Thursday, May 18, 6:30 PM - At the Bus Stop Theatre - A Mayworks/Carbon Arc event!
Sara Wylie | Documentary | Canada | 2022 | 40m

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Sara Wylie moderated by MLA Gary Burrill.

Click to visit the Mayworks website

Nearly lost in the annals of Canadian history, the writings of Joe Wallace—radical believer in socialist ideals, writer of anti-capitalist verses, and survivor of detainment by the Canadian government—have been revived by his great-great-niece, director Sara Wylie.

Searching through library archives, family records, and footage from the early decades of the Canadian settler state, Wylie assembles the story of Wallace the poet and revolutionary. “The more I began looking for him, the more I began to see parts of myself reflected,” she says. His poems are spirited, forthright and folksy; they recall a time of great political change and opportunity.

Inextricable from Wallace’s life and work is the history of Canada’s labour movement and the increasing involvement of the state in its disruption. A More Radiant Sphere captures a time and a feeling at risk of being erased by Canadian myth, when the possibility of a world beyond capitalism surged forth into poetry. (Written by Sarah Bakke)

A mid-length hybrid documentary about Joe Wallace: Canadian Communist poet, political prisoner, and the filmmaker’s long lost family member. Shot on 16mm and digital, featuring original songs by award-winning musician Fiver/Simone Schmidt.

“Poetry is of a higher order. It sets bells ringing in the mind of the reader so that he makes his own music…”

Please note this event takes place at the Bus Stop Theatre, 2203 Gottingen St. as part of Mayworks