Assembly – Hot Docs 2025
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April 24 to May 4, 2025
FILM FESTIVAL
Hot Docs
Hot Docs 2025
PROGRAMME
Hot Docs Special Presentations
Queer artist Rashaad Newsome creates a decolonization installation in New York’s Park Avenue Armoury in Assembly. Rashaad Newsome is a proudly queer artist, who plans to use his next work “Assembly” to reclaim the Park Avenue Armoury’s past association with imperialism. The show is a mix of exhibition, decolonization lessons taught by an A.I. named Being, and nightly performances by queer singers and dancers.
Assembly Synopsis
Assembly is a documentary directed by Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons about the former’s show of the same name that was put on in the Park Avenue Armoury in New York. Rashaad hires dancers from around the world to give their own unique takes on voguing. He also develops Being The AI Griot to give decolonization lessons to the attendees.
My Thoughts on Assembly
In many ways, while documenting Rashaad Newsome‘s show, Assembly can also be viewed as performance art in its own right. This includes multiple dramatized moments in the film, where Rashaad converses with the AI Being. Admittedly, these moments come off as somewhat distracting, even though the film as an whole and the art show it is based on end up being a celebration of the black, queer, and trans experience.
