Really Happy Someday
J Stevens | Canada | 2024 | 90m
Really Happy Someday follows Z (Breton Lalama), a former rising star in the musical theatre world who steps back into the spotlight after a life-changing transition. Once celebrated for his powerful voice, Z now faces the challenge of adapting to his new vocal range, navigating the complexities of singing in a different register. As he strives to return to his passion for performing, he confronts the delicate balance between embracing his true self and honoring the talent that once defined him. Along the way, Z’s journey becomes one of self-discovery and reconciliation, as he learns to embrace both the person he once was and the person he has become. A heartfelt exploration of identity, resilience, and the love of music, Really Happy Someday is a moving portrait of transformation, filled with poignant performances and a story that resonates beyond the stage.
A rising musical-theatre star before his transition, Z (Breton Lalama) has to figure out how to sing in his new register in order to return to the thing he loves most — and, in the process, integrate his past and present selves.
J Stevens (they/them) is a Canadian director and cinematographer. They are committed to bringing dynamic, personal, boundary-pushing, and visually captivating LGBTQ2S+ content to audiences.
Presented with Winnipeg Film Group short:
5¢ a Copy
Ed Ackerman & Greg Zbitnew | Canada | 1988 | 3m
The world’s first experimental photocopy-animated film, 5¢ a Copy, explores unique methods of creating motion images using a Minolta EP-310 photocopy machine. All effects, including fades and dissolves, were crafted directly on paper. The short film captures the spirit of the Winnipeg Film Group, an artist collective founded in 1974. In 1980, amid debates over how to allocate resources, Ackerman and Zbitnew responded creatively to the purchase of a photocopier, crafting this surreal three-minute animation using photocopied faces and cut-outs.
Ed Ackerman is an experimental filmmaker from Winnipeg, known for blending sound and imagery in non-linear storytelling, as seen in Pulpit (1984) and On the Road to Ubud (1986). Greg Zbitnew, also an early member of the Winnipeg Film Group, explores memory and time through his use of found footage, shaping the group’s avant-garde approach.
Address: 250 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines, L2R 3M2, Canada
Online ticket sales close one day in advance of the screening. Tickets will be available at the door or at firstontariopac.ca.
