Celestial Queer: The Life, Work and Wonder of Jim MacSwain is a character-driven documentary about a singular artist making sense of this messy, post-capitalist world through surrealism, symbolism, and a voice so distinct and effusive that it feels beamed in from a dark corner of some future stratosphere.
 

Above: Jim at the Oxberry Animation Stand at Atlantic Filmmaker's Co-op, and a film still from Mother Marilyn 

Through his signature blend of collage-driven visuals and caustic commentary on everything from Nova Scotia Tourism to the AIDS crisis, James (Jim) MacSwain has been enamoring audiences and making impacts on both the artist-run and queer communities that he has been a part of since the 1970s.   He has been celebrated through retrospectives at Toronto's Images Festival as well as Halifax's Centre for Art Tapes, and he recently won Nova Scotia's prestigious Portia White Prize, which recognizes long-term excellence in the arts.  
 

Still from Nova Scotia Tourist Industries

However, those who know Jim know that his work is only part of his longevity as an artist.  Jim’s character and personality have impacted many communities across Canada.  He has responded to personal and societal challenges in a distinctly surreal and humorous way.  It is these qualities of exceptional character, unique perspective, and the ability to transform experience into both works of art and political action that Celestial Queer explores.
 

Still from Celestial Queer - Jim on the Tantramar Marshes

The film begins with Jim and longtime friend/collaborator Robin Metcalfe embarking on a journey to “The Goddess.”  This voyage to a 75-foot vein of rose quartz carved into the cliffs of the Bay of Fundy starts us on a journey through reoccurring themes in Jim’s work.  We are transported to another road trip through the Super-8 film “Picnic”, which deals with how revolutionary an act it can be for five gay men to go out into the “boonies” for a picnic in 1982.  Several of Jim’s films are contextualized through journeys and re-visitation, such as the film “Amherst” where Jim and the crew retrace scenes from his hometown and "the phallus performance" in which Jim placed a 8-foot penis atop a downtown Halifax historical building, amid much controversy. 
 

Performance Documentation: Jim & Phallus atop a building 

Fellow artists appear in the film to accompany Jim on his adventures and contextualize his life.  They include Toronto artists Andrew James Paterson and Paul Couillard, as well as NSCAD University professors Jan Peacock and Dr. Daryl Varga.  Filmmaker Lulu Keating and actress Mary-Colin Chisholme provide a personal context and detail the creation of the 2125 Brunswick Street Housing Co-op (of which they were all members).  Observational footage of Jim at work and play complements interviews, and the film completes with both the discovery of The Goddess and new visuals by Jim himself.
 

[Picture 1 ] (top to bottom): Still from observational footage of Jim and Robin [Picture 2] Sue Johnson, Eryn Foster, Michael Fuller, Jim MacSwain and Robin Metcalf on location during filming.  [Pictures 3&4] Film Stills from Celestial Queer: Robin Metcalfe and Lulu Keating during their interviews.

In the summer of 2013 co-directors Eryn Foster and Sue Johnson began collaborating on this documentary with production support from Canada Council for the Arts, the National Film Board of Canada, and the Linda Joy Media Arts Foundation.  Currently the film has wrapped principal photography with over 40 hours of footage, and we are looking to get it into the hands of our very talented editor, Kaija Siirala, who also did the trailer. 

To make this film happen to a standard befitting of Jim's ouevre, we need $30,000.  Specifically, your money will go to the following: 

• Post-production (editing, audio mix and mastering, music composition, digitization of Jim's Super8 and 16mm work) - 80% 
• Promotion and publicity - 7%
• Perk costs - 7%
• Crowdfunding fees - 6%

If for any reason we do not meet our target, the edit and digitization are our top priorities.  Currently we are planning the edit for the early months of 2020, with an ultimate goal of premiering an east-coast premiere. We will aim to have this documentary reach as many audiences as possible through the festival circuit, as well as well as through Artist-Run-Centres.  
 

To show our thanks for your contribution, we're offering an amazing selection of perks, including limited edition artist multiples (a miniature phallus, don't you just have to have one?), unique art works made by Jim and friends, shimmering glittering tote bags, a fabulous film poster designed and illustrated by Louise Reimer, a VIP Screening & After Party featuring oysters and bubbly, a letterpress poem (written by Jim and hand set with metal type by Emily Davidson ) and many many other fantastic gifts in return for your support.

Thanks to our talented hand model Natalie Slater

* You can choose to give without claiming a perk.  Just click the red “Back It” button near the top of the page and enter any amount. 

Celestial Queer will not only contextualize Jim's history and output, it will also illuminate the largely unrepresented history of both media arts and queer culture in Atlantic Canada. Artist-run culture has been central to Jim’s development and career, and he routinely explores both the history and aesthetics of queerness in his work and life.  Besides this, Jim has a keen sense of humour and pathos about the places he came from and what he eventually evolved into.  Jim’s story resonates because his experience illustrates how to overcome obstacles and be a person (and artist) in this world. 

The film will also highlight Jim’s work beyond his popular retrospective, and offer up a specifically queer context.  Jim has incredible performances (and the rarely-seen documentation thereof) that have lit up the switchboards at the police station, collages that metaphorically weave penises, extreme weather and sexual politics together, narrative work that both foreshadows and portends contemporary queer theory and politics, as well as activist work created in the midst of the HIV/AIDS crisis.  The film explores Jim’s work beyond the collage-driven animation he is best known for, and explores his sense of purpose, politics, and pragmatism that has impacted communities in both Halifax and Toronto. 

Besides the importance of telling Jim's story, the post-production process will also preserve and digitize many of Jim's work in Super8mm and 16mm, for both inclusion in the film and archiving.  This process will ensure longevity while also providing new points of access for Jim's films. 

Eryn Foster

Eryn Foster is an interdisciplinary artist who also earns her living working as as a curator, filmmaker, educator and community arts organizer. Based in Halifax Nova Scotia, she has spent much of her adult life nomadically wandering, and sometimes living, in various forests, towns and cities across Canada and abroad.

Foster has a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal and a MFA from the University of Guelph. She also studied documentary film at Capilano University in Vancouver.  For almost two decades, she has exhibited her work at artist-run centres, galleries, museums, and other art and non-art spaces and has also participated in numerous artist residencies and collective art projects. Most recently she participated in residencies at the Banff Centre,  Gibraltar Point (Toronto Island), and La Cite des Arts in Paris. This past year she also spent three months creating new work at A-Dash, a collaborative artist-run centre in Athens Greece.  Presently, Foster is working in partnership with the Sable Island Institute and Dalhousie Art Gallery, to develop, curate and organize a multi-disciplinary artist-residency and exhibition project to take place in 2021/2022.

Foster’s first film was a super low-budget and ambitious indie feature she created in collaboration with her friend, Argentinian director, Santiago Giralt. Their film, "Here Kitty Kitty", won the Panorama Prize at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival in 2015. It has also been screened at numerous other film festivals, arts venues and occasionally on Argentinian cable TV.

Sue Johnson

Sue Johnson began making films while earning her Bachelor of Arts degree (English Literature and Fine Arts) at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick.  After earning her degree, Johnson began working in production for several prominent artist-run centres on the east coast including Struts Gallery & Faucet Media Arts and the Centre for Art Tapes.  During this time she immersed herself into the world of artist-driven independent film and video, an aesthetic and working methodology which still informs much of her practice.

After completing her Master of Fine Arts degree at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, Johnson maintained an independent practice through her own company, Still Silver Productions.  With a focus on character-driven documentaries and compelling visual storytelling, Still Silver provides a niche for the unique and uncommon.  Johnson's work is defined by a visual storytelling sensibility that favours movement and light as well as candid, direct access to subjects.  Johnson's work has screened both nationally and internationally on both televised and theatrical platforms. 

Kaija Siirala

Kaija works in documentary media as a picture editor, sound designer and educator.  Films she has worked on have screened at the National Gallery of Canada, True/False Film Festival, Camden International Film Festival, DOC NYC, AFI Fest and as a New York Times Op-Doc.  In summer of 2019, her sound piece Hamina, Finland was included in a group show called Resonant Bodies at Toronto Media Arts Festival.  A keen collaborator, Kaija has explored live video mixing in a number of performance contexts including dance, theatre, and music.  She was a member-in-residence of the Meerkat Media Collective in Brooklyn, NY, from 2016-2018.  In May 2018, she completed her MFA in Integrated Media Arts at Hunter College (CUNY) and is now based in Hamilton, Ontario. kaijasii.com

Additional Help & Support

As you probably know, making a film takes a village!  We'd like to acknowledge all of the other amazing people who have contributed their time, labour and talents to this collective project. We have been so lucky to have worked with Michael Fuller (camera), Santiago Giralt (editing and story), Rob Tough (sound), Scott Harwood (music), Marcia Connolly (wise woman and story advisor), and Janette Luu (communications guru and campaign support). We also would like to mention the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, who provided us with accessible and amazing resources (such as affordable gear rentals!), they really really helped to make this film happen!

Every contribution counts, but if you're not able to support in this way, please help us spread the word.  Share our project on social media or in an email to friends and family, so that we can finish the film to a standard reflective of Jim’s overall contribution to culture, politics, and the arts.