fort york
Sunday, june 25, 2023

Pan’s labyrinth

With the short films Lira’s Forest and The Spadina House

A masterpiece fable from the creative mind of Mexican auteur (and part-time Toronto resident) Guillermo del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth is as dark as it is filled with beauty and whimsy. Anchored in the horrific real-world setting of 1944 Falangist Spain, del Toro imagines an eerie fantasy world seen through the eyes of a 10-year old orphan named Ofelia. Escaping into a secret underworld, Ofelia is guided by a mysterious faun creature and a fairy insect who hail her as their princess. As she adventures through an overgrown labyrinth garden to find the secrets that will save her fellow country-people, she encounters fantastical creatures almost as scary as the real-life fascist monsters occupying her home.

Pan’s Labyrinth is paired with two local shorts that similarly blend fantastical elements into real-life settings to create otherworldly stories. Best known as the lead actor of modern Canadian Queer classic Closet Monster, multi-talented writer-director Connor Jessup’s Lira’s Forest is a mysterious tale of an ailing old woman who encounters a strange spirit from a nearby forest. Using a combination of practical and digital effects, Jessup bathes the woods in magical coloured lights that give a (perhaps temporary) respite from the real world. In The Spadina House, filmmaker Taso Alexander recasts the historic Toronto museum as the stately home of a supernaturally talented Victorian family who comically one-up each other by exhibiting their spooky, special powers.