UNCLE ROY + 'Lights, Camera, Cinema!' A Panel Discussion with Thomas Waugh & Friends

 

UNCLE ROY

Directed by Keri Pickett | 2026 | 87 min | United States

Stick around for a free post-screening panel with author Thomas Waugh & guests Ruth Dyckfehderau and Matthew Hays! After the panel, head to FRANK'S PUB for a post-screening reception. 

Built on nine decades of professional and personal archives, UNCLE ROY follows the extraordinary life of globe-travelling-skater-turned-photographer Roy Blakey through the lens of his niece, award-winning documentary filmmaker Keri Pickett. 

Born in Oklahoma in 1930, Roy dreamed of performing on ice. He began collecting figure skating programs and photographs, a collection that expanded over his lifetime to 44,000 items, including posters, costumes, and so much more. This love of figure skating also led Roy to a career in theatrical skating, performing globally with Holiday on Ice, before becoming a photographer in New York.

Roy's photography captured iconic figures, including queer icons, while his work with male nudes pushed boundaries in art and publishing.

Growing up, Keri didn't know her mysterious uncle Roy until she followed him to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a professional photographer. As their lives converged, a friendship blossomed. After learning that her uncle was considered a "forefather of gay photography," she helped him reintroduce his portraits of a generation largely lost to AIDS.

 

Followed by a 2:30 pm panel discussion: Lights, Camera, Cinema! in conversation with Thomas Waugh, Ruth DyckFehderau, & Matthew Hays: 

THOMAS WAUGH, distinguished professor emeritus, Concordia University

Queer pedagogue, programmer, writer, critic, and activist, Thomas retired in 2017 after 41 years of teaching film/sexuality/queer studies. An author and compiler/editor of 15 books, his most recent is a personal collection of "self-writing" titled Writing in the Flesh: Essays on My Lives, My Bodies, My Families, My Places, My Movies (McGill-Queen's, 2026).

Thomas’ works include five volumes on queer porn (1996–2007), I Confess: Constructing the Sexual Self in the Internet Age (co-ed. Brandon Arroyo, McGill Queen's University Press, 2019), co-editing Queer Film Classics (19 books, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2008–2019; 34 books, McGill Queen's University Press, 2021–2030), and the award-winning The Conscience of Cinema: The Work of Joris Ivens, 1912–1989 (Amsterdam University Press). Thomas is also the founder of the Concordia AIDS Project/Community Lecture Series on HIV/AIDS (1993–2018), and Queer Media Database Canada Quebec (2006+).

RUTH DYCKFEHDERAU, adjunct professor, Department of English and Film Studies, University of Alberta

Ruth has authored three books: a novel, I (Athena), (NeWest, 2023), and two non-fiction books, E nâtamukw miyeyimuwin: Residential School Recovery Stories of the James Bay Cree, Vol. One, (2023) and The Sweet Bloods of Eeyou Istchee: Stories of Diabetes and the James Bay Cree (2017), both with James Bay Cree storytellers. She has received multiple awards for her teaching, activism, and writing, including the ASAIL Electa Quinney Award for Published Indigenous Stories. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta and is hearing-impaired. 

MATTHEW HAYS

Matthew Hays is a Montreal-based author and journalist. His work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New York Times, and Cineaste Magazine. He teaches media studies at Marianopolis College and Concordia University and is co-editor (with Thomas Waugh) of the Queer Film Classics book series (McGill-Queen's University Press).

OUR MODERATOR: KYLER CHITTICK

Kyler Chittick is a graduate principal instructor in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Alberta, where he recently completed his PhDin political science. Alongside Ron Byers and Rob Browatzke, he is co-director of the Rainbow Story Hub Foundation, which seeks to uplift Edmonton's queer history through digital storytelling and public programming. His research interests land at the intersections of queer theory, sexuality studies, law, film, cultural studies, and contemporary political theory. 

Content advisory: Nudity and mature themes. Recommended for audiences 16+.

Browse more RVFF on rainbowvisions.ca

Browse more RVFF on Showpass