CASTRATION MOVIE
ANTHOLOGY II.
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
a film by Louise Weard
FEATURE PRESENTATION
MAY 30, 2026 • 7 PM
@ THE BUS STOP THEATRE
(2203 GOTTINGEN STREET, HALIFAX)
2025 / CANADA / 300 mins
HIFF is proud to announce the North American Festival premiere of Castration Movie Anthology ii: The Best of Both Worlds!
Months after last year’s sold-out HIFF screening of Louise Weard’s Castration Movie Anthology i., Weard headed to New York to film the next instalment, another five-hour feat of searing performances and visionary, operatic storytelling, shot on a Sony Digital8 Handycam.
Anthology ii. follows our hero Circle as she tries to escape a trans separatist cult. A relentless horror and formidable comedy, the film feels like if Scorsese’s After Hours were about a trans woman seeking refuge from well-wishers trying to either brainwash, abuse, or date and detransition her.
Weard and her incredible cast of actors refuse to minimize each character’s capacity for cruelty and harm, while never dismissing their humanity. A beautiful result of its runtime is the focus it devotes to characters who would otherwise provide only satiric one-liners or antagonism. The audience is forced to acknowledge and consider each interior world. During a more culturally literate time, the importance of honestly rendered, flawed characters as a way to connect and communicate with an audience would be more of a given. But now, the brutal grace of Castration Movie stands out as a guidepost of conviction. —Rebecca Falvey
TRAILER
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Louise Weard
Louise Weard is a director with a degree in Film Semiotics. She is responsible for the films Computer Hearts and Castration Movie.