By Alison Horn

Urban Planner is Torontoist’s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Still from So Far From Home, courtesy of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.

FILM: In conjunction with Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) and Sheridan College, the Royal Ontario Museum is hosting the international premiere and screening of Vladimir Kabelik’s OMNI Television film, So Far From Home. This solemn documentary provides five case studies that capture the challenges and dangers faced by journalists in the war-torn countries of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, and Uganda. Be sure to stick around after the screening for a panel discussion with the director and several of the exiled journalists. All proceeds from tonight’s event will go towards CJFE, an organization that works to promote and defend free expression and press freedom in Canada and abroad. Royal Ontario Museum (100 Queen’s Park), 6:30 p.m., $15.
WORDS: Nestled amongst the kilometres of shelving and collection of nearly two million books, there is a new public space catering to cultural and literary programming at the Toronto Reference Library. Located on the second floor of the library, the Bram and Bluma Appel Salon is a 16,800-square-foot event space named for two life-long philanthropists and supporters of the arts in Canada. The Appel Salon opens tonight with an inaugural celebration featuring Globe and Mail journalist Ian Brown interviewing acclaimed author, screenwriter, and artist Douglas Coupland as part of “The Writer’s Room” series. Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street), 6 p.m., FREE.
ART: During a demonstration and showcase this afternoon, Ontario artists Susie Matthias and Amanda Orichefsky will make literal the saying “different strokes for different folks.” Both are members of the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA), an international for-profit association of artists who paint with brushes held in their mouths or feet as a result of disability that prevents them from using their hands. Following the demonstration, the MFPA is hosting an exhibit at their office to showcase the artists’ works. Visit their website for more information about the exhibit, which opens tomorrow and runs through October 2. Yonge-Dundas Square (2 Dundas Street East), 11 a.m.–3 p.m., FREE.
WORDS: Now in its thirty-sixth season, Authors of Harbourfront Centre presents an evening of readings by three debut novelists: Stephen Finucan, Victor Lodato, and Damian Tarnopolsky. The novelists will present their recent publications, which explore the capacious themes of adolescence, love, art, death, and war. This evening’s event—which Torontoist is a media sponsor for—is hosted by author and Toronto Star columnist James Grainger. Brigantine Room, Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West), 7:30 p.m., $8.
THEATRE: The Beacon Theatre Company is marking the commencement of its second production, Thaiing The Knot, written and directed by Thom Stoneman. The play, which runs nightly through September 26 with matinee performances on Friday and Saturday, is a comedy about love, loss, and responsibility set in the bridal suite of a resort in Thailand. When the groom’s family arrives unannounced just days before the wedding, he finds himself struggling to balance conflicting obligations to his blood and his bride. The production features performances by a team of Ryerson Theatre School graduates, alongside Marianne McIsaac as matriarch Martha Murray, appearing courtesy of the Canadian Actors Equity Association. The Walmer Centre Theatre (188 Lowther Avenue), 8 p.m., $15 (reserve tickets by emailing beacon.theatre.company@gmail.com).