IMAGE+NATION: MONTREAL'S LGBT FILM FESTIVAL

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Now in its 24th edition, the oldest LGBT film festival in Canada, Image+Nation, will run from October 26 to November 6, 2011. This year will feature over 125 shorts, documentaries and feature films. The collective theme will be “Share Your Stories with the Ones You Love”…

Image+Nation LGBT International Film Festival invites filmmakers from all over the world to share their stories. Stories of social issues, cultures, love and lust. They offer unique and different perspectives on life, not specifically aimed at gay people who like movies, but anyone who supports the LGBT community.

OPEN AND CLOSING

The festival will open on Wednesday, October 26 at 8:00 PM with Tova Magnusson-Norling’s Four More Years, a Swedish comedy about a politician and a Minister of State who embark on a funny and complex love affair. After 11 days of cinema, the festival will close with Leave it on the Floor, a musical comedy directed by Sheldon Larry. The story follows Brad, who is kicked out of his home by his homophobic mother and finds himself in the L.A ball scene. This film blew up at the Toronto International Film Festival, and is apparently destined to become a cult classic.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: PARIS IS BURNING

A staple of queer cinema will return for a special 20th anniversary presentation. The emotional and evocative documentary, Paris is Burning, will once again bring us back to the piers of Chelsea and the roots of drag culture.

HOMAGE TO ELIZABETH TAYLOR & 30 YEARS OF HIV/AIDS

The fest will also play host to a talk by film critic, author and lecturer Matthew Hays examining the 30th anniversary of HIV/AIDS. Hays’ talk will be accompanied by a screening of We Were Here by David Weissman, a film that chronicles the AIDS crisis in San Francisco through a series of intimate interviews. The festival will also pay homage to the late actress and HIV/AIDS activist Elizabeth Taylor with screenings of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Reflections in a Golden Eye.

SHORTS AND DOCUMENTARIES

The real beef of the festival comes in the huge collection of short films and documentaries from around the globe. The impressive roster of documentaries this year looks at homosexuality in traditionally non-accepting cultures around the world. I AM by Sonali Gulati and Wish Me Away by Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf look the most interesting to me!

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THE DETAILS

Image+Nation LGBT International Film Festival, October 26 to November 6, 2011

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