"The Argument (With Annotations)" premiered at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival, as the first film in the Short Cuts Programme, on 8 September 2017. Two months later, it was screened at a sold-out show at Depth of Field, a semi-annual event showcasing recent York University CMA graduate thesis films in November, at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The short was selected for the 2017 Canada's Top Ten minifestival and screened on 14 January 2018, along with a Canadian Open Vault free screening of Cockburn's 2010 feature film, "You Are Here".