Inside Out’s LGBT Film Festival is celebrating its eighth year in Ottawa with a venue change to the ByTowne Cinema.
The festival previously screened at the National Art Galley.
The festival is scheduled for Oct. 23-26. It highlights LGBT works from Canadian filmmakers, as well as films from across the world. All films will be screened at the ByTowne, except for two at SAW Gallery.
The new venue is meant to showcase another focal point of downtown Ottawa, says Jonathan Dawe, festival co-ordinator for Ottawa.
“It’s just a really classic theatre,” he says. “What better place to watch some cinema and have some popcorn than in a place that’s been around almost as long as Ottawa?”
Inside Out established its film festival in Toronto, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year. The Toronto LGBT Film Festival draws a crowd of over 35,000 people. Inside Out has recreated the same success in Ottawa, on a smaller scope. Ottawa’s festival attracts crowds of over 4,500 people and has 5,200 volunteers working the festival.
Dawe says Ottawa is a key location for Inside Out because it has a large LGBT population, in comparison to the population of the city. He also says the film festival has been able to grow in the city because it offers something people can’t get from mainstream media or larger cinemas.
“It creates a space for people who have an interest in the arts and who are part of the GLTBQ community to come together and share something that is a special once a year festival,” Dawe says.
“It’s a different type of space, it’s separate from the bar scene . . . it’s an important part of the GLBTQ community here in Ottawa.”Venus Envy, on Bank Street, is a local sponsor of the festival. It has been a ticket vendor for more than four years now and has close ties with the Inside Out co-ordinators.
The store has continued to be a community sponsor for the film festival because of its efforts to showcase diverse works to the LGBT community.
“We’re a store for everyone but we obviously have strong roots in . . . queer and trans communities so we like to support any kind of venture that reflects those communities,” says Shelley Taylor, president of Venus Envy.
Anticipation for the festival has grown, with customers coming in weeks before the tickets have gone on sale to learn about the lineup and what’s new this year, says Mitch Donovan, general manager of Venus Envy.
“They work really hard on improving the variety of films each year. You can tell there’s a big difference and they’re building and growing,” says Donovan.
The 2014 LGBT film festival will showcase 13 feature-length films, three shorts programs and more than 35 international films from more than a dozen countries.
This year, the critically acclaimed movie Tru Love will open the festival. The Canadian movie tells a story of a May-September romance between 30-something Tru and the mother of one of her close friends.
Co-director and writer of Tru Love, Kate Johnston says her movie is based on a friend of hers and a “beautiful older widow who lives out of town.”
“They meet up a few times a year for dinner and flirt outrageously with each other. It is innocent and lovely,” she says.
While Johnston maintains her film is pure fiction, she says it was based on the idea of these lonely characters accidently falling in love.
The film has already won dozens of awards through the LGBT international film circuit because of impeccable acting and directing.
“I feel an overwhelming sense of awe and gratitude. It was completely unexpected,” Johnston says.
Co-director and lead actress Shauna MacDonald will be in attendance during the film’s Ottawa premiere on Oct. 23.