The Vancouver Queer Film Festival is the city’s second largest film festival and the largest queer arts event in Western Canada. The festival hosts a variety of performances, workshops, panels and parties over its 11 days. This year, VQFF is presenting a stellar line-up of more than 70 films from around the world. VQFF takes place Aug. 12-23 at various Vancouver venues.
Here are a few of this year’s offerings. For tickets and full event schedule, visit QueerFilmFestival.ca
Eisenstein in Guanajuato
“The greatest film practitioner we’ve ever seen” is how Peter Greenaway refers to Sergei Eisenstein, the 20th century creator of the masterpieces Battleship Potemkin and October. Here, Greenaway offers us his own sumptuous rendition of the director’s 1931 trip to Mexico to shoot Que Viva México, which was never completed after Eisenstein fell in love – and into distraction – with his appointed guide, Palomino Cañedo. High camp treatment blends with masterfully-shot scenes of Eisenstein rolling in luxurious beds, vomiting in alleyways, and cavorting with Frida Kahlo. And likely the best sex scene ever committed to celluloid that blends seduction and dominance with a turning-the-tables soliloquy on self-determination and colonialism – and a gorgeous drop of olive oil. Irreverently spanning the themes of queer lives, art, and sacrifice in the name of love and nation, Greenaway offers a middle pointer to contemporary homophobia and state control (especially in the direction of the Russian state that prides itself on Eisenstein’s legacy). To quote the Eisenstein of the film: “I came to Mexico a virgin and I leave it debauched… someone has opened a door to a wet and weeping, dirty hurricane.”
• Thursday, Aug. 13, 7pm, Vancouver Playhouse
• Saturday, Aug. 22, 4:30pm, International Village
Grandma
Lily Tomlin fans, rejoice! She’s clearly having a ball in Grandma, a rousing, exhilarating joyride that brings limitless energy and a decidedly un-Hollywood approach to storytelling about three generations of women. Here, the carefree feminist plot reveals itself early when Elle’s (Lily Tomlin) granddaughter Sage shows up on her doorstep seeking $600 for an abortion. Neither of them has the money so they set out on a road trip (in Tomlin’s own 1955 Dodge Royal) to get it without involving Sage’s mom, Judy (Marcia Gay Harden). Their journey sparks new life in Elle, a self-described misanthrope who’s been grieving the loss of her long-term love. Watch for supporting performances by the wonderful Laverne Cox, Judy Greer, and Sam Elliott too.
• Friday, Aug. 14, 9:00pm, Rio Theatre
In The Turn
Effervescent with hope, In the Turn centres on 10-year-old Crystal in Timmins, Ontario, whose experience of chilling social isolation and bullying at school begins to change once she finds friendship and community in the Vagine Regime. They’re a kick-ass international queer roller derby team that (unlike Crystal’s school sports teams) is trans-inclusive, and they welcome Crystal with open arms. As organizer Alex Krosney describes it: “Imagine spending your entire life keeping quiet about a huge part of yourself, then suddenly literally tumbling into a community of people who shout so loud about it that you can’t keep it down.” The film pivots to the experiences of the grassroots community that is the Vagine Regime and how members reach out to support Crystal. This heart-tugging documentary demonstrates how a small but mighty group are lead jammers in the movement for trans-inclusive policies in sport. The VQFF will be hosting director Erica Tremblay, Crystal and her mother Karen as special guests for this Vancouver premiere of one of the most buzzed-about films of the year.
• Saturday, Aug. 15, 6:45pm, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (Woodward’s)
• Thursday, Aug. 20, 9:15pm, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (Woodward’s)
The Cult of JT Leroy
The infamous writer who sparked “the postmodern trial of the century”, JT LeRoy, a 15-year-old transgendered sex worker, was hailed for writing heartwrenching novels. Chuck Palahniuk described LeRoy as having the “authentic voice of someone who suffers.” Known for being deeply shy, LeRoy was encircled by a Warholian world of celebrities including Winona Ryder, Rosario Dawson, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Bernhard, Gus Van Sant, Shirley Manson, Lou Reed and numerous writers and agents. But at the peak of LeRoy’s 10-year rise came a rapid fall from grace. Says writer Dennis Cooper in the film, “From the beginning, I thought JT LeRoy was a liar… but I thought I knew when the lies were happening.” Was this the world’s largest literary scandal? Or a profound uncovering of our literary biases? Director Marjorie Sturm crafts a haunting, introspective documentary that questions artistic voice, freedom of speech and how far we will go to achieve our dreams.
• Saturday, Aug. 22, 6:50pm, International Village
