The first ever digital edition of Inside Out, coinciding with the organization’s 30th anniversary, will be hosted on the Cinesend platform - seamlessly incorporating festival films with live events, Q&As, and exclusive conversations with LGBTQ talent. The full festival lineup, including feature films and special events, will be released on September 8th, 2020. Details on individual tickets, all-access passes, and membership benefits will be released in the coming weeks.
“In postponing the festival this spring, we were optimistic that we might be able to gather safely in October to celebrate this exceptional year in queer film, and Inside Out’s 30-year milestone anniversary,” said Andria Wilson, Executive Director. “There is no denying the impacts of COVID-19 on our industry, our communities, and our artists, and Inside Out remains dedicated to providing support and building connections through all available means. We will keep innovating, keep imagining, and keep collaborating with our partners to deliver a digital festival experience that will reach LGBTQ2 audiences and allies across Ontario, while allowing us to stay connected with our loyal audiences in Ottawa and Toronto.”
“Although we are unable to gather in person to share what we’ve seen, and network with filmmakers in the ways we are used to, we remain committed to bringing you the best in queer cinema from our literal backyards and around the world,” said Andrew Murphy, Director of Programming. “We’ve been hard at work curating, tweaking, and securing exciting work for the online space and are thrilled to announce our short film programs well ahead of our October dates. In committing to our initial 16 programs, we continue our mission to invest in emerging queer artists, and we can’t wait to share more than 100 diverse fiction and non-fiction shorts with you across Ontario!”
Inside Out is proud to announce their robust line up of short films for the online October event. Spanning 16 shorts programs, including a mixed episodic program, 115 short films from Canada and around the world will be showcased. Four of these films - BING! BANG! BI!, BREAK IN, CRAZY and WERE YOU GAY IN HIGH SCHOOL? were recipients of Inside Out’s Re:Focus post production fund, and BODY SO FLUORESCENT, a world premiere, was funded through the Inside Out x ACTRA Queer Your Stories Short Film Competition.
Other highlights include Sundance favourite BUCK, SXSW titles BANANAS, DIRTY, VERT, and KEYBOARD FANTASIES: THE BEVERLY GLENN-COPELAND STORY, Lena Waithe’s AT&T Hello Lab titles ADELINE, THE GREAT and POSTMARKED, Iris Prize winner BLACK HAT, Robin Cloud’s 2 DOLLARS, Drew Denny’s MOMSTER starring Brianna Hildebrand, and CANDIS FOR PRESIDENT starring Candis Cayne.
Perennial favourite programs return for 2020. Local Heroes offers a showcase of Toronto’s best emerging queer talent. THRIVE, a program curated by Nik Redman and Scott Smart, centres stories of trans experience. BOLD, a program curated by Allia McLeod, explores the complexities of the queer Black experience in all its diversity. All other programs were curated by Programming Committee members Andrew Murphy, Jenna Dufton, Jacob Crepeault, Ferdosa Abdi, Rasheed Bailey, Katherine Connell, Ferrin Evans, Scott Ferguson, Zeinah Kalati, and Claire Jarvis.
Although Inside Out won’t be able to host its annual Youth Day in person, a quality program of short films geared towards youth will be available online as well as other special titles highlighted for youth and educator engagement. Details forthcoming.
In addition to the full program of films and special events, the online festival will also include the Canadian Micro-Budget Finance Forum, a new stream of Inside Out’s LGBTQ Feature Finance Forum which held its international edition online in May. The Canadian program will support ADOLESCENT (Director: Kyle Reaume, Producer: Sam Rosati), PINK CARNATIONS (Director: Adam Myatt, Producer: Lisa Buchanan), DEAR STRAIGHT MEN (Director: Santana Doran, Producer: Sam Sorrenti) and MOKA (Directors: Emily Gioskos, Laura Bornacelli, Producer: Moka Dawkins). All projects will participate in exclusive professional development and mentorship sessions that will kick-off during the October festival.
