Want a free peek at Frank's Cock? Check out the Cinematheque's Videodrome screening

Although National Canadian Film Day was held on April 19, the party's far from over.

This whole year, there'll be Canada on Screen events and screenings to celebrate Canadian cinema across the country, with Vancouver included, of course.

One upcoming event—which will be free—will get David Cronenberg's 1983 feature Videodrome back on the big screen.

The tech-horror classic stars James Woods as the president of a Toronto TV station that focuses on broadcasting sensationalistic content such as soft porn and violence. When he discovers satellite transmissions of a TV show depicting the torture and murder of victims, he begins to broadcast the show on his channel. However, when he tracks down the true source of the footage, he discovers a malevolent plan to control viewers' minds.

Even Blondie's Deborah Harry shows up as a sadomasochist psychiatrist.

When characters begin to experience strange hallucinations, there's some striking, disturbing, and haunting imagery to witness.

The film's vision of the future and social commentary is interesting to consider in light of what has arisen since the time it was made, such as shows like Jerry Springer, reality TV shows drawing ratings from verbal and physical fights, and footage or viral videos of violence on the internet.

The film will be preceded by the experimental 1993 short film "Frank's Cock" made by Canadian experimental filmmaker Mike Hoolbloom and produced through Vancouver's Cineworks.

Using split screens, the eight-minute piece features an unnamed narrator, voiced by Vancouver actor Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica, Californication), talking about his 10-year sexually voracious relationship with an older man.

The monologue is juxtaposed with sex ed films, gay porn, and Madonna's 1992 music video "Erotica".

The film was made after Hoolbloom (who was originally from Toronto but lived in Vancouver for a time) was diagnosed as HIV–positive. It serves as a reflection of the second decade of the AIDS crisis in Canada, when HIV issues had moved mainstream and Madonna was blurring the boundaries between porn and pop music, and yet there was still so much to be addressed about LGBT representation.

The screening will be held at the Cinematheque (1131 Howe Street) at 7 p.m. on May 18. For more information, visit this webpage.

For information about future Canada on Screen events at the Cinematheque, visit this webpage.