A Moffie Called Simon
1986 · 16 min · ★ 4.0 · Documentary
A collage of found footage from different media presenting the case of Simon Nkodi, a black gay activist and student leader in South Africa, who had been in jail for two years when the film was produced. Exploring the connections between anti-apartheid struggles and gay liberation, A Moffie Called Simon is based on letters from Nkodi to his lover, Ray, a Canadian gay journalist.
Directed by John Greyson · Written by John Greyson
Your Rating
Make it a double feature
1h 52m togetherBoth from John Greyson.
More from John GreysonSee all →
Queer as Folk · 2000Queer as Folk
★ 8.32000
SeriesDrama
Brash humor and genuine emotion make up this original series revolving around the lives, loves, ambitions, careers and friendships of a group of gay men and women living on Liberty Avenue in contemporary Pittsburgh, PA. The show offers an unapologetic look at modern, urban gay and lesbian lives while addressing the most critical health and political issues affecting the community. Sometimes racy, sometimes sensitive and always straight to the heart.
Lilies · 1997Lilies
★ 8.11997
MovieDramaRomance
1952: Bishop Bilodeau visits a prison to hear the confession of Simon, a boyhood friend jailed for murder 40 years ago. However, once there, Bilodeau finds himself forced to watch a play put on by Simon and the other inmates depicting the two men's youths. As the play progresses, the tragic truth of Simon's crime comes to light.
Proteus · 2003Proteus
★ 6.02003
MovieDramaHistory
An exquisite period piece that skillfully explores the intersections of sex, race and politics takes place in 18th century South Africa, telling the passionate (true) story of two men caught in an unjust system rife with racism, homophobia and cruelty.
Zero Patience · 1993Zero Patience
★ 5.81993
MovieFantasyDrama
The ghost of "patient zero", who allegedly first brought AIDS to North America - materialises and tries to contact old friends. Meanwhile, the Victorian explorer Sir Richard Burton, who drank from the Fountain of Youth and now works as Chief Taxidermist at the Toronto Natural history Museum, is trying to organise an exhibition about the disease for the museum's "Hall of Contagion".
The Law of Enclosures · 2000The Law of Enclosures
★ 4.92000
MovieDrama
Story of the same couple, first in their teenage years and then in their twilight years, paradoxically set in the same time during the backdrop of the Gulf War in the Middle East.
Urinal · 1988Urinal
★ 4.31988
MovieDrama
A mystery man brings together a group of dead, gay artists to investigate a police response to the dilema of wash-room sex in Toronto. The artists have seven days in which to report on the ethics of police tactics. The artists infiltrate the police only to discover that they themselves are under surveillance as a political subversive group. The artists explore and report on the evolution of toilets and wash-room behavior.
Uncut · 1997Uncut
★ 3.91997
MovieComedyDrama
Circumcision and artistic freedom concern three homosexuals, denied communication during a surreal jail stay.
The Making of Monsters · 1991The Making of Monsters
★ 3.71991
MovieMusicComedy
Experimental musical based on a factual incident, the beating to death of a homosexual man in Toronto, 1985, by five teenagers.
You Taste American · 1984You Taste American
★ 3.01984
Movie
Michel Focault and Tennessee Williams meet the police in Orillia, Ontario, in this mixed media performance film about the 1983 Canadian washroom arrests.
Photo Booth · 2022Photo Booth
★ 1.02022
MovieMusicDocumentary
Outraged by the latest bombing of Gaza, Palestinian queer activists Hamza and Walid recruit queer novelist Jean Genet to help them sabotage the Eurovision song contest in Jericho. Their method? Secure the collaboration of Buddy and Pedro, Toronto's famous gay penguins... The emergence of queer BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) as a dynamic Palestinian-led global movement is brought to vivid life through interviews and actions, opera and agitprop, protests and pranks. Recounting fifteen years of passionate activism in Toronto and worldwide, Photo Booth juxtaposes a surreal operatic narrative with documentary scenes that explore pride and pink-washing, gay soldiers and homo-nationalism, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, and the accelerating weaponization of anti-Semitism.
Door Prize · 2025Door Prize
2025
MovieMusicMystery
Mars Brito, a trans bike courier, is killed by an SUV. Is he the victim of an accidental 'door prize', or is this murder? His case becomes a city-wide obsession, with hourly true crime updates and rewards for clues. While this murder mystery unfolds, a Toronto trans activist (also named Mars) works with his friends on an operatic memorial, creating arias for each of the 375 trans murders that were committed around the world that year. Door Prize weaves together documentary, drama, and opera scenes into a hybrid film that explores issues of media spectacle, solidarity violence, trans visibility, and anti-trans violence.
On Message · 2006On Message
2006
MovieAnimation
An analog animation using the same set of drawings to tell four different versions of the same story. The emotional fallout of two witnesses to a police shooting, a musical about groovy gay boys making the scene, a cop show about the chase and arrest of a suspect, and a news report about soldiers on leave in Iraq.
Death Mask · 2023Death Mask
2023
MovieMusicHistory
This experimental opera reenacts the lesser known history of Chinese medical student Li Shiu Tong, and his lover Magnus Hirschfeld, a much older German sexologist and gay rights pioneer during Nazi Germany.
Mariposa · 2022Mariposa
2022
MovieDocumentaryMusic
In 2021, aspiring chef Phelokazi Ndlwana was stabbed to death because she fought back against her rapist. She was targeted specifically because she was a proud black lesbian, beloved in her home community of Khayelitsha Township, South Africa, and the latest victim in a national epidemic of homophobic violence. Funeka Soldaat and her activist group Free Gender in Khayelitsha took the police to court, alleging incompetence and corruption in Phelokazi's case. Ndodana-Breen and Greyson have crafted an operatic cine-poem inspired by Phelokazi's story, featuring vocals by mezzo-soprano Chantelle Grant.
The World is Sick (sic) · 1989The World is Sick (sic)
1989
MovieDocumentary
An experimental documentary on the activist interventions at the Fifth International Conference on AIDS in Montreal, in June 1989. While making fun of television news conventions, the tape prioritizes the voices of grassroots AIDS educators and People with AIDS activists from Trinidad, Thailand, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada. Demonstrations and interventions by AIDS activists from Montreal, Toronto, and the United States take centre stage, literally.
Pink:Diss · 2017Pink:Diss
2017
MovieComedy
The colour pink has been ascribed many meanings, from a reflection of the feminine to a symbol of reclaimed humanity by LGBTQ2S communities. In his latest work, avant-garde filmmaker John Greyson explores the colonial implications of the colour pink, from its association with activist movements to its colouring of the water in Grassy Narrows due to mercury poisoning. Pink this.
More Like This
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson · 2017The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
★ 7.12017
MovieDocumentary
Describing herself as a 'street queen,' Johnson was a legendary fixture in New York City’s gay ghetto and a tireless voice for LGBT pride since the days of Stonewall, who along with fellow trans icon Sylvia Rivera, founded Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.), a trans activist group based in the heart of NYC’s Greenwich Village. Her death in 1992 was declared a suicide by the NYPD, but friends never accepted that version of events. Structured as a whodunit, with activist Victoria Cruz cast as detective and audience surrogate, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson celebrates the lasting political legacy of Johnson, while seeking to finally solve the mystery of her unexplained death.
Do I Sound Gay? · 2015Do I Sound Gay?
★ 5.62015
MovieDocumentary
What makes a voice “gay”? A breakup with his boyfriend sets journalist David Thorpe on a quest to unravel a linguistic mystery.
Welcome to Chechnya · 2020Welcome to Chechnya
★ 6.92020
MovieDocumentary
This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.
