Please join University College and the Centre for Caribbean Studies for a screening of Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor Richard Fung’s most recent film The Enigma of Harold Sonny Ladoo (2024). Ladoo was the first Trinidadian and second Caribbean author published in Canada. Filmed in Trinidad and Toronto, the film attempts to piece together the puzzle of Ladoo’s complex, often tumultuous life, and his tragic death.
The screening is followed by a panel discussion with director Richard Fung, Trinidadian filmmaker Christopher Laird, Professor Andil Gosine, and Centre for Caribbean Studies Lecturer Ramabai Espinet. The panel discussion is moderated by Professor of Caribbean Studies Alissa Trotz, Director of the Women and Gender Studies Institute.
This event is co-organized with the Centre for Caribbean Studies and sponsored by Coach House Books and Another Story Bookshop. Books by Harold Sonny Ladoo and others featured in the film will be available for purchase at the event. The event is free and all are welcome, though registration is required. Please submit a registration form for each person who plans to attend.
About the Director
Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Richard Fung lives and works in Toronto. His work comprises challenging videos on subjects ranging from Caribbean foodways to the role of the Asian male in gay pornography, refugee rights, police racism, HIV/AIDS, justice in Palestine, and his own family history rooted in indentureship. His single-channel and installation works, which include Orientations: Lesbian and Gay Asians (1984) and its redux Re:Orientations (2016), My Mother’s Place (1990), Out of the Blue (1991), Sea in the Blood (2000), Jehad in Motion (2007), and Dal Puri Diaspora (2012), have been widely screened and collected internationally at institutions such as the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Gallery of Art in Ottawa as well as at many community venues. The Enigma of Harold Sonny Ladoo is his most recent film.
The Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitorship in Canadian Culture at University College was established in 1985 to enhance links between the University of Toronto and Canada’s prominent cultural figures by inviting them to enter into the intellectual and social life of the college. The Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor acts as a writer-in-residence, participating in college events and meeting with students for one-on-one mentoring sessions related to all forms of writing. The establishment of the visitorship commemorates the achievements of one of the college’s most distinguished faculty members, Barker Fairley (May 12, 1887 – October 11, 1986).