Equal parts art project, history lesson, and whimsy, Celestial Queer: The Life, Work, and Wonder of James MacSwain offers a portrait of an artist who defied convention for a life lived on his own terms. Directors Eryn Foster and Sue Johnson spent a decade checking in with the witty, erudite MacSwain as he moved about his life in north end Halifax, returned to his tiny rural hometown of Amherst, Nova Scotia—where he grew up, unable to pass for straight, in the 1950s—and discussed his lifelong, wildly inventive art practice.
The playful, queer work is cut out, glued together, and sung into intricate collages, analogue films combining handmade animation with documentary and provocative exhibitions. Johnson and Foster, who knew MacSwain for decades until his death in 2025, combine myriad formats in the production (including 16mm, Super-8, and digital video) for an intimate patchwork celebration reflective of their subject’s own body of work. Celestial Queer now stands as an elegy for a man who was defiantly original, internationally renowned, and an icon of artistic integrity. James MacSwain lived how he wanted—unabashed, uncompromising, and unforgettable.
This screening is part of the 2026 Animation Festival of Halifax.
