Culture, politics, music, race, and gender collide in the late Reagan-era masterpiece Do the Right Thing, an essential film about urban summer life. Cinematic maverick Spike Lee adopts an enthralling, colour-saturated aesthetic to capture the complicated lives of a diverse, interconnected cast of Brooklynites over the course of one day, as the sweltering heat, anger, and bigotry intensify towards an inevitable breaking point.

A Tribe Called Red’s Indian City Ft. Black Bear music video also uses the colourful cityscape and music to tell a larger story about urban history. ATCR’s unmistakable sonic clash of traditional Indigenous chanting and drumming with contemporary beats is rendered cinematic by breakdancers performing in the loaded colonial space of Toronto’s Fort York in the shadow of the Gardiner Expressway. Together, these two films are the perfect kick-off screening for Toronto Outdoor Picture Show’s 2018 Cinematic Cities programme, featuring films about cities and their citizens, presented in parks across Toronto this summer. 

Sunday, June 17, 2018
Fort York National Historic Site
Food and alcoholic beverage sale begins at 7pm, films at sundown, or approximately 9:15pm.

Free (donations gratefully accepted)