Doors 7:30p
Program 8:00p
Jun 27, 2024 at 7:30 pm
You Are A Lesbian Vampire
A conversation following the program with Theo Jean Cuthand & Tara Mateik
UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY
We’re excited to welcome Theo Jean Cuthand back to UnionDocs for a mini retrospective of his decades spanning oeuvre of short, experimental narrative works about sexuality, madness, Queer identity and love, and Indigeneity,
Along with these video works, Theo will present a Carmilla the Lonely, a video game written, drawn and programmed by the artist. Come through to follow the journey of lesbian vampire Carmilla as she unravels what it means to be an ethical vampire!
Running through each of these singular works is the vividly personal lens through which Theo reflects on societal norms and historical legacies. Cuthand’s works invite audiences to engage with the intersections of personal and collective identity and the enduring quest for understanding and connection.
Come through!
Program
Carmilla the Lonely
Video Game
Carmilla the Lonely is a Lesbian vampire, but with ethics. She’s got complicated needs for blood and love and avoiding the sun. In this small urban community she meets the late night crowds on the street, in a diner, and in a local BDSM club. She also lives in a crypt in a cemetery down the street where she returns to escape the dawn. Through conversations and interactions you will learn to ethically behave as a vampire, although honestly you could drain people of their blood. But is that a good idea?
Written, drawn, and programmed by Theo Cuthand.
Made with support from The Canada Council for the Arts, Q21 in Vienna, Austri, and McMaster University School of the Arts in Hamilton Ontario Canada.
Boi Oh Boi
2012, 09:32 minutes, colour, English
After a long period in life identifying as a Butch Lesbian, Cuthand considers transitioning to male. This experience involved a six month period of his life during which he went by the name Sarain, which he would have been called had he been born a boy, and asking to be called by male pronouns. Complicated by mental health crises, Cuthand found themselves in a mental health group home for women, having to hide their gender dysphoria. After a considerable amount of thought and discussion, Cuthand changed his mind and decided to remain a Butch Lesbian. Explaining his decision, she touches on the desire to maintain a connection to the Lesbian community, as well as the sexy genderfucking that happens when one is a masculine woman. Shot partially on location in Hamburg, Germany, riding back and forth on the UBahn is a metaphor for his eventual acceptance of fluctuating between a masculine and a feminine gender. In a nod to his two spirited ancestors, he mentions that he would have been able to make up his own gender had colonization not happened. Since this video was completed, Cuthand decided again to transition to male and use he/him pronouns.
Helpless Maiden Makes an “I” Statement
1999, 06:00 minutes, colour, English
Deriving its title from the classic quilt pattern “Grandmother’s Flower Garden,” Grandmother’s Garden examines the past and present production of quiltmaking as it relates to the histories of slavery and cotton production, westward expansion, and the textile industry in the United States.
Just Dandy
2013, 07:38 minutes, colour, English
Invited to speak at an Indigenous Revolutionary Meeting, the narrator describes an intimate encounter with an Evil Colonizing Queen which leads to Turtle Island’s contraction of an invasive European flora.
You Are A Lesbian Vampire
2008, 03:17 minutes, B&W/colour titles, English
In the dark night of a prairie city, a vampire considers her future with a fetching mortal. But requiring blood for sustenance brings a host of problems to the relationship.
Neurotransmitting
2021, 08:23 minutes, English
Theo Jean Cuthand and his mother Ruth Cuthand have a candid conversation about his last hospitalization for Bipolar Disorder in 2007. While Theo only knew his manic episode from the inside, Ruth had to deal with caregiving decisions and trying to find help. While they reminisce they also have to reckon with the feelings of animosity that arose between them during these events.
Program Duration: 90 mins
Watch the conversation between Presenter1, Presenter2 and Presenter 3 on the UnionDocs’ Membership hub.
Bios
Theo Jean Cuthand was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1978, and grew up in Saskatoon. Since 1995 he has been making short experimental narrative videos and films about sexuality, madness, Queer identity and love, and Indigeneity, which have screened in festivals internationally, including the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, Mix Brasil Festival of Sexual Diversity in Sao Paolo, ImagineNATIVE in Toronto, Ann Arbour Film Festival, Images in Toronto, Berlinale in Berlin, New York Film Festival, Outfest, and Oberhausen International Short Film Festival. His work has also exhibited at galleries including the Remai in Saskatoon, The National Gallery in Ottawa, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, MoMA in New York, and The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in Film and Video at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2005, and his Masters of Arts in Media Production at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2015. He has made commissioned work for Urban Shaman and Videopool in Winnipeg, Cinema Politica in Montreal, VIMAF in Vancouver, and Bawaadan Collective in Canada. In 2020 he completed working on a 2D video game called A Bipolar Journey based on his experience learning and dealing with his bipolar disorder. Currently he finished his second video game Carmilla the Lonely, a lesbian vampire game about ethics. He has also written three feature screenplays and has performed at Live at The End Of The Century in Vancouver, Queer City Cinema’s Performatorium in Regina, and 7a*11d in Toronto. He is a Whitney Biennial 2019 artist. He is a trans man who uses he/him pronouns. Cuthand is of Plains Cree and Scots descent, a member of Little Pine First Nation, and currently resides in Toronto, Canada.
From the Event
