#FIRSTLOOK: INSIDE OUT 30TH ANNIVERSARY DIGITAL EVENTS ANNOUNCED

The InsideOut Festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year and there are some amazing events coming your way May 22-June 30, 2020. This period will give members and the public access to feature Short Films, Features, Exhibitions and more to look back at this past 30 years. The full Festival will run October 1-11, 2020.

30TH ANNIVERSARY DIGITAL EXHIBITION
“Out of the Archives / Inside the Community: 30 Years of Inside Out”

The digital events will kick off with the launch of phase one of the 30th anniversary online exhibition entitled “Out of the Archives / Inside the Community: 30 Years of Inside Out”. This interactive exhibition features a walk through Inside Out’s history with an exclusive look at past pictures, press clippings, posters, flyers for dance parties, and a whole slew of other materials that have been brought out of the archives.

Says Inside Out’s 30th anniversary exhibition curator, Krista Davis: “Over the past 30 years Inside Out events have queered the streets of Toronto. From theatres to coffee shops, to venues that have been torn down and replaced by condominiums, these coordinates map our history.”

“For our 30th Anniversary, we’ve dug into our archives for memories and pulled out pictures, press clippings, posters for sing-a-longs, flyers for dance parties and exhibition co-presentations and a whole slew of other materials we’ve saved. Join us for a walk through this digitized ephemera as we remember the events that help shape this queer city.”

This exciting first phase of the exhibition, a virtual walk-through of Inside Out’s history in Toronto, is now live on insideout.ca/30years.

30TH ANNIVERSARY SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Beginning Monday, May 25th and going to June 30th, a curated selection of short films will be available to screen exclusively on Inside Out’s website.

The 30th anniversary committee, led by Director of Programming Andrew Murphy, includes Jenna Dufton (Programming Manager), Chris Chin, Michele Pearson Clarke, Scott Ferguson, Nik Redman, and Sonya Reynolds.

Program 1: Best of Best of the Fest

From audience awards winners to programmer’s pics, Best of the Best of the Fest offers up a solid cross section of short film festival faves spanning three decades.

INTERVIEWS WITH MY NEXT GIRLFRIEND, directed by Cassandra Nicolaou (Canada 2001)
Starring a cast of Toronto celebrities including Ann-Marie Macdonald, Diane Flacks, Karen Robinson, Shoshana Sperling and Moynan King, nine women are questioned by an unknown interviewer to see if they measure up.
*2001 Audience Award, Best Short Film

HELLO, MY NAME IS HERMAN, directed by Karine Silverwoman (Canada 2007)
Hello, My Name Is Herman poignantly and humorously describes the relationship between a 91-year-old Jewish man, his lesbian granddaughter and her girlfriend.
*2007 Audience Award, Best Short Film

OH-BE-JOYFUL, directed by Susan Jacobson (UK 2016)
Rita is about to kick the bucket, but before she does she’s got one last job to do: drag her granddaughter out of the closet.
*2016 Audience Award Winner, Best Short Film

FOR NONNA ANNA, directed by Luis De Filippis (Canada 2018)
In this raw and graceful testimony of intersectional womanhood, a trans girl has to care for her Italian grandmother. She assumes that her Nonna disapproves of her — but instead discovers a tender bond in their shared vulnerability.
*2018 Emerging Canadian Artist Award, Luis De Filippis

HOLE, directed by Martin Edralin (Canada 2014)
Billy, a gay man with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita who is struggling to find physical and sexual intimacy.
*2015 Best Canadian Short Film

STOP CALLING ME HONEY BUNNY, directed by Gabrielle Zilkha (Canada 2013)
Stop Calling Me Honey Bunny follows our bunny couple on their dedicated journey to revive their sex life. From role play, to sex toys, to sex therapy, the roller coaster sexploration these bunnies endure is exciting, thrilling, humiliating, exhausting and, at times, quite touching.
*2013 Best Canadian Short Film

THE GOLDEN PIN, directed by Cuong Ngo (Canada 2009)
Long, a young Vietnamese-Canadian swimmer, finds himself struggling between the expectations of his family and the demands of his heart. English & Vietnamese with English subtitles
*2009 Best Canadian Short

THE THING, directed by Rhys Ernst (USA 2012)
A woman, a transgender man, and their cat travel towards a mysterious roadside attraction known as “The Thing.”

SHE DON’T FADE, directed by Cheryl Dunye (USA 1992)
She Don’t Fade by Cheryl Dunye examines the sexuality of a black lesbian, Shae Clarke. Clarke, played by Dunye herself, tells of “her new approach to women” and takes us on a journey to find her.

WAACK REVOLT, directed by Sonia Hong (Canada 2013)
WAACK REVOLT is a cheeky love story that begins during an audition, in the 1940’s Classic Hollywood era. This is where the lovers first meet and commence their love for “waacking”. Outraged by their dance, the public exclaim that they aren’t allowed to “waack” in public, but only behind closed doors.
*2014 Best Canadian Short Film

Program 2: Local Heroes

At the heart of Inside Out has always been the annual Local Heroes (formerly Hogtown Homos) screening. So many familiar names, chosen family members, and even a few former staff members are featured in this celebration of our top drawer talent in our own backyard.

SEEKING SINGLE WHITE MALE, directed by Vivek Shraya (Canada 2011)
Become absorbed in this study of a brown body in (queer) white spaces.

5 DYSFUNCTIONAL PEOPLE IN A CAR, directed by Pat Mills (Canad 2009)
A 43-year-old woman, her 21-year-old boyfriend, her unhappily married sister, an aging mother and a burgeoning lesbian niece take a ride into discontent one winter’s afternoon.

BLACK MEN AND ME, directed by Michèle Pearson Clarke (Canada 2007)
Black Men and Me is an experimental documentary short in which a woman explores her position as a Trinidadian dyke and her complex relationship with black men. Shot in a barbershop, a traditional gathering place for black men, she has her head shaved while she reflects on her black masculinity.
*2007 Best Canadian Female Short Award

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO JACKIE SHANE, directed by Sonya Reynolds and Lauren Hortie (Canada 2014)
Toronto, 1963. Jackie Shane – a black, queer, soul-singing, flamboyant Nashville-born, Toronto-based musician – had a hit song on the charts. The song was a sensation, and with the lyrics “Tell her that I’m happy, tell her that’s I’m gay; tell her I wouldn’t have it any other way”, it was also an underground gay anthem. But before being able to fully enjoy the fruits of this success, Jackie suddenly disappeared.

AKIN, directed by Chase Joynt (Canada 2012)
With haunting suburban visuals backed by the rich sounds of Toronto based-band Ohbijou, Akin powerfully engages in a relationship between an Orthodox Jewish mother and her transgender son as they navigate silent secrets of a shared past.

GIRL CLEANS SINK, directed by Sook-Yin Lee (Canada 2005)
A lonely couple meet in a Laundromat, where their clumsy attempt at a sexual liaison leads to revelations, embarrassments, and a little bit of compassion.

CUP CAKE, directed by Allyson Mitchell (Canada 1998)
Cupcake is Girl as chubby eye candy. She takes us on a quest for the perfect dessert. She is proof that eating is sexy. Cupcake talks without shame, about desserts that she loves.

THE NIGHT CLEANER, directed by Blair Fukumura (Canada 2017)
A lonely janitor forms a connection with a homeless man that leads her into mystical terrain.

MONSTER MASH, directed by Mark Pariselli (Canada 2015)
A Halloween hookup turns into something more for a pair of morbid misfits costumed as Horror Cinema’s most iconic female characters.

SOUL SUCKA, directed by Chrisitina Zeidler (Canada 1996)
Chrome, fur, shades, shoes – it’s an all-femme action-packed ride. Sexy, trashy and aggressive.

TOUCH, directed by Jeremy Podeswa (Canada 2001)
Touch is an uncompromising work about emotional scarring, the cycle of abuse, and the perverse nature of desire. In a poetic and highly stylized treatment, the film details the tragic journey of a physically and psychologically abused teenaged boy from early childhood trauma through to adolescent dysfunction.

SUSPECT, directed by Patricia Rozema (Canada 2005)
In a gender-swapping adaptation of philosopher Mark Kingwell’s essay “Who is the Suspect?”, Rozema questions our comforting tradition of creating tidy fictional chains of cause and effect that provide the libidinal release of a puzzle solved.

TOGETHER AND APART, directed by Laurie Lynd (Canada 1991)
A delightful musical drama about sexual and professional choices, Together and Apart is a tale of reunited lovers and facing our choices.

100 CRUSHES CHAPTER 6 – THEY , directed by Elisha Lam (Canada 2014)
The director’s feelings of envy and resentment of a roommate’s pronoun-of-choice eventually evolve into delight in one simple word.

Program 3: 30 Years of CanQueer

This program offers up three decades of our nation’s best in queer storytelling. From the political, to the deep end, this program is bound to inspire some great conversation with a dash of nostalgia.

WE’RE TALKING VULVA, directed by Shawna Dempsey (Canada 1990)
A five-foot, six-inch rappin’ vulva, in an unexpected parody of the music video genre, leads the viewer on a complete description of female genitalia.

DANCE TO MISS CHIEF, directed by Kent Monkman (Canada 2011)
Dance to Miss Chief – a playful critique of German fascination with North American “Indians” that is guaranteed to make you want to get up and shake your booty! This remix of contemporary and vintage footage celebrates Miss Chief’s on-screen romance with leading man, Winnetou, fictitious “Indian” from Karl May’s German Westerns.

REX VS. SINGH, directed by Richard Fung, John Greyson and Ali Kazimi (Canada 2009)
In 1915, two Sikh mill-workers, Dalip Singh and Naina Singh, were entrapped by undercover police in Vancouver and accused of sodomy. This experimental video stages scenes from their trial, told four times: first as a period drama, second as a documentary investigation of the case, third as a musical agit-prop, and fourth, as a deconstruction of the actual court transcript.

HELPLESS MAIDEN MAKES AN I STATEMENT, directed by Thirza Cuthand (Canada 2000)
A helpless maiden is tiring of her consensual s/m relationship with her lover, and “evil” queen. She wants to break up. An impassioned monologue in a dungeon with our heroine in wrist cuffs quickly becomes an emotionally messy ending in flames.

AUDITION TAPE, directed by Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay (Canada 2003)
Gay white male, 5’11”, 155 lbs, 29 years old, good singing voice and co-ordination, desperately seeks job as performer in a Russian girl pop group. History, sexuality and identity collide in a musical monologue inspired by outtakes from American Idol competitions.

DEEP END, directed by Bretten Hannam (Canada 2012)
When 13-year-old Dane’s older brother comes out as gay, he spends the day at the community pool trying to figure out what it means for both of them.

SWERVE, directed by Andrea Dorfman (Canada 1999)
Swerve tells the story of a group of friends who embark on a road trip which winds up in an uncomfortable lesbian love triangle.

WHY I HATE BEES, directed by Sarah Abbott (Canada 1998)
Why I Hate Bees is a comedic journey into a young girl’s memories of near death, based on the short story by Canadian writer Nancy Jo Cullen.

THE MAN THAT GOT AWAY, directed by Trevor Anderson (Canada 2012)
A musical documentary that tells the true life story of Trevor’s great-uncle Jimmy in six original songs.

 

Running May 26-30, 2020, the 2020 LGBTQ FILM FINANCE FORUM also will be taking place allowing LGBTQ Producers creating LGBTQ content an opportunity to pitch to top decision makers like Netflix, Neon, Bleecker Street, IFC Films, Gamechanger Films, Killer Films, MK2, Bankside Films, Powderkeg Studios and GLAAD.

 

Films will be available free for Inside Out members at insideout.ca

Tickets available to the public for $5.50 only.