift between mother and son grows, as they both feel torn between their worlds of before and future, trying to find a place to call their own.
Sunday, August 20, 2023
The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939, USA) – Shorts: Esmeralda’s Castle (Rachel Cairns, Sarah Hempinstall, 2017, Canada) + La main gauche (The Left Hand, Maxime Robin, 2022, Canada)
Young Dorothy and her dog Toto are swept away from their Kansas home by a tornado, transported to the magical Land of Oz. There they embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return back home.
Sunday, August 27, 2023 – Surprise Closing Night Film
Screening venue # 4 – Bell Manor Park (1 Bayside Ln., Toronto) Time: Event start 6PM / screening at sundown (approx 8:30PM) Food and non-alcoholic beverages available for purchase on-site
Thursday, August 17, 2023
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982, USA) – Shorts: Indigo (Amanda Strong, 2014, Canada) + Fox and the Whale (Robin Joseph, 2016, Canada)
When a gentle extra-terrestrial becomes stranded on Earth, he is discovered and befriended by a 10-year-old boy named Elliott. Bringing him into his suburban California house, Elliott introduces E.T. to his siblings, and they decide to keep their new friend. But soon it becomes clear that E.T. must go home, and he needs his human friends to help him.
Friday, August 18, 2023
Jumanji (Joe Johnston, 1995, USA) – Shorts: Cohabitat (Kara Blake, 2020, Canada) + Birdlime (Evan DeRushie, 2017, Canada)
When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man (Robin Williams in one of his most beloved performances) trapped in it for decades – and a host of dangers (and jungle animals) that can only be stopped by finishing the game.
This screening will be presented with optional pre-recorded Audio Description available
Saturday, August 19, 2023
Coco (Adrian Molina & Lee Unkrich, 2017, USA) Shorts: Wapawekka (Danis Goulet, 2010, Canada) + Eloise, little dreamer (Myriam Obin, 2015, Canada)
Miguel is a 12-year-old Mexican boy who dreams of becoming a musician in a steadfastly anti-music family. His creativity piqued by a magical guitar that he encounters, Miguel somehow finds himself communing with talking, singing, dancing skeletons in the Land of the Dead.
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All Toronto Outdoor Picture Show screenings are free/Pay-What-You-Can, and individual charitable donations make the festival possible for all. Individuals who are in a position to do so are encouraged to support the community festival by making a tax deductible charitable donation at www.topictureshow.com/donate.
All films are screened with open captions, and select screenings are presented with an optional audio description feature. For more details on accessibility features at TOPS events, visit our website.
