Scott Jones (filmmaker)
Scott Jones is a Canadian writer and filmmaker. He is most noted for his theatrical play I Forgive You, a collaboration with Robert Chafe which was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2024 Governor General's Awards.[1]
Background
[edit]On October 12, 2013, Jones, a gay resident of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, was stabbed by a knife-wielding man after leaving the Acro Lounge.[2] The attack left Jones paraplegic.[2]
During his recovery, Jones participated in the creation of Don't Be Afraid, a province-wide campaign to combat homophobia,[3] and was selected as the grand marshal of the 2014 Halifax Pride parade.[3]
His attacker, Shane Matheson, was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison in June 2014.[4]
Career
[edit]In 2018, he was the subject of Laura Marie Wayne's documentary film Love, Scott.[5] At the time, he was a music student in Toronto, whose stated goals included creating something positive out of his experience by using choral music as a tool of healing and social change education;[6] he subsequently launched Vox, a community choir dedicated to social change through artistic performance in Halifax.[5]
In 2022, Jones released his own short film, Coin Slot, about the impending anniversary of his 2013 attack.[7] It was the winner of the Best Atlantic Short Film award at the 2022 Atlantic International Film Festival.[8] He previously won the festival's RBC Script Development Award in 2020 for a feature screenplay titled It's the Fear That Keeps Me Awake.[9]
His second short film, Freedom, was screened at the 2024 Atlantic International Film Festival.
I Forgive You premiered in 2022, in a production by the Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland theatre company in St. John's.[10] It was subsequently staged at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 2023, in a production directed by Jillian Keiley.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ Cassandra Drudi, "Canisia Lubrin, Danny Ramadan among 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award finalists". Quill & Quire, October 8, 2024.
- ^ a b "Scott Jones said he was attacked for being gay". CBC News, December 11, 2013.
- ^ a b "Halifax Pride names Scott Jones grand marshal". Xtra!, July 6, 2014.
- ^ "Scott Jones says he forgives his attacker, Shane Edward Matheson". CBC News, June 12, 2014.
- ^ a b "After surviving attack, Scott Jones chronicles the 'lifelong process' of forgiveness". The Current, April 27, 2018.
- ^ "Inside Out 2018: Love, Scott captures the personal toll of police failure". Now, May 23, 2018.
- ^ "'Together Again' at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival". CBC News Nova Scotia, September 8, 2022.
- ^ Stephen Cooke, "Queens of the Qing Dynasty, Bernie Langille among Atlantic International Film Festival award winners". SaltWire Network, September 22, 2022.
- ^ Stephen Cooke, "Bone Cage strikes a chord with FIN Stream audiences, earns four awards". SaltWire Network, September 28, 2020.
- ^ "After finding a way to forgive his attacker, this man helped create a play about it". CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador, August 21, 2022.
- ^ Carly Maga, "Nearly 10 years ago, he publicly forgave his attacker. This play shares his complex journey since". CBC Arts, March 7, 2023.
External links
[edit]- Scott Jones at IMDb
- 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people
- 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
- Canadian male dramatists and playwrights
- Canadian LGBTQ film directors
- Canadian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights
- Canadian victims of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes
- Canadian gay writers
- LGBTQ writers with disabilities
- Film directors from Nova Scotia
- Writers from Nova Scotia
- Canadian LGBTQ rights activists
- People with paraplegia
- Living people