Kingston will host the seventh annual reelout queer film and video festival this month, with eight days of independent cinema beginning Friday Jan. 26 and running until Feb. 5. This year more than 50 films from 10 different countries will be screened at different venues on campus and downtown. Along with the screenings themselves, the festival schedule includes special guests, panel discussions, and more than a few parties and galas. While some of the festival’s highlights are detailed below, full festival listings can be found online at www.reelout.com.
On Friday night the festival officially begins with the opening gala. The critically acclaimed film Breakfast on Pluto, starring Golden Globe-nominated actor Cillian Murphy, will appear at Etherington Auditorium at 7 p.m., followed by the opening gala party at the Grad Club at 9:30 p.m. The party will feature music courtesy of DJ Tigerstylez, food from The Sleepless Goat, and a performance of EQuIP’s Cabaret Spectacular.
Saturday’s events include the Digital Video Youth Project (DVYP), an exploration into human rights and the filmmaking process including short films written, directed and produced by Kingston youth. The DVYP will appear at Modern Fuel Gallery downtown at 2 p.m. “Canadian Beaver Tales,” an annual showcase of Canadian short films for women, will also be screened Saturday at Biosciences Complex Room 1101 at 7 p.m., followed by the movie Gals and Their Pals at 9:30 p.m. In between the two, a cheesecake reception in Biosciences Atrium gives everyone the chance to mingle with six of the festival’s visiting artists.
Toronto-based curators Chris Kennedy and Scott Berry from The Pleasure Dome will present early works from the queer avant-garde at the exhibit When We Were Very Young at the downtown branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library at 2:30 p.m. Nine films created between 1945 and 1988 will be featured, each with an introduction by Kennedy and Berry.
Out in Africa, a selection of four short films from South Africa’s Gay & Lesbian Film Festival filmmaking workshop, will appear at The Screening Room on Thursday Feb. 2 at 7 p.m., followed by a special panel discussion. On Friday Feb. 3, the controversial film Unveiled, about the struggles of a young Iranian lesbian, will also appear at The Screening Room at 7 p.m., followed by the exhibit Those Happy Endings at 9:30 p.m. Those Happy Endings will feature a sampling of lighthearted shorts including Not Straight Forward, a 2004 documentary on lesbian dating. A Midnight Moustache Masquerade will end Friday’s festivities, with the event (including reelout’s first annual Matchmaking Dating Game) taking place at Shay Foo Foo’s Martini Lounge at 11 p.m.
The Ontario premiere of Canadian film Eighteen will occur at The Screening Room on Saturday Feb. 4 at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Richard Bell. Eighteen follows the life of street kid Pip and features performances by well-known actors like Alan Cumming and Ian McKellen. At 9:30 p.m., The Screening Room will feature The Hung & The Restless, an showing of six short male dramas from around the world.
Saturday Feb. 5 signals the end of the festival, as the closing gala event, “An Evening with Cassandra Nicolaou” takes place at The Screening Room at 7 p.m. The screening will feature four of Nicoloau’s award-winning films including the recently acclaimed Show Me, a psychological thriller. The “Feelout reelout Wrap Party”, reelout’s closing night celebrations, will take place at the Tir Nan Og at 9:30 p.m., and admission to this final event is free.
Tickets for all events may be purchased in advance from Classic Video on Clarence Street, Destinations in the JDUC or Novel Idea on Princess Street. Tickets will also be available starting 20 minutes before show time at each screening venue. Ticket prices for the gala night feature are $12, while the gala party only is $10.
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