Curated by Jason Livingston

Presented as a double feature, Ian Bell's WTO/99 and Soda Jerk's Hello Dankness, two films that trace more than two decades of political rupture — from the streets of Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization protests to the fractured media landscape of the Trump era.

Purchase individual tickets for each screening, or double feature tickets for either the Friday or Saturday presentations.

Friday Tickets Saturday Tickets

WTO/99

An immersive archival documentary that reanimates the clash between the then-emerging World Trade Organization (WTO) and the more than 40,000 people who took to the streets of Seattle to protest the WTO's impacts on human rights, labor, and the environment.

Hello Dankness

Comprised entirely of hundreds of pirated film samples, Hello Dankness is a bent suburban musical that bears witness to the psychotropic cultural spectacle of the period 2016 to 2021. Set in the American suburbs, the film follows a neighbourhood through these years as consensus reality disintegrates into conspiracies and other political contagions. Part political satire, zombie stoner film, and Greek tragedy, the work is also informed by the encrypted memetics of contemporary internet culture.

Curated by Siew-Wai Kok, KLEX Festival Director

This special KLEX program features works from women video artists and filmmakers from across Asia and beyond

Hallwalls is pleased to present Leave The Door Open a feature film by filmmaker and interdisciplinary media artist, Lewuga Benson. A slow-burning drama marked by long takes and restrained, immersive visuals, Leave The Door Open unfolds in the space between memory, refusal, and endurance. Benson describes it as "...exploring what happens when we fail to accept that sometimes we may need to leave the door closed on what life throws at us." Lewuga will be here in person to present his film.

Starring Alicia Dellaria (Katie), Chris Romano (Matt), Madisen Zabawa (Melanie), and Alexander McBryde (Stranger).

Artist Bio

Lewuga Benson is an interdisciplinary media artist and filmmaker whose work explores the intersections of memory, environmental trauma, cultural identity, and the mediated body. Rooted in his Ogoni heritage in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, Benson's practice examines how landscapes, histories, and personal narratives are transformed — and sometimes distorted — through the technologies we use to witness them. Working across moving-image installation, sound, performance, and sculptural media, he creates immersive environments that invite viewers to inhabit the emotional and political tensions embedded in overlooked or vulnerable communities.

Benson holds an MFA in Media Arts Production from the University at Buffalo, where he developed a hybrid practice grounded in experimental filmmaking, immersive installation, and cross-disciplinary collaboration ...