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Guelph Film Festival: Assembly—2025, dirs. Rashaad Newsome & Johnny Symons

November 8, 2025 @ 7:30 pm
$15
A poster for the film Assembly, presented as part of the Guelph Film Festival. The poster features drawing of a street sign reading Guelph Film Festival Nov 7-15 2025, with the GFF logo. Next to this are two pedestrian crossing signals, both lit up: the orange warning hand is replaced with a clenched fist, the white walk signal is replaced with a white dancing figure. In the centre of the image is another pedestrian signal where the hand and figure are both replaced with a black and red background on which the film title and information are presented, along with a photo of dancers from the film.

IICSI is proud to co-present Assembly, a film by Rashaad Newsome & Johnny Symons, at this year’s Guelph Film Festival!

The film, which runs for 99 minutes, will screen in ImprovLab on Saturday, November 8th, at 7:30 PM. This event is PWYW, with $15 suggested.

Assembly is a multisensory extravaganza featuring a global cast of performers, who transform New York’s historic Park Avenue Armory from a bastion of white military power into a vibrant celebration of Black and queer culture. Reimagining the military facility through video projections, AI holograms, sculptures, collages, music, dance, and African fractal patterns challenges colonial structures while honouring the complexity and resilience of Black experience, thereby turning pain into artistic power. One such moment is a memorial for murdered Black trans women that evolves into a protest march, highlighting art’s capacity for reclaiming agency and inspiring change, offering a vision of intergenerational resilience, transformation, and hope. The film transcends traditional documentary by weaving together Rashaad Newsome’s creative process, dynamic performances, and the lives of his collaborators through hybrid storytelling, visual effects, and the ongoing presence of ancestors.

Before and after the screening, audiences will be invited to experience interactive and collaborative multi-sensory experiences centring BIPOC and queer communities. For full details and to purchase tickets, please visit the listing on the Guelph Film Festival website. Don’t forget to check out other GFF events, too! The festival runs from November 7-15.

 

Details

Organizers

Venue

  • ImprovLab
  • MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph
    Guelph, Ontario N1G 1Y4 Canada     + Google Map