Michael Achtman

Uncut

Circumcision and artistic freedom concern three homosexuals, denied communication during a surreal jail stay.

Awake

This existential comedy tells the story of Anna, a chronically ill woman, who is visited by Doreen, a door to door proselytizer who slowly overstays her welcome. Together, they walk in the park, bake a cake and watch an Ingmar Bergman film.

Welcome Stop

A young blind woman dumps her oppressive boyfriend at the motorway service station and hitches a ride with a recovering sex-and-love addict.

Mr. Danvers

Romance gone wrong sparks this visually poetic meditation on love, promises and destruction, with reference to Mrs. Danvers, that icon of perfectly executed revenge in Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rebecca.

Orin & Anto

A young, non-binary visitor to London returns to their Airbnb to find an older gay man has moved in. In a small studio flat over one turbulent night, Orin and Anto confront the queer generation gap and decide to make space for each other.

A Gun Makes an Awful Mess

Contemplating suicide, a young gay man is heartbroken over his lost love.

Tubbé

Tubbé describes the ongoing dissociation between two solitudes (English and French Canada) in the form of one queer-in-a-tub's reflections on his amorous escapades.

MASH Notes for Private Kyle Brown

Based on a poem by R.M. Vaughan about the torture and murder of a Somalian teenager by members of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, this haunting work examines individual responsibility versus systemic corruption and the homophobic and racist elements central to the military enterprise.

save myself

A response to World Catholic Youth Day and the Pope’s 2002 mass in Toronto, "save myself" is a personal meditation on faith and loss. Why does thought require words, and is anybody listening?

Hard Times Town

Midnight cowpoke scrounges the streets of Mike Harris' mean megatropolis, looking for a good time or just a bite to eat. "Hard time living, too young to die. Lord, lord, lord: hard times town."

flesh of my flesh

Drawing on pre-biblical mythology, "flesh of my flesh" is a queer retelling of the "first" murder. Abel returns from the wars of God our Father to a bombed out and pillaged Canaan. His brother/lover Cain leads him to a barren field where, in an effort to reinstate the garden of paradise, he performs the sacrificial ritual. The consequence (for Cain and all his tribe) is banishment, to the land "east of Normal."