Love, Scott
(Canada, 76 minutes)
Dir: Laura Marie Wayne
Programme: Canadian Spectrum (North American Premiere)
In 2013, Scott Jones was stabbed outside a bar in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Though he survived, Scott was paralyzed from the waist down. The attack, which many believe to be motivated by homophobia, was never charged as a hate crime. In Love, Scott, director Laura Marie Wayne creates an intimate portrait of her close friend as he discusses the aftermath of this traumatic event.
While Love, Scott isn’t an autobiographical doc, director Laura Marie Wayne has created a near stream-of-consciousness depiction of his daily life. We watch and learn with him as he comes to terms with his disability, working with music to both forge through trauma, and create an environment of acceptance and caring. Scott takes on political discussions, as do his friends and family: they talk about what it means to be a gay man today in Canada, reference the activism inspired by the attack on him, and bring up their hopes for the future. But the film never distances itself from the personal. Wayne makes sure that every political discussion is centred firmly upon Scott’s own feelings and experiences. We get deeply introspective segments where Scott is able to discuss his thoughts on art, love, loneliness, and community.
But ultimately, Love, Scott can be too close to its subject. Though concluding with statistics about hate crimes and violence against the LGBTQ community in Canada, the film is individualistic. This is about Scott Jones, friend of Laura Marie Wayne. With so much of his, and her, subjectivity, the film never meets up to what it wants to be: a documentary which can follow one man but equally discuss the social issue of homophobia. Though broader political questions are stretched a bit thin, Love, Scott is still a beautiful tribute to one man as he considers his place in the world.
Love, Scott screens:
-Sat, Apr. 28 at 6:30 PM at TIFF Lightbox
-Fri, May 4 at 3:00 PM at TIFF Lightbox
-Sat, May 5 at Scotiabank
Hot Docs runs April 26 to May 6. Please visit hotdocs.ca for more info.
Love, Scott (Trailer) from NFB/marketing on Vimeo.
