CELESTIAL QUEER: THE LIFE, WORK AND WONDER OF JAMES MACSWAIN
ERYN E FOSTER + SUE JOHNSON | CANADA | 2023 | 72 MIN | ENGLISH
ERYN E FOSTER + SUE JOHNSON | CANADA | 2023 | 72 MIN | ENGLISH
Synopsis
Celestial Queer celebrates James MacSwain, Nova Scotia's beloved and beguiling queer artist, animator and gay-rights activist who passed away this past September 2025. Born and raised in the “backwater” of Atlantic Canada, MacSwain has been making ground-breaking experimental films, animations and provocative art performances for more than half a century. A quietly outspoken feminist, naturalist, and gay rights activist, Celestial Queer introduces audiences to a charmingly obscure and prolific Canadian artist. Through a combination of playful verité and rarely seen footage from his archive, Celestial Queer accompanies MacSwain and a revolving cast of characters as he revisits everything from the sites of some of his most recognized works to the rocky tidal shores of Nova Scotia. The film also includes rarely-seen footage from the infamous 1984 rooftop ‘Phallus Performance’ during which MacSwain was almost both arrested and charged with obscenity. Jim’s effusive character, prolific work, and community organizing have inspired generations of artists to fearlessly be themselves. Celestial Queer now introduces audiences to one of Canada’s best kept secrets, an artist who is effortlessly charming, engagingly prolific, and subversive to his surrealist core.
Trailer
Filmmaker Bio
Sue Johnson is a Toronto-based filmmaker who works primarily in long-form narrative and documentary film. Johnson's work has been shown on major platforms and networks such as Netflix, Peacock, StarZ, NBC, CBS, CBC and Al Jazeera, and has also screened internationally at festivals including Toronto International Film Festival, San Francisco Doc Fest, and Inside Out Film Festival. A member of both I.A.T.S.E. 667 and the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, Johnson composes frames with an eye to the emotive, tactile and thematic. She shares her enthusiasm and knowledge for image-making in the Department of Cinema and Media Arts at York University, where she is an Assistant Professor.
Filmmaker Bio
Eryn Foster is an interdisciplinary artist based in K’jipuktuk/Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada). She also works as a filmmaker, educator, and arts consultant. Foster received her BFA from Concordia University in Montreal and her MFA from the University of Guelph. Over the past two decades Foster has presented her work at numerous artist-run centres, public galleries and museums as well as ongoing exhibitions at Hermes Gallery, in Halifax, where she is a member of the collective. She has received several awards and grants for her work including ones from the Canada Council for the Arts and Arts Nova Scotia.
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