IOFF 2010
The Inside Out LGBT Toronto Film Festival had its gala closing at the Bloor Cinema Sunday night with the international premiere of The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister to a sold out crowd. Lead actress Maxine Peake was in attendance and received a standing ovation at the end of the night, that was well deserved....
As a regular part of their programming, the Inside Out LGBT Toronto Film Festival has a series of short films presented based on different themes. Wednesday night’s program of 6 short films was based on various types of girl-on-girl romance called Looking 4 Love. Overall the subjects tended to focus more on young/first love with everything from teen romances to hooking up online covered....
The Owls is the latest film by maverick director Cheryl Dunye (The Watermelon Woman, My Baby’s Daddy) that was shown at this year’s Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. Made on the incredibly small budget of $12,000, The Owls stands for “Older Wiser Lesbians” but with these characters, they might be older, but wiser is to be debated. The set up of this film is a murder mystery, but that is secondary to the fascinating character study of self- identity of a small group of women....
They say that 80% of directing the film is casting. Director Evgeny Afineevsky spent many years putting together the right cast for this film and it was well worth the wait. I do have a theory that there are certain actors that are so good that anything they are in is worth watching. Oy Vey! My Son is Gay!! is a really good film, but even if it wasn’t, it would be worth watching for just the acting of Lainie Kazan and Saul Rubinek....
Film affects society and society affects film. It affects how we see ourselves and how we see each other. We are affected by how we are portrayed but also how we are ignored as well. The documentary, The Celluloid Closet is both a celebration and a sad reminder of the journey gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender people have come over the first 100 years of cinema....
History is made up of turning points. Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg, published in 1956, was just one of those turning points. It was a landmark work of poetry but also started a movement to bring queer artists more to the forefront of mainstream society. The trial that resulted from the book paved the way for both gay artists and artists in general to be able to reach out beyond the conventional ideas of what art is acceptable and what is obscene to the public....
Most people, when faced with the prospect of seeing a film that features an entertainment act billed as yodelling lesbian twins, might have some reservations. I understand. I’m not a huge fan of country and western music either. But don’t let any of the labels used to describe them (country and western, political activists, comediennes) keep you from seeing the highly enjoyable film about them: The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls. Playing this Saturday evening as part of the Inside Out Film Festival, it is well worth the price of admission....
Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement will be screening at the Inside Out Film Festival this year. Thea Spyer and Edie Windsor have been together for decades. After meeting in a lesbian club in New York sometime in the 1950s, they lived together, took vacations together, marched for civil rights, and crusaded for gay causes. And although their lovely story may have begun in New York, it also has a very Toronto connection. After a very long engagement of over 40 years, they finally flew up to our fair city in May of 2007 to officially marry....
Inside Out, the Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and presents 10 days of screenings and festivities beginning Thursday, May 20th. In fact, this year’s festival schedule includes more than 100 screenings, exhibitions, performances, panels, concerts, and social events. The 2010 festival tag line is “20 Years of Queers”, and it promises the best and the latest in queer cinema from Canada and around the world. ...
