Perspective Film Series:
A Clockwork Orange (1971), dir. Stanley Kubrick
August 23
5:30 PM | Dome Theatre
Stanley Kubrick’s iconic A Clockwork Orange (1971) follows Alex, a charismatic but ultraviolent teenage delinquent in dystopian future Britain, who leads his "droogs" in drug-fueled crime sprees, narrating in futuristic slang (Nadsat). After being caught and imprisoned for murder, he undergoes the controversial Ludovico Technique, a psychological aversion therapy that conditions him to feel physically ill at the thought of violence, effectively removing his free will. Released as a "cured" citizen, he faces societal rejection and political manipulation, asking us to question the ethics of state control, the nature of free will, and whether true morality can exist without the freedom to choose.
Country: UK, US
136 minutes, in English
Disclaimer: This film contains some difficult subject matter, including violence and nudity, which may be triggering for some viewers.
FREE for members. Non-members: $10—your ticket to this screening includes admission to Contemporary Calgary. Our galleries are open from 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the program.
About Perspective Film Series
Curated by associate curator Muriel N. Kahwagi, the 2026 edition of Perspective is conceived as a sustained meditation on disaster in its broadest and most resonant terms. While ecological catastrophe remains a central point of reference, the series extends beyond literal scenarios of environmental collapse or speculative visions of planetary ruin, approaching disaster as a condition that permeates both collective structures and private lives, unfolding across social, political, and emotional terrains. In this sense, disaster is understood not only as a single event, but as an ongoing state – slow, uneven, and often normalized through systems of power, habit, and belief. The films in this series examine how moments of crisis reshape perception and behaviour, revealing fractures in meaning, and reflecting on the ways in which hope may persist long after the moment of rupture has passed.
About the Curator
Muriel N. Kahwagi ((she/her)) is a writer and curator, working primarily across publishing and programming. Her research is centered on the politics of collecting and archiving the performative; and the act of listening as a form of preservation in and of itself. In 2023, she was the TD Curatorial Fellow at Art Windsor-Essex, and a curator as part of Vtape’s Curatorial Incubator, v.19. She is currently the Assistant Curator at Contemporary Calgary, and a programmer at the Toronto Arab Film Festival.
