ABOUT PARKDALE SHOWCASE

Parkdale Showcase is an eclectic showcase of films and videos and media art by artists who live and/or work in the dynamic Parkdale community.

A rare dose of defiant and whimsical film and video, the Parkdale Showcase festival is intended not to purify the neighbourhood, but to jumpstart a collective kind of visual and cultural infusion.

Cross-cultural neighbours, fringy as well as professional image-makers all converging on a hot weekend evening in June - a microcosm of Toronto's unique arts scene.

The Parkdale Showcase's Objectives include

The Parkdale Beauty Pageant Society seeks to:

• Increase community awareness of independent media art forms and art practices at the community level
• Promote access to media arts in the heart of Parkdale
• Stimulate dialogue between artists and the wider community
• Create opportunities for the production and dissemination of independent film and video for Parkdale-based artists
• Increase awareness of Parkdale to the larger artistic community in Toronto
• Foster links and partnerships between Parkdale's business community and the arts community in an attempt to facilitate the sustainability of community arts

STATEMENT ON CENSORSHIP: THE PARKDALE BEAUTY PAGEANT SOCIETY AND PARKDALE SHOWCASE SUPPORT ARTISTIC FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ARE AGHAST BY THE ANTIQUATED ONTARIO FILM REVIEW BOARD AND THEIR PROCESS OF REQUIRING ALL PUBLIC SCREENINGS TO BE RATED FOR APPROVAL. FILM AND VIDEO ARE THE ONLY FORMS OF CREATIVE EXPRESSION SUBJECTED TO THIS DRACONIAN EXERCISE. ACCORDINGLY, WE DO NOT SUBMIT THE FILMS AND VIDEOS SCREENED IN THIS SHOWCASE FOR PRIOR APPROVAL (RATINGS) AND WE ARE VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED TO CENSORSHIP IN ALL FORMS. THANK YOU.