From a media release:

Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) presents the broadcast premiere of KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT, a genre-defying documentary film inspired by a medieval musical play created by an amazing company of artists with and without Down syndrome, including award-winning playwrights Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef; visionary director James Long; and iconic musician Veda Hille. Think “The Green Knight” meets “Crip Camp,” but with songs.

KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT debuts Friday, June 27, at 7 p.m. Eastern on AMI-tv and streaming on demand, for free, on AMI+.

KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT is produced and directed by John Bolton of Vancouver’s Opus 59 Films. John is best known for “Aim For The Roses,” which POV Magazine called “one of the wildest, craziest, smartest docs in years.” The director’s cut of KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT recently had its world premiere at the DOXA Documentary International Film Festival.

“The play ‘King Arthur’s Night’ made me think about the world in a new way, and it changed my life, and I could imagine it changing the world, if only the world could see it,” says producer & director John Bolton. “Thanks to AMI, now it will.”

“When I first met John, we were having dinner, and I realized, maybe I could work with this guy,” says producer & star & subject Niall McNeill. “We need people to watch the film, and see how they feel about watching cast who have Down syndrome, and watching cast who are non- Down syndrome … It’s a long wait. Everybody wants to see it.”

“It’s humbling to see our attempt to realize and honour the vision of an extraordinary artist who happens to have Down syndrome, as well as the complex, contradictory and loving inclusive community we built around it, come fully to life in the movie,” says producer & star & subject Marcus Youssef. “And it’s thrilling, too.”

“KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT is a bold and magical production that redefines storytelling through a truly inclusive lens,” says Cara Nye, Director, Content Development and Production, AMI. “We’re proud to support a film that celebrates imagination and the collaborative brilliance of disabled and non-disabled actors and creators.”

KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT was produced with the participation of Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund, the Rogers Documentary Fund, Creative BC and the BC Arts Council, in association with Knowledge Network. It was developed with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Creative BC / Rogers Group of Funds Documentary + Factual Development Fund and Telefilm Canada.

KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT features a who’s who of Vancouver’s best performers, including Tiffany King, June Mirochnick, Anton Lipovetsky, Kerry Sandormirsky, Matthew Tom-Wing, Nathan Kay, Andrew Scott Gordon, Billy Marchenski, Lucy McNulty, Amber Barton and Evelyn Chew, as well as the queer choir Cor Flammae.

Brimming with magic, memory and metaphor, KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT explores themes of difference and disability, and asks questions about who gets to tell stories, and who gets to wear the crown. A deeply emotional and powerful story of fathers and sons, by turns comic and tragic, and real and surreal, it’s about the powers of imagination and inclusion to change lives and worlds.

About John Bolton
John Bolton is an award-winning filmmaker from Vancouver, Canada, and the founder & chief creative officer of Opus 59 Films. As knowledgeable about music, literature and art as he is about film and television, he brings a very particular erudition and sensibility to Opus 59 Films’ portfolio of projects.

About Niall McNeil
Niall McNeil is a multidisciplinary artist who, in his 20-plus year career has created, written plays, filmed, recorded and performed in works for stage and film across Canada. He is the first Canadian artist with Down Syndrome to be a 2022 recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts Composite Grant to support the development of three new multidisciplinary works.

About Marcus Youssef
Marcus Youssef has written or co-written fifteen plays that have been performed at theatres and major international festivals across North America, Australia, Europe and Asia. In 2017, he received Canada’s most prestigious theatre award, the $100,000 Siminovitch Prize for Theatre. He was Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Neworld Theatre from 2005 to 2019.

About James Long
James Long is a director, actor, writer and teacher whose creative practice occurs in a wide variety of interdisciplinary and collaborative contexts, including as a co-founding Artistic Director of Theatre Replacement (2003-2022) and as an independent artist working in live performance, community engaged practice and public art.

About Veda Hille
Veda Hille is a Vancouver musician, composer, theatre maker, and performer. She writes songs, makes records, co-writes musicals, collaborates in devised theatre, and fulfills other interesting assignments as they arise. Veda performs in a wide of array of places, alone or with bands, ensembles, symphonies, and casts. Her career spans 30 years of working in Canada and abroad, and shows no sign of flagging.

About AMI
AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more, visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Image courtesy of Jesse Winter.