Love, Scott

Love, Scott is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Laura Marie Wayne and released in 2018.^[1] The film profiles Scott Jones, a gay man who was left paraplegic in an anti-gay attack in 2013.^[1]

Background

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] His attacker, Shane Matheson, was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison in June 2014.^[3] During his recovery, Jones participated in the creation of Don't Be Afraid, a province-wide campaign to combat homophobia,^[4] and was selected as the grand marshal of the 2014 Halifax Pride parade.^[4]

Film

The film profiles Jones, who is now a music student in Toronto, Ontario, in the present day.^[5] The film explores his process of reaching a place of forgiveness, both against his attacker and against the police for declining to prosecute the case as a hate crime, and his desire to create something positive out of his experience by using choral music as a tool of healing and social change education.^[5]

The film had its theatrical premiere at BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival in March 2018.^[6] It had its North American premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in April,^[7] and was screened at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival in May, where it received the Jury Prize for Best Canadian Feature.^[5]

References