SYMPOSIUM LADDER OF LOVE
1996 - CANADA
A FILM BY NIK SHEEHAN
FEATURING: BYRON AYANOGLU, BRAD FRASER, GERALD HANNON, TOMSON HIGHWAY, HILLAR LIITOJA, DANIEL MACIVER, DONALD MARTIN, CHARLIE PACHTER, STAN PERSKY, PATRICIA ROZEMA, SCOTT SYMONS
Inspired by Plato’s Symposium, this post‑modern documentary asks the perennial question: What is love? From a queer perspective, director Nik Sheehan invites leading Canadian artists, writers, and thinkers—including Daniel MacIvor, Brad Fraser, Tomson Highway, Patricia Rozema, and Scott Symons—to offer their own cinematic interpretations and reflections on love .
The film unfolds as an experimental anthology of short films, each crafted by one of the contributors. These are intercut with candid round‑table discussions, where participants watch and comment on each other’s work, creating a dynamic “banquet of ideas” on screen. Through this structure, Symposium explores love’s complexities—its joys, conflicts, identities, and embodied experiences within the gay community  .
Playful yet cerebral, the documentary blends performance, poetry, and philosophy. MacIvor’s elegiac piece—about love sustained beyond tragedy—stands out as a poignant centerpiece, reflecting the communal memory of affection and loss from the AIDS crisis . Woven together, these personal expressions create a kaleidoscopic portrait of queer intimacy, intellectual exchange, and emotional resonance.