Ain’t nobody got time – or the funds, amirite? – to see the over 80 films that will screen during the 23rd annual Toronto LGBT Film Festival, but we’ve surveyed the lot so you don’t have to. The films this year show that queer identities permeate the depths of one’s being, not just the visceral sexual aspect, and we’re excited about the routes filmmakers are taking to frame their artsy-fartsy queer discourses. Here a sampling of the Standard‘s picks for this year’s fest.
Campy dreams: Peaches Does Herself – May 24, 9:15 p.m. (TIFF Bell Lightbox 2)
Inspired by the cult classic The Rocky Horror PIcture Show and 65-year-old stripper Sandy Kane, Toronto-born Merrill Nisker has birthed an anti-jukebox, post-punk transsexual opera using more than 20 songs from her back catalogue to chronicle the development of the Artist Currently Known as Peaches. The flick, which premiered at TIFF last September, sees our hero embark on a journey of self-discovery when her heart is broken by transgender pornstar Danni Daniels. Imagine what follows. Press notes say that it features a floating labia, an exploding penis and pansexual dance troupes, so you know it’s going to be a helluva time. Check out the trailer here.
Timeless appeal: Before You Know It – May 25, 2:15 p.m. (TIFF Bell Lightbox 2)
Some say that if you’re gay and over 30, you might as well be dead. Well, for those who aren’t live-fast-die-young types, life goes on, and Before You Know It captures those out-to-pasture moments of three gay senior citizens, as they navigate a sex-obsessed community as de-sexed citizens. Ageism and loneliness runs abound within senior communities, and it’s about time that we deign to remember once more those who are as entitled to the queer community as we are.
Young love: G.B.F. – May 26, 4:30 p.m. (TIFF Bell Lightbox 1)
Last year, the Toronto Catholic School Board attracted city-wide criticism for pushing out Gay-Straight Alliances, inspiring talks of dissolving the Board altogether and, better still, empowering students to mobilize against a ridiculous institution that shouldn’t be receiving public funds in the first place. In what alternate universe is an openly gay student not at least harassed or worse, assaulted for their sexuality? In comes G.B.F., a comedy centred around the competition between three reigning prom queen hopefuls for the ultimate accessory: a gay best friend. Will the comedy expose the struggles of queer youth, or will the gleeful camp of it all outweigh its social agenda? See it! Check out the trailer here.
International exploration: God Loves Uganda – May 28, 5:15 p.m. (TIFF Bell Lightbox 1)
Uganda caused international outcry with its 2009 Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which expanded the criminalization of homosexual prosecution to include prescribed death penalties and life imprisonment clauses. God Loves Uganda explores the roots of Ugandan homophobia, largely exacerbated by American evangelical leaders (notably Scott Lively, who was on trial for crimes against humanity in January) promoting religiously-motivated bigotry. Incredibly important, incredible relevant. Check out the trailer here.
Fetish fun: Interior. Leather Bar. – May 31, 10:00 p.m. (TIFF Bell Lightbox 1)
Cruising, a psychological thriller directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino, had 40 minutes of its gay S&M footage cut in order to secure an R rating in 1980. While those legendary 40 minutes are lost forever in the annals of film history, filmmaker Travis Matthews and everyone’s favourite trysexual James Franco are out to reimagine that lost footage in Interior. Leather Bar., bridging that hazy divide between fantasy and reality, artistic process and sexy interpretation. The film is being screened alongside Rough Trade, chronicling a hustler’s entry into a leather cult, which sounds like a much-needed comment on the cultish tendencies of fetish. Check out the trailer here.
The Toronto LGBT Film Festival starts on May 23, and tickets are on sale now and are available online, by phone and in person. For more information, click here.
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Vidal Wu is an intern at Toronto Standard. You can follow him on Twitter at @vidalwuu.
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