dynamic duos

Seeing Double: Interview with Zack Russell

Seeing Double: Interview with Zack Russell

Christie Pits Film Festival presents an evening of doppelgängers on August 18th as part of its summer-long Dynamic Duos programme, with the sci-fi cult classic Gattaca. The film takes place in a world where advanced genetic manipulation technology has created a society in which those conceived without the technology, called in-valids, are considered inferior to those with pre-selected traits. Vincent (Ethan Hawke), an in-valid, dreams of space travel but his genetics bar him from the opportunity. In an attempt to pursue his dreams, he impersonates another man who is part of the privileged class. Paired with Gattaca is the short film She Stoops to Conquer, directed by Zack Russell and making its second appearance at TOPS (it screened alongside Cabaret at Corktown Common in 2018). In the short, a woman meets her drag king persona’s double at an after-hours club.

Dining Out: Interview with Gwynne Phillips

Dining Out: Interview with Gwynne Phillips

Howard Hawks’ 1940 screwball comedy classic His Girl Friday, screening July 7th at Christie Pits Park, stars Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell as journalists and ex-spouses as they endeavour to uncover the truth about a wrongfully-convicted murderer. Paired with this feature is the short film Dinette, co-directed by Gwynne Phillips and Christopher Lazar. Set in the 1940s, it centres on the meeting of two femme fatales, Georgia and Marlene, at a diner, where stories are guarded and secrets are revealed.