The St. Albert Public Library will host a watch-party next month of a documentary exploring masculinity and what it means to be a man.
Boys Will Be Themselves was released last year and directed by Edmonton-based filmmaker Dylan Rhys Howard.
It follows Howard's 2019 documentary Digging in the Dirt, co-directed with Omar Mouallem, about the mental health of Alberta oilsands workers. Howard was also previously involved with St. Albert's Amplify Festival, where he mentored young filmmakers while making music videos as part of the festival.
Howard said he was inspired to make Boys Will Be Themselves after Canadian non-profit Next Gen Men organized a screening for Digging in the Dirt.
"Next Gen Men trains, equips and empowers parents, educators, coaches, and youth workers to lead the next generation towards a better future, to anchor them to positive masculinities and offer them opportunities for connection and growth," the non-profit's website reads.
"That's when I became aware of this sort of growing community of men, young and old, who like myself, have had a really conflicted relationship with masculinity over the course of our lives," Howard said in an interview. "Trying to figure out how to be men in the 21st century in a way that doesn't feel like you're participating in these kinds of classic patriarchal structures that have caused a lot of pain in the past."
"That's really what kind of started the process for me and just asking those questions a little bit more directly to myself."
The 45-minute Boys Will Be Themselves features interviews with youth and adults from across Alberta, and also showcases Howard's own experience.
"I feel that as a filmmaker, I shouldn't ask anybody to do something that I'm not willing to do myself," Howard said. "So much of why I wanted to tell the story in the first place has to do with my own experience and my own conflicted feelings surrounding masculinity."
"There are lots of things about being a man that I like, but at the same time, I've always felt like no matter what I do I'm always going to be part of the problem because of the body that I have."
Following the March 16 screening, Howard and Tuval Nafshi, the gender-based violence prevention coordinator with St. Albert Family and Community Support Services, will discuss the film and take questions.
"I don't want to make it seem like I know more than anybody else, but ... by putting myself in the film, it's a way of modelling vulnerability," Howard said. "The more that we see men being vulnerable, the healthier our society is going to get."
"I just encourage people to come and maybe be vulnerable themselves and share some of how this film relates to their own experience and how it makes them feel."
Stephanie Foremsky, the St. Albert Public Library's public services manager, says the documentary screening is part of an unofficial series of events and programs taking place at the library over the next two months that hope to expand the community conversation around gender, preventing violence, and positive relationships.
"It is a really important conversation that's been driven by a lot of different agencies, and there's actually quite a few programs and events going on around the same time that speak to the same thing in different ways," Foremsky said.
On Feb. 27, the library and St. Albert non-profit Outloud will host a screening for a documentary called Quinn, which was directed by Edmonton-based filmmaker, Eva Colmers.
Quinn showcases Quinn Lumsden, and their experience with gender non-conformity. Lumsden is also featured in Boys Will Be Themselves.
Foremsky also explained that on March 7 as part of the City of St. Albert's Parenting Series, Outloud will host and facilitate a speaking event at the library to help parents learn more about how they can support their 2SLGBTQ+ children.
"The library is committed to uplifting community members and trends in the community that are positive," Foremsky said.
"One of those really positive things that we're seeing is more conversations about what does it mean to be a man, and what is masculinity, and how do we raise really wonderful boys and then men in the community."
The Boys Will Be Themselves screening is March 16 at Forsyth Hall, and although the event is free, the library encourages people to register in advance as spots are limited. To register, visit the St. Albert Public Library's events page on their website.
