Photo from Liza, the Fox-Fairy

What’s going on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5

SAW Gallery, Performance Voyage 5
Free admission and a complimentary Finlandia cocktail provided by the Embassy of Finland – Performance Voyage 5 is off to a good start. As the name suggest, the performance-based video show travels around the globe – the show will tour 15 venues throughout Scandinavia, Europe and Canada. The works have been submitted by 13 international artists, selected from an open call, and focus on issues around nationality, family, homelessness, immigration, and national and political views. Thursday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m., head to the SAW Gallery for the fifth instalment.
SAW Gallery, 67 Nicholas St. 

Cellar Door Film Festival
“…of all the phrases in the English language, of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, ‘cellar door’ is the most beautiful.” Likely drawing on the psychological, sci-fi thriller, Donnie Darko, for their name, the Cellar Door film fest, which runs from Thursday, Nov. 5 to Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Mayfair Theatre, ventures into the fantastic, the futuristic, and the downright frightening. On opening night, catch Liza, the Fox-Fairy, a Hungarian black comedy about a 30-something woman who gets turned into a fox demon by her imaginary friend — the ghost of a Japanese pop star, who is jealous of her love life. Soon, all the men she dates start to die in bizarre and mysterious ways… Advance admission $9; on-site admission $12 (cash only); festival passes $40. See website for complete schedule and venue info.
cdff.ca.

Spur Festival
Fifteen years ago, many Afghan citizens who wanted to make a phone call had to walk to neighbouring Pakistan to do it. Today, the country’s youth are using cell phones to communicate on social media. On Thursday, Nov. 5, Karim Khoja, the Canadian CEO of telecommunications firm Roshan, talks about how his company has been instrumental to the digital revolution in Afghanistan — how it has connected Afghan citizens with each other, helped doctors in remote locations perform surgery, even provided access to financial services in the absence of banks. Founded by the Literary Review of Canada, Spur Festival tackles some of the toughest questions facing not just Canadians, but the world at large. The festival continues until Sunday, Nov. 8. Admission from $5, though prices vary by event. See here for complete schedule and venue info.

The post

HEADS UP – performance, politics, and dark comedy