image+nation International lgbt film festival
Celebrates its 18th anniversary November 3-13
IMAGE + NATION, International gay and lesbian film festival is pleased to present its 18th edition November 3-13 at Cinéma Parisien (480 St-Catherine St. W.). Including feature-length fiction, documentaries and short films from first-time filmmakers and established director the spectacular selection of the festival will offer film buffs a panorama of queer cinema from around the world.
Opening and Closing Films
It all starts Thursday November 3 on a highly entertaining and poignant note, Whole New Thing. Emerson (Aaron Webber) lives with his parents Kaya (the remarkable Rebecca Jenkins) and Rog (Robert Joy) in their eco-home in the wilds of Nova Scotia. When Emerson develops his first crush on Don (Daniel MacIvor), his English teacher, he throws himself into the awakening of his heart with alarming abandon. A beguiling and provocative comedy/drama about the discovery of sex and the longing for intimacy, Whole New Thing brings to life the rites of passage of youth and middle-age. Director Amnon Buchbinder along with co-writer MacIvor (writer/director/actor of Festival favourites, Beefcake, Until I Hear From You and this year’s Wilby Wonderful) has created a very smart, funny, frank and captivating film.
IMAGE+NATION ends its 18th edition with a sexy and irresistible comedy set in fin-de-siècle Barcelona: Inconscientes (Unconscious). Alma (Mala Educación’s Lenor Watling), a determinedly progressive woman is baffled by her husband, Freud devotee and psychiatrist Dr. Leon Pardo’s (Alex Brendemühl) behaviour. Acclaimed Spanish director Joaquin Oristrell delivers a sure-fire festival hit. On the menu: complex family and sexual intrigues, major Freudian totems and taboos, hysteria and hypnosis.
An impressive selection
With close to 140 works, the festival proposes an impressive array of new voices and a fine group of established filmmakers, both with strong visions. The IMAGE+NATION international selection: independent, stunning and touching images from around the world including a vast number of documentaries on the reality and real lives of queer communities. This year’s highlights include: Show Me, by Canadian director Cassandra Nicolaou, an intense thriller starring Katharine Isabelle, Michelle Nolden, and Kett Burton; from France, Gaël Morel surprises us with his film Le Clan, Peter Paige, star of the cult series Queer as Folk will come to present his 1st feature film, Say Uncle; films from India (The Journey, My Brother Nikhil), Serbia (Take a Deep Breath) Sweden (Illusive Tracks), Argentina (Un Año sin Amor) and Germany (Sommersturn, Wanted!).
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, GIV and IMAGE+NATION propose a fascinating overview of independent productions directed by women. Analogue, digital, documentary, experimental, the videos explore notions of passages and look at genre and identity – crucial themes in video history.
Portrait Daniel MacIvor
A prolific writer, director and performer, and the artistic director of the award-winning theatre company da da kamera, Daniel MacIvor has seen his plays travel throughout Canada, the U.S., Europe, Israel and Australia. His accomplishments as a filmmaker include writing the short film The Fairy Who Didn’t Want to Be a Fairy Anymore and writing and directing Parade (with Brad Fraser), Permission and Until I Hear from You, both presented in this Portrait section. His first feature film, Past Perfect, premiered at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, along with the screenplay adaptation he created from his play Marion Bridge (directed by Wiebke von Carolsfeld). He also wrote and directed Wilby Wonderful and co-wrote Whole New Thing, this year’s opening film. A major contributor to Canadian and international theatre and film, Daniel MacIvor creates poignant images and characters that speak to a distinctly Canadian queer identity
Reflection and Renewal
These words spring to mind when considering the roster of films proposed. Reflecting upon collective past – memories both nostalgic and troubling – this year we consider two significant epochs for LGBTs in the Western World: WWII and the 1970s. Possibly the last time in the history of Western Culture that homosexuals were persecuted in such a bureaucratic way, the focus “1945-2005” includes narrative features such as Un amour à taire, Napola (Before the Fall) and compelling documentaries Paragraph 175 and Heroes and Gay Nazis. Celebrating the sexual freedom of the 1970s, the two feature length documentaries, That Man: Peter Berlin and Gay Sex in the 70s as well as the short film programme “LGBtv” revel in the debauchery, overt sexuality and extroverted gayness of that memorable decade.
Special Presentation
Following the resounding success of the film version of her brilliant novel, Tipping the Velvet, presented at Image+nation in 2003, Sarah Waters’ next Sapphic adventure, Fingersmith, is an enthralling saga of desires and deceptions. In amongst the dark twisting alleyways of Victorian London, the stories of two very different young women collide with terrifying consequences. The life of young orphan Sue gets turned upside down when Richard Rivers, an old friend of her caregiver Mrs. Sucksby (played by Oscar nominee Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake) convinces her to help him win the affection of Maud Lilly, a wealthy young lady defraud her of all her money. Fingersmith is brimming with intrigue, emotion and mystery. A must-see screening event, this riveting series will be one evening very well spent!
Chatelin Bruno 
