FROM THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR

San Francisco Report

Both Scott Ferguson and I attended Frameline (www.frameline.org), the world’s largest queer film festival. With audiences that cheer, boo, hiss and occasionally throw things at the screen, the whole thing is very unToronto…

Although they lower the bar for American productions (sometimes to the ground), the festival overall is a professional and mind-boggingly successful enterprise. Programmers, distributors and filmmakers from around the world descend on the city, which is a fantastic opportunity for us to exchange (and gossip) with our peers and make deals for the Toronto festival.

Let’s talk about my coup de coeur at the festival - Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement from Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir (directors of The Brandon Teena Story). The subjects of the documentary, who loved each other more than life and against all odds, made me cry so many times that I started using my reusable bag to wipe my tears. Essential viewing for anyone who needs proof that love is a powerful thing.

Another favourite was Fruit Fly by H.P. Mendoza, director of Colma: The Musical from a few years back. What is more irresistible than a musical about fag hags? It was refreshing to see the genre stripped of pomp and set in reality. Not that I disliked Moulin Rouge, but this film goes in the opposite direction.

And I absolutely hated:

• Misconceptions
• Watercolors

At the closing night party, I got to rub shoulders with the surprisingly down-to-earth Rosie O’Donnell and Sharon Gless, the latter gushing about her love of Toronto and her new role in the lesbian feature Hannah Free.

Scott’s personal favourites were Dare (USA) from director Adam Salky, the feature length adaptation of his short film of the same name that played Inside Out in 2004 and And Then Came Lola (USA), a low-budget but entirely charming lesbian version of Run, Lola, Run. Both films should be crossing the border for our 20th anniversary in 2010.

I took a few days vacation following the festival, which ends on quite the high note: San Francisco Pride! With the famed City Hall as a backdrop and the ever-so-cute Cloris Leachman signing books at a raggedy-ass stand, I just couldn’t help but embrace the fact that I was in the centre of the queer universe. Biggest disappointment: not being able to re-locate the booth selling t-shirts with the letters P.I.L.F underneath Obama’s iconic face. Highlight: the guy passed out with a sparkly butt plug (inserted) in the radical fairies tent with a ‘Religion is a Fairy Tale’ protest sign in hand… Classy.

At the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, there was an exhibition by Chicago-based artist Nick Cave that completely knocked my socks off. Unknown to me, his wearable sculptures are unforgettable. Ceremonial costume, haute couture and a brilliant imagination come together for an exhibition that you just need to see to believe.

That's it! My next report will be coming from the Toronto International Film Festival. Until then, enjoy the rest of your summer!

PARTY TIME!

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2009
NATIONAL BALLET SCHOOL, 400 JARVIS ST.
9:00PM to 1:00AM

Advance Tickets
(on sale beginning August 17)

$8 Inside Out members / $12 general public
Available online, by phone (416.977.6847 credit card only) and in person (401 Richmond St. W., Suite 219 Mon-Fri 12-6PM / cash or credit card)

At the door
$10 members / $15 general

DJ DEKO-ZE and featuring steamy performances, sexy video projections and special celebrity guests

Presented by:
Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival
20th anniversary Festival: May 20 to 30, 2010

In partnership with Xtra!
Sponsored by Urban Source Catering, Steam Whistle and Barefoot Wine.

AROUND TOWN
Murdered Gay Teen Remembered in New Canadian Play

Thirty Below Theatre Presents
My Funny Valentine
By Dave Deveau

Directed by Cameron Mackenzie
Featuring Dave Deveau
Stage Managed by Adam Barrett

On February 12, 2008 a fifteen-year-old boy in California was shot after asking another boy to be his valentine. This murder has been subsequently described as “the most prominent gay-bias crime since the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard”.

A simple gesture. A boy in department store heels. An act of hate.

Playwright Dave Deveau (Nelly Boy, SummerWorks 2007), a staple House Manager at the Isabel Bader during Inside Out, goes on a haunting and heartfelt journey as he investigates his own connection to young Lawrence King.

As this headline story currently goes to trial, My Funny Valentine invites the audience to search for our own humanity amid the confusion and chaos of the implications of King’s death, and through this haze, find heart.

Through his own musings and character monologues, Deveau examines varying sides of this tragic event in order to find the heart in it.

My Funny Valentine is playing at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Backspace, 16 Ryerson Ave.

Four performances remaining:

Wednesday, August 12, 8:00 pm
Thursday, August 13, 10:00 pm
Saturday, August 15, 6:00 pm
Sunday, August 16, 12:00 pm

Tickets are $10 and are available at www.artsboxoffice.ca
or 416-504-7529

IT'S A WRAP...

Final Word / Highlights

The summer of 2009 has definitely been a disappointment weather-wise but as we drift through August there is something to look forward to with the Toronto International Film Festival only a month away.

TIFF is still announcing titles but already there are several exciting queer films to watch out for.

Iconic queer director Pedro Almodovar returns to TIFF with his latest film Broken Embraces which premiered last spring in Cannes. The film focuses on a blind writer who must face his past in order to heal his emotional wounds.

An innovative Quebec film arrives at TIFF showered in multiple prizes from Cannes. J'ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother) is a semi-autobiographical story by Xavier Dolan about his fractious family relations.

The Israeli film Eyes Wide Open by Haim Tabakman also premiered at Cannes last May. The film tells the story of a married butcher who takes on a young apprentice and slowly falls in love with him with dangerous consequences.

The Topp Twins by New Zealand director Leanne Pooley is an engaging portrait of the island nation's finest lesbian country-and-western singers

Not sure if Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It has any queer content but the flick, which stars Ellen Page as a teen beauty queen turned roller derby star, promises plenty of eye candy and rough-and-tumble action for the ladies.

TIFF also features some great homegrown queer talent in the Short Cuts Canada program. The festival will feature new short work from Inside Out favourites John Greyson, Pat Mills, Jamie Travis and Trevor Anderson (his short The Island which opened Inside Out last May).

We're sure there will be more queer titles to come and we will feature additional highlights in the next newsletter once the complete schedule is released and we have had time to comb through the program.

Stay tuned!

Scott Ferguson
Executive Director