“Spellbinding … Unique … Unmissable … For those looking to watch a doc that sensitively explores community and culture through the eyes and minds of people who are often disregarded throughout history and society, KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT is the Holy Grail.” ~ POV Magazine
(SCREENINGS)
-
SYNOPSIS
(JB TO ADD PHOTOS)
From John Bolton - the filmmaker behind AIM FOR THE ROSES, which POV Magazine called “one of the wildest, craziest, smartest doc in years” - comes 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” (the play) was a mashup of the Arthurian legend and Niall’s best and worst childhood memories. Niall’s favourite place in the world is the resort municipality of Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada, where a hotel and its pools might be mistaken for a castle and its moat … so of course, this is Camelot. Niall had a bad experience with a goat when he was a boy … so of course, King Arthur faces an uprising from subjugated masses of goats. Niall has a beautiful and complicated father-son relationship with Marcus … so of course, so do King Arthur (played by Niall) and the wizard Merlin (played by Marcus).
KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT (the film) unfolds in Camelot, as King Arthur and Merlin look back on their lives … and in Harrison Hot Springs, as Niall and Marcus look back on their lives. Other characters include the famous Guinevere, Lancelot, Galahad, Morgana and Mordred, and the less famous Magwitch, Saxon and Quelibel … and all of the performers who play them. Their guide - and the audience’s - is the legendary Lady of the Lake.
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.
KING ARTHUR'S NIGHT pushes the boundaries of "access aesthetics" - the understanding that accessibility practices both remove barriers, and contribute to the creative vocabulary of a work. The film features "Integrated Described Video", or "IDV", for the blind and partially sighted - carefully considered dialogue & narration & sound design that does the job that "regular" described video does, without having to turn it on, and without "regular" audiences even realizing it. The film also features best in class captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing. Both of these features offer opportunities for truly accessible and inclusive screenings for audiences across differences - those who can see and those who can't, and those who can hear and those who can't, all gathering in the same theatres, having the same shared experiences.
KING ARTHUR'S NIGHT is an Opus 59 Films production, presented by AMI (Accessible Media Inc.), with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, 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.
DEVELOPING & CREATING THE PLAY
(JB TO WRITE)
PERFORMING THE PLAY
In 2017, “King Arthur’s Night” (the play) had its world premiere at the Luminato Festival in Toronto.
In 2018, filmmaker John Bolton (and his mom) saw a relaxed performance of the medieval musical play “King Arthur’s Night” at the PuSh Festival in Vancouver.
It was one of the greatest theatre-going experiences that he’d ever had in his life. It was funny, sad and scary; he was amused, moved and upset; he laughed, cried and gasped. It brimmed with magic, memory and myth, and it effortlessly dramatized themes of imagination and inclusion. In its casting of neurodiverse performers in the highest status roles (the King; the Queen), it forced him to examine my privilege as an able-bodied neurotypical, and it made him think about the world in a new way.
THE PUBLISHED PLAY
In 2019, John’s mom gave him a copy of the recently published play, and he was able to more fully appreciate Niall’s and Marcus’ amazing writing. The better John got to know the text, the more he wanted to bring “King Arthur’s Night” to new life as a film.
THE ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING
In late 2019, John got himself a copy of the recently released original cast recording, and he was able to more fully appreciate Veda’s amazing songs. The better John got to know the tunes, the more he wanted to bring “King Arthur’s Night” to new life as a film.
(DEVELOPING THE FILM)
JB TO ADD PHOTOS)
In 2020, John started meeting with, and getting to know, Niall, Marcus and Veda. The more that he learned about the making of the play and songs, the more obvious it was to him that any adaptation would have to include as much backstory as story.
In 2021, with the support of the Canada Council of the Arts and Telefilm Canada, John took the entire cast and a small film crew out to Harrison Hot Springs for two days and one night, for a test shoot consisting of interviews and musical numbers. It was the first time that the cast had seen each in almost two years (their tour was canceled because of COVID-19). It was also the first time that many of the cast had ever been to Harrison Hot Springs - the actual and spiritual setting of “King Arthur’s Night.”
In early 2022, John started pitching the project to funders, and he held the entire cast for the first week of October 2022, the only window that year when all of them were available at the same time.
In mid-2022, John got married to his girlfriend, Sarah. Shortly after, on his honeymoon, John received his first piece of funding from the Canada Media Fund. Shortly after, he received further funding from the BC Arts Council and Creative BC. Shortly after, Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) and Knowledge Network came on board as broadcasters. He was now able to start shooting the film.
STARTING THE FILM
The shoot was cross-cultural in many ways: bigger budget filmmaking meeting indie filmmaking; film culture meeting theatre culture; neurodiverse culture meeting neurotypical culture. It was one of the best experiences that almost every member of the cast and crew had ever had … except for John. After one day, the film was already behind schedule. After six days, the film was already over budget. After wrap, John and his editor started working away, and they realized that they didn’t have enough footage to make a movie.
In October 2022, John took the entire cast and a large crew out to Harrison Hot Springs for seven nights and six days, to shoot (mostly) the dramatic scenes and musical numbers from the play. The Copper Room at Harrison Hot Springs Resort was Arthur’s throne room; the cinder block enclosure at the source of the hot springs was Morgana’s castle; the beach by the lagoon was the field of the final battle.
The shoot was cross-cultural in many ways: bigger budget filmmaking meeting indie filmmaking; film culture meeting theatre culture; neurodiverse culture meeting neurotypical culture. It was one of the best experiences that almost every member of the cast and crew had ever had … except for John. After one day, the film was already behind schedule. After six days, the film was already over budget. After wrap, John and his editor started working away, and they realized that they didn’t have enough footage to make a movie.
In December 2022, John started pitching the project to more funders, and he held the entire cast for one week.
In May 2023, the only window that year when all of them were available at the same time.
In January 2023, Sarah gave birth to her and John’s son, Silas.
In April 2023, John received further funding from Telefilm Canada and the Rogers Documentary Fund. He was now able to continue shooting the film.
In May 2023, John took the entire cast, and a mid sized crew, back out to Harrison Hot Springs, for five nights and four days, to shoot (mostly) documentary footage, including an interview with Niall and Marcus (as themselves) in the nicest suite at the resort, as well as an “interview” with Niall & Marcus (as Arthur and Merlin) at the very end of a pier stretching out into Harrison Lake. They also shot several pickups, including the cast checking in with each other in the Copper Room; a musical number in the hot springs at the resort (standing in for the Arthur’s castle’s moat); and an insert shot of John’s and Sarah’s son Silas (with prosthetic horns) in his on-screen debut as a “goat baby.”
The shoot was one of the best experiences that almost every member of the cast and crew had ever had … including John. The film was now back on schedule, and back on budget, and John and his editor now had enough footage to make a movie.
FINISHING THE FILM
For the rest of 2023, and throughout 2024, and into 2025, John and his editor worked on the film, finding the balance between the “Camelot” footage from the first shoot, and the “Harrison” footage from the second shoot, and behind-the-scenes footage from both shoots, telling three stories at the same time.
They also worked closely with Line21 Media Services to create best-in-class captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences.They also worked closely with Line21 Media Services to create best-in-class captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences.
During this time, John’s father, Michael, dealt with numerous health issues. John, of course, was also a new father. As a result, the film became much more about fathers and sons than John had ever anticipated.
In another family connection, John dedicated the film to Sarah’s late mother Vivian, as well as Vivian’s late sister Allison, who had Down syndrome.
In May 2025, the director’s cut of the film had its world premiere at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival.They also worked closely with AMI to make the film accessible for blind and partially sighted audiences by creating a character - the Lady of the Lake - who not only described the video, but also narrated the story in a straightforward way, and interacted with Arthur and Merlin in a more mysterious way.
