Vancouver Pride Week may be over, but one of the best summers we've had in YEARS is still in full-swing - as if that surreal thunderstorm a couple days ago wasn't a good enough indication. What does August in Vancouver mean? Beaches, patios, and the VQFF!
The 24th annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival turns up the summer heat from August 16 to 26, 2012 with films for the lover and fighter in everyone. Films for lovers aim straight for the heart strings, while films for fighters touch on human rights and activism in Vancouver and around the globe. With 75 films from 16 countries, Vancouver’s second largest film festival boasts an audience of more than 14,000 attendees.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0APcB6dm44
“This year at the festival we’re thrilled to have several Canadian premieres of films such as Mia, Nate and Margaret, and, Invisible Men just to name a few,” said Amber Dawn, Lambda Award-winning author and Director of Programming for Out On Screen. “We’re also proud to showcase emerging queer voices from places like Ecuador, Indonesia, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Hong Kong and Israel.”
There are a number of local films watch out for this year:
Stock Characters: The Cooking Show is a documentary on an original hip-hop and World music production satirizing the Japanese television show, Iron Chef which ran out of The Cultch in 2007. From theatre director Elaine Carol, the play chronicled the journey of tough Indigenous and immigrant youth of color as they struggled through an intense music theatre & dance “boot camp”. The film made its world premiere at DOXA back in May, and is back at the Rio Theatre on Friday, Aug 24, at 7pm with the director and cast in attendance. Check the trailer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhtJFGK1f-w
A few days earlier at the International Village Cineplex Odeon on Sunday, Aug 19, at 5pm you'll find Lesbian Factory - which isn't a local film, but the it'll be preceded by the premiere of Angelina Cantada's Powerful Out Women (POW!): On the Campaign Trail. The film follows the lives of three local queer politicians: Libby Davies (MP, Vancouver East), Mable Elmore (MLA, Vancouver Kensington), and Ellen Woodsworth (Former two-term Vancouver city councillor). Cantada hopes the film will inspire and empower young queer women to achieve great things without compromise. The director and cast will be in attendance, and I'm really looking forward to this one!
A couple more films including Vancouver talent are What I LOVE about being QUEER (An honest and engaging series of interviews by filmmaker Vivek Shraya , one of them being Vancouver's own Tegan Quin)
http://vimeo.com/41154481
And Positive Youth, which features Vancouver-based YouthCO director, Jesse Brown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aueXgHpD5uk
Apart from the awesome films, the Vancouver Queer Film Fest also has a number of parties and galas that can't be missed, one of them being the Fierce and Fabulous Party for the under-25 queers and their allies. It's a totally free, dry event, beginning with some short film viewings in the Vancity Theatre, before transitioning into an open-mic cabaret in the atrium!
As the festival draws near I'll let you know which films and galas you just can't miss. In the meantime, you can find the Vancouver Queer Film Festival on Facebook and Twitter, and keep #festies and #vqff on your radar!
