Black joy is the animating vibe of Patty vs. Party, a celebration of Caribbean diaspora communities that pairs works by Jamaican-Canadian director Chris Strikes (Becoming a Queen) and British-Grenadian-Trinidadian master Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Widows).

Shooting, respectively, in Toronto and London, each filmmaker revisits the 1980s, recalling an era where vibrant West Indian enclaves were routinely subject to heavy-handed intervention by racist authorities. But whether in Kensington Market or Notting Hill, as both films show, these communities were irrepressibly resilient.

Refusing to be stifled, they have instead made enduring contributions to the wider culture—not least via their finger-licking flavours and waistline-stirring basslines.

Patty vs. Patty | D: Chris Strikes | 2022 | Canada | 18 min

In 1985, Toronto’s Jamaican community found itself at the centre of a teeth-kissing tale of bureaucracy gone mad: federal inspectors demanded that Jamaican vendors change the name of their famously flaky yellow snacks, sparking the episode that came to be known as the “patty wars.”

Standing against the absurdity was one Michael Davidson, manager of Kensington Market’s Patty Palace. With the backing of his community, Davidson took his fight all the way to Ottawa—and won. Reliving this triumph via retro news footage and charming comic reenactments, Patty vs. Patty is an irreverent treat, recently crowned best short doc at the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards.

Lovers Rock | D: Steve McQueen | 2020 | UK | 68 mins

First-ever theatrical screening in Canada!

Sensual, joyous and bursting with big tunes, Lovers Rock pays rapturous tribute to reggae’s most romantic sub-genre. Though this is a fictional story, few screen experiences are as authentically immersive as Steve McQueen’s intoxicating recreation of an early-‘80s house party in London’s Notting Hill. Taking place over the course of a charged, sleepless night, the film follows the teenaged Martha (Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) as she arrives at the function and catches the eyes of several fellow guests, including the dapper, mysterious Franklyn (Top Boy’s Micheal Ward).

But at a time when Black Londoners were often unwelcome in white nightclubs, these “blues parties” were more than an opportunity to cozy up to a crush; they were also cathartic havens for a marginalized community. Lovers Rock invites viewers into that space, to share in the transportive potential of a perfect needle drop.

Film notes by For Viola programmer Julian Carrington

While this screening is presented free of charge, please consider a donation of $10 in recognition of the value of the work presented, and in honour of Viola Desmond, featured on the $10 banknote, at checkout. Half the proceeds will be shared directly with the filmmakers, who also receive screening fees.

For Viola: Hot Docs' screening series centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC)-led stories and filmmakers, named in honour of Canadian civil rights icon Viola Desmond. This series seeks to affirm Hot Docs as a space of inclusion for BIPOC creators and audience members alike. In order to minimize barriers to audience participation, all screenings in this series are free of charge.

For Viola is supported by