Keith Wilson to premiere new film ‘I Didn’t See You There’ at Ciné

“I Didn’t See You There,” a new film produced by Keith Wilson, a lecturer in Grady College’s Department of Entertainment and Media Studies (EMST), will make its Georgia premiere at Ciné on Wednesday, Oct. 19. The screening is one of two upcoming local events involving Wilson.

The film, which had its theatrical opening at the Firehouse Cinema in New York City on Sept. 30, won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. It follows a disabled filmmaker who launches into an unflinching meditation on spectacle, (in)visibility and the corrosive legacy of the Freak Show, after a circus tent goes up outside of his Oakland apartment. 

“About three years ago, I saw some early footage the director had shot for the film, and it quite literally changed the way in which I moved through the world,” said Wilson, a director, creative producer and visual artist. “In 76 cinematic minutes, it manages to convey joy, anger, criticality, messiness and perfection while presenting a perspective that is new to most audiences. I’m grateful to Grady and the EMST Department — particularly Kate Fortmueller and Jay Hamilton — for making it possible to bring ‘I Didn’t See You There’ to Athens.”

Ciné Athens is located at 234 West Hancock Avenue. The screening is at 8 p.m.

Performative Lecture: Gangway

On Wednesday, Oct. 12, one week prior to the the screening of “I Didn’t See You There,” Wilson will be presenting a live documentary performance about a 106-year-old San Francisco gay bar called The Gangway. The event will happen at The Athenaeum. 

Before its closure in 2018, The Gangway was the site of police raids, community organizing, early HIV-AIDS activism and general joy-making. Combining archival material, 3D models and performance, this immersive piece explores new models for experiencing lost places and the creation of future narratives. 

“I am thrilled to present the Gangway in Athens at the Athenaeum, which is such an exciting, new venue for contemporary art in the Southeast,” said Wilson. “The live documentary piece not only introduces viewers to an important piece of queer history, it also questions the notion of what a film, a lecture, a performance is or isn’t.”

The Athenaeum is located at 287 West Broad Street. The event is at 6 p.m.