BIG NIGHT

WEDNESDAY, September 1 2021

big night

With short film Distant Cousins

And live music by Beams

One of the true gems of American independent cinema, Big Night features Tony Shaloub and Stanley Tucci (who also co-writes and co-directs) as a pair of brilliant but troubled brothers running a failing Italian restaurant on Jersey Shore in the 1950s. Given the chance to entertain a celebrity and save the restaurant, they put it all on the line to throw the party of a lifetime, with a guestlist including Minnie Driver, Isabella Rossellini, Marc Anthony, and the indelible Ian Holm. The result is one of the most memorable feasts ever put to film, an unbridled tragicomic celebration of food, family, community, and the Italian immigrant experience. Bring a pasta picnic, you’ll need it!

Funded by TOPS as part of our 10th anniversary season and World Premiering on September 1st, tonight’s short film has been greatly anticipated since before the pandemic.

Winnifred Jong’s new short film Distant Cousins also centres the ambivalence of first and second generation immigrants, and the uncertain space between old country and new, past and present. Through flashbacks and dreams, protagonist Trixie unpacks her complex relationship with her Chinese-Canadian family. In the process of trying to make sense of her long estrangement from her cousins, she uncovers a longstanding family secret. Distant Cousins represents a creative evolution for Jong, further leaning into the family dynamics and magic realist elements in her previously-featured short films The Offer and Milk.

With a live music performance from Beams
Music curated by Wavelength Music

Wavelength Music is a curated concert series designed to champion creativity, co-operation and collaboration in the independent music and arts scenes. Established in 2000, Wavelength is a non-profit arts organization that puts artists and the community first. A cornerstone of the Toronto music scene, Wavelength has championed literally thousands of emerging artists during its two decade-plus run.

Together since 2011, Toronto psychedelic folk-rock band Beams celebrated their 10th anniversary by releasing one of the best albums of 2021 so far. Ego Death sees Beams moving in a bold new sonic direction – one that puts loud guitars centre-stage, but still makes room for the airy acoustic instrumentation that defined its sound until now.

The album’s lyrics also take you on a journey: Ego Death is a narrative song cycle inspired by the concept of the “hero’s journey” or monomyth. The archetypal heroic adventure, in which the protagonist goes on a journey from which they come back forever changed, resonated with frontwoman Anna Mernieks-Duffield as she set off on her own personal quest.

In part depicting the eternal struggle between art and commerce, purity and pragmatism, the story told by Ego Death makes for an interesting parallel with the brothers’ journey in Big Night. Having presented their virtual album release event back in March, Wavelength is thrilled to kick off our return to in-person events with Beams.

BIG NIGHT

Campbell Scott & Stanley Tucci, 1996, USA

World Premiere of short film Distant Cousins directed by Winnifred Jong, 2021

Live music performance by BEAMS

EVENT DETAILS:

Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Admission: Same-day tickets available 12 PM on September 1
There will be no admission without an advance ticket

Venue: "Walled Fort" of Fort York National Historic Site - entry at west gates of 100 Garrison Road

Gates open @ 6 pm / Music @ 7:30pm / Cinema @ 8:30pm
COVID-19 on-site protocols - please read before attending
Event & ticket terms and conditions
Snacks and alcoholic beverages for sale (no outside alcohol permitted)
BYOBlanket & Chairs
Please see the accessibility features of Fort York
Films are screened with captioning
Content advisory: This film contains mild sex & nudity, moderate profanity, mild alcohol & drug use, and smoking

get tickets here