Back by popular demand, again hosted by Jason Collett, the Basement Revue unfolds nightly at Luminato Festival, with each evening’s program remaining a mystery right up until show time. Impromptu appearances and unscripted performances are all part of the fun. And since The Revue serves as the official, nightly after-party for all festival artists, there’s no telling who you’ll be rubbing elbows with at the bar or who’ll decide to leap onstage.
This year Jason is joined by poet and editor Damian Rogers as co-host and co-curator at The Revue. With years in the scene, she has edited books by musicians such as John Fahey and Bill Callahan and contributed lyrics to recordings by Jason Collett and Blue Rodeo. Her poems have appeared in Brick Magazine, The Walrus, Lemon Hound, and on the odd bathroom wall.
Photo by Freddie Mojallal
Given this dynamic duo, I thought it would be great to hear more from Jason and Damian. This way, we can learn more about them, and their work together at Luminato this year. Here is our great interview.
Jason: After several successful years, how do you keep the Basement Revue at Luminato fresh each and every year?
Jason: We draw from a wealth of talented artists that live amongst us, and often they come to showcase talents they’re not necessarily known for – Rich Terfry telling weird stories, John K. Samson reciting poetry, The Sadies backing up Margaret Atwood…
Damian: In your own words, how does your writing compliment Jason’s vision for each night’s programme at The Revue?
Damian: As the resident poet and the series literary curator, I’m able to suggest writers who might not be well known outside publishing circles. Jason and I share some aesthetic leanings, for sure, and I think each year my instincts sharpen for what will work on this stage. It’s a balance between presenting challenging, interesting artists and making sure that the audience doesn’t end up alienated. Personally, I greatly prefer reading poems in front of music fans to reading in more traditional poetry venues. The crowd at the Revue never fails to impress me with their openness and ability to listen deeply.
Jason and Damian: As curators of The Revue this year, does each night’s programme have a previously decided theme in terms of music and literature? Or is it something that happens more organically, so to speak? Damian:We generally don’t follow a specific theme for each night, but we definitely consider the potential chemistry among the musicians and writers when scheduling people. And then sometimes surprises happen — like last night, when George Elliott Clarke got to talking with Ryan Myshrall from Oldies 990 before the show and suddenly Ryan was backing George’s reading on bass. You can’t always plan for things like that, we just try to keep things open enough that connections can be made naturally.
Jason and Damian: You’ve collaborated in the past. Could we look forward to another collaboration in the near future? What is in store for each of you next? Damian:My second book, Dear Leader, is scheduled to come out next spring with Coach House Books. In the meantime, I’m heading to Boulder, Colorado, at the end of this month to study collaborative performance at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. The future is unwritten, but I’d love to collaborate with Jason again.
Jason: I’m just writing (time permitting) for the next while. Thanks for asking about collaboration though, it allows me to remind Damian to send me some orphaned bits of writing to see if they might find a home in song.
Sounds like we may be privy to some future project not too far ahead. I know, I’ll be looking forward to it.
I attended The Revue earlier this week. I saw singer Bebel Gilberto there, heard the country music sounds of Little Orton Hogget, and also danced with indie rock musician Rich Aucoin under a large parachute. How often does one get to end a weeknight on such a hight note? With both Jason and Damian curating The Revue, I can assure you it is absolutely a lot of fun!
You can join in the fun for another three nights at the Edward Day Gallery, at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. The party begins at 11pm each night. General Admision, cover $20. This is a 19+ Licenced Event.
SummerWorks Performance Festival returns for its 24th year August 7 -17th. This year’s bring some exciting changes, a crop of new works, and much more waiting to be discovered.
SummerWorks is excited to announce its new Hub at The Theatre Centre, where they will host Live Art programming throughout the festival. The Hub replaces last year’s Performance Bar. SummerWorks will also return to venues such as Theatre Passe Muraille, the Lower Ossington Theatre, and the Scotiabank Studio Theatre.
This year’s festival will feature a smaller group of works in the Mainstage Series to ensure increased support for artists. In total, the 2014 festival includes 33 works in the Mainstage Series, 6 in the Music Series, 11 in the Live Art Series, 4 in the National Series, 3 new Musical Works in Concert and 3 works that are In Production. Certainly many artists and performances to take in over this 11-day festival!
To entice you and get you to start planning your SummerWorks experience, I give you some highlights of this year’s festival programming.
NATIONAL SERIES
Against Gravity
Created by: Mind of a Snail
Mind of a Snail’s Against Gravity is a mindbending shadow puppetry journey through a world full of surprises; interactive & visually delicious, like a lucid dream. Expect live music, an overhead projector and several near death experiences.
Écoute Pour Voir
Production company: Danse Carpe Diem/Emmanuel Jouthe
Écoute Pour Voir consists of a variety of solos, scattered throughout the space and performed
simultaneously. Equipped with headphones attached to an iPod, dancers and viewers share
choreography face-to-face over the course of the music.
MAINSTAGE SERIES
Bitter Medicine
Created by: Clem and Olivier Martini & The Theatre Lab
Based on the award-winning graphic memoir of the same name, Bitter Medicine explores living with schizophrenia.
El Jinete (The Rider) – A Mariachi Opera
Created by: Mercedes Bátiz-Benét
El Jinete (the Rider) is the world’s first fully-staged Mariachi opera, featuring Mariachi Los Dorados. It’s a tale of love, vengeance, and the supernatural.
El Jinete (The Rider)
Kafka’s Ape
Created by: Franz Kafka & Guy Sprung
Captured on the Gold Coast and imprisoned in a cage, Redpeter’s only escape route is to become a walking, talking, spitting, hard-drinking member of the Peace Industry. Based on Kafka’s short story “A Report to an Academy.”
Maracatu You!
Created by: Suzanne Roberts Smith with Aline Morales and her Afro Brazilian Percussion ensemble of Maracatu Baque de Bamba
From the streets to the stage and back again.
Paradise Red
Created by: Bruce Gibbons Fell
The 1973 Chilean coup d’état has brought melodramatic conflicts upon the members of General
Riofrío’s family, including his death and other secrets. Presented as a telenovela.
Unintentionally Depressing Children’s Tales
Created by: Erin Fleck
If you’re looking for a fairy-tale, fable, or thinly-veiled metaphor to make you feel better about how life works sometimes… this isn’t it. The audience will be immersed into a world of whimsical tragedy and foreboding comedy, for a theatrical bedtime story like no other.
Unintentionally Depressing Children’s Tales
MUSICAL WORKS IN CONCERT
Animal Pharmacy: A Medicine Show
Created by: Greg Janssen
Animal Pharmacy: A Medicine Show is a musical comedy satire of the pharmaceutical industry in the style of an old-time medicine show.
LIVE ART SERIES
I Will Tell You Exactly What I Think of You
Created by: Zeesy Powers
I Will Tell You Exactly What I Think of You is an emotional endurance test. The opinions expressed are entirely those of the artist, and have no reflection on who you are as a person. For entertainment purposes only.
To Live in the Age of Melting the Idea of the North 2.0
Created by: Evalyn Parry, Elysha Poirier, Laakkaluk Bathory Williams
What does “North” mean to you, Toronto? And what does Iqaluit have to say about “South?”
IN DEVELOPMENT
romanceship
Created by: Cliff Cardinal
When Dave, the drug and sex addicted fraudster & Madly, the bulimic and klepto chef break up (and get back together) Madly dubiously announces she’s pregnant. Dave careens into Rochelle, the transgender crack addict, and the two begin the most enveloping love affair since cocaine met baking soda. This will be the first reading of this new work-in-progress by Cliff Cardinal.
d’bi young – romanceship
The Music Series lineup to be announced at a later date; this is a series certainly worth checking out.
This short list gives you a glimpse at the diverse lineup at SummerWorks this year. With so much to choose from, there isn’t a day you cannot find something to partake in.
I invite you to come back to this site as I’ll have more SummerWorks Top Picks, and Spotlights closer to the festival. In the meantime, for full festival lineup, ticketing info and venue info, visit summerworks.ca.
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.
Source: biography.com
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry.
His life and work were enormously important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Hughes wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself.
Mateca Arts Festival is a festival of World Music and Multi-Disciplinary Art with a strong Latin American identity. The festival invites everyone to learn, participate and support World Music and Multi-Disciplinary Art. This grassroots event integrates advocacy, arts and music into a two-day educational festival that is the first of its kind in the area.
The festival shows the importance of educating others on different cultures while connecting the arts and environment into one. It includes eclectic musicians, dancers and visual artists, with both local and international presentations. Mateca Arts Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8, at University of Toronto, Victoria College, Burwash Quad.
Over the course of two days, audiences can partake in outdoor Yoga classes, artists’ talks and guided tours, as well as, dance workshops and live music. In attendance will be Mapuche artist, Beatriz Pichi Malen from Argentina. Together with two musicians, Lucho Cruz and Chacho Ruiz Guiñaz (percussion & wind instruments), Malen combines sacred Mapuche instruments to create a new musical dimension of the ancestral songs, originally performed a Capella. Malen and accompanying musicians will perform at the festival’s Official Launch.
Also in attendance is Dr. Ricardo Dal Farra, who has been conducting activities in the merging fields of arts, sciences and new technologies as a composer and multimedia artist, researcher, educator, performer and curator focusing mainly on electroacoustic music and new media arts for more than 25 years. Farra will be part of a Conference talk on Art, Science & Technology.
Toronto-based artists will also particpate in this two-day festival. The likes of Quique Escamilla, Laura Fernández, Payadora Tango Ensemble, Luanda Jones, and many others will be on-hand to get you dancing.
Mateca Arts Festival promises to be family-friendly, educational, and exciting. The combination of eclectic musicians, dancers and visual artists, with both local and international presentations will certainly introduce us to some new talent, and cultures. For further information on the festival line up and ticketing, please visit mateca.com.
One of the sure signs of summer in Toronto is the arrival of Luminato Festival. For ten full days, Toronto will be the hub of some major arts and cultural events both on the local and international level.
As in previous years, I have taken a peek at the festival programming and have chosen a few events that sound fun and interesting. This list includes both free and ticketed events. It also includes somewhat a variety in types of events, as Luminato offers a wide range of options for all tastes.
Hosted by Jason Collett, Basement Revue unfolds nightly at the festival, with each evening’s program remaining a mystery right up until show time. Impromptu appearances and unscripted performances are all part of the fun. The Revue also serves as the official, nightly after-party for all festival artists, so there’s no telling who you’ll be seeing at the bar or who’ll decide to leap onstage.
The Revue is curated by Collett and poet Damian Rogers. There you may encounter the likes of Metric’s James Shaw performing a version of Pink Floyd’s “Nobody’s Home” on the piano, or Margaret Atwood stepping up to the mic in front of one of Toronto’s most celebrated bands and saying, with her characteristic deadpan wit, “Hit it, Sadies.”
As is tradition for the Basement Revue, each night’s performers remain a surprise to the audience until they step on stage. Even the performers themselves are kept in the dark, adding an extra element of mystery to the evening.
Friday, June 6th 10:00 pm – Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square Jesse Cook With special guest Amanda Martinez Free Admission Paris-born guitarist and composer, Jesse Cook, has earned legendary status as the foremost, and most gifted, proponent of the nouveau flamenco movement, blending flamenco with rumba and jazz to achieve a singularly dazzling sound. For his Luminato debut, Cook will be joined on two songs by Toronto-based singer-songwriter Amanda Martinez, whose own flamenco fieriness draws on Mexican and South African influences.
Saturday, June 7th 12:00 pm – Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square Taste of the Beach – Food at The Hub Mary Luz Mejia, chef curator and event host Free Admission
This year, ten local chefs will be paired with ten Festival artists to create a unique and delectable summertime dish that explores the flavours of eating at the beach – all hot off the barbecue! Cocktails, DJs Sound Culture (Chicago) and Richard Blair of Sidestepper (Bogotá) will add to the pulsating heat at the Festival Hub, creating a true culinary exhibition. Sounds deliciously tempting to me!
Saturday, June 7th 9:00 pm – Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square The Roots Admission: $35 The Roots are ranked among the 10 greatest rap groups of all time by Rolling Stone. The Grammy Award-winning band was formed in Philadelphia more than 25 years ago by Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. They have been the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon since the show’s inception in 2009 and recently migrated with Fallon to The Tonight Show in New York City.
If you’re a fan of The Roots, this is one concert I highly recommend you check out at Luminato this year.
Sunday, June 8th 2:00 pm – MaRS Discovery District TimesTalks Luminato – Daniel Lanois and Select Guests Moderated by New York Times Managing Editor of Video, Bruce Headlam Admission: $25 This conversation will focus on Lanois’ tremendous impact on contemporary music both within Canada and internationally, including his work with U2, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, the power and poetry of his compositions and the evolving role of the producer within the rapidly changing music industry.
Host for the event, Bruce Headlam, is the managing editor of video for The New York Times since 2013. Under Mr. Headlam, the New York Times Monday Business section won the 2008 Newhouse School Award for Overall Excellence and his writers have won various awards under his editorial leadership.
Monday, June 9th 9:00 pm – Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square Bebel Gilberto Brazilian Samba Soul with Aline Morales Free Admission Among Brazilian jazz artists, Bebel Gilberto is true royalty. She is the daughter of legendary guitarist and vocalist João Gilberto and esteemed singer Miúcha. But Bebel, who has been performing since childhood, is a full-fledged star in her own right, putting her uniquely vibrant spin on bossa nova traditions.
Warming things up on-stage for Bebel will be Toronto-based Aline Morales. For her Luminato debut, Morales and her quintet will play an all-original, all-Brazilian set that goes beyond Brazil by flavouring traditional samba and bossa beats with African and European sounds.
Tuesday, June 10th 9:30 pm – Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square Tanya Tagaq presents Nanook of the North Northern Lights & Music double bill with Buffy Sainte-Marie Free Admission In 1922, filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty paved the way for the modern documentary with his contentious but momentous chronicle of a year in the life of Inuit Nanook and his family near the Arctic Circle, Nanook of the North. Now innovative throat singer Tanya Tagaq, known for her work with Björk and the Kronos Quintet, draws upon her family’s history in far northern Quebec and her own Nunavut childhood to reclaim Flaherty’s masterpiece. With music composed by Derek Charke, Tagaq unites with two equally celebrated musicians— violinist Jesse Zubot and percussionist Jean Martin—to reactualize the film’s silent images with emotive soundscapes.
Tanya Tagaq in concert with Nanook of the North was commissioned by TIFF Bell Lightbox as part of its film retrospective First Peoples Cinema: 1500 Nations, One Tradition.
Wednesday, June 11th 9:00 pm – Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square Keys on the Street – A recital of Urban Dance and Piano Angela Hewitt; with choreography by Tré Armstrong Free Admission For some, it may be difficult to imagine the union between classical music and urban dance, but two outstanding Canadian artists—pianist Angela Hewitt and choreographer Tré Armstrong— hope to prove they can make this union work. Armstrong, most recognizable as So You Can Dance Canada judge, leads a troupe of the finest urban dancers to physically respond to Hewitt’s piano playing. Hewitt is best known for her cycle of Bach recordings, crafted between 1995 and 2004. An Officer of the Order of the British Empire, she is also founder and Artistic Director of the Trasimeno Music Festival in Umbria, Italy.
Part of this program will include music from J.S. Bach, Debussy, and others.
Thursday, June 12th 8:00 pm – The Theatre Centre Copycat Talks – Kendell Geers: Following the Blind Man (Marcel Duchamp and the Voodoun Connection) Admission: $15
“In the spring of 1912, Marcel Duchamp left Paris for Munich on a 3 month sojourn that would ultimately change the course of twentieth century art.” This is how the lecture begins, and after it ends you will never think about Duchamp or art in the 20th century the same way.
Kendell Geers is a conceptual and installation artist who was born in May, 1968 in Johannesburg, South Africa – he changed his name and birthdate officially as a political act of self-creation. In the late 1980s, he went into exile and only returned to South Africa after the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners.
Friday, June 13th 8:00 pm – Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square Saidah Baba Talibah
Her mother is Canada’s “First Lady of the Blues,” Salome Bey. Toronto’s Saidah Baba Talibah isn’t one to rest on family laurels. Her singular sound, a scorching blend of rock, blues and raunchy soul, has taken her from Singapore to Brooklyn’s Afro Punk and shaped the killer album (S)cream, which bested more than 300 competitors to win the inaugural Soundclash Music Award. Saidah is one of my favourite Toronto artists.
Saturday, June 14th 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm Berkeley Street Theatre, Upstairs Bullet Catch Admission: $45 Performer, director, playwright and magician Rob Drummond becomes William Wonder to tell the incredible story of William Henderson, who died on stage while attempting to catch a bullet, a stunt so dangerous even Houdini refused to attempt it. A feast of theatrical magic, Bullet Catch combines storytelling, mindreading, levitation, games of chance and, for those brave enough to stay, the most notorious finale in show business.
Sunday, June 15th 12:00 pm – Trinity Bellwoods Park A Literary Picnic Free Admission A Literary Picnic is the heart and soul of Luminato’s Day of Literary Activity. Forty-five of the city’s finest writers will be gathered in Trinity Bellwoods Park, where they will present their thoughts and views and read from their own and other authors’ work during the festival’s daylong celebration of Toronto, the Unseen.
Austin Clarke, winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the unparalleled chronicler of Caribbean immigrants to Toronto; Barry Callaghan, denizen of the city’s bygone speakeasies and jazz clubs and connoisseur of its shoe-beaten sidewalks; Ins Choi, the sensational playwright of “Kim’s Convenience” and “Subway Stations of the Cross”; Don Gillmor, witness to the aspirations and foibles of the city’s moneyed classes; Andrew Pyper, masterful thriller writer, and Zoe Whitall, her young and queer adults making their way in the dyspeptic city are but a few of the extraordinary writers who will help to paint an unforgettable portrait of Unseen Toronto. Ben McNally Books and the Toronto Public Library Bookmobile will also be present.
These are some of the many events Luminato will offer starting this Friday, June 6th until Sunday, June 15th throughout various venues in the city. For full festival event listings, box office, and venue information visit luminatofestival.com. Now, grab your calendars and start planning!
The Inside Out LGBT Film Festival finished another successful event and announced this year’s award recipients at the Closing Night party last night. Inside Out offers three categories of awards: audience awards, Canadian juried awards, and an international award. RBC is the Festival’s returning Presenting Sponsor.
If you attended the festival and cast your vote, then you’ll be excited to find out who won the Audience Awards:
Best Feature Film Award: TRU LOVE, directed by Kate Johnston and Shauna MacDonald Inside Out presents a $1,000 cash award to the audience’s favourite feature-length film.
Best Documentary Film Award: MATT SHEPARD IS A FRIEND OF MINE, directed by Michele Josue. Sponsored by Elle Flanders, this $500 prize is named in recognition of the contribution of Elle Flanders, Inside Out’s Executive Director from 1996 to 1999.
Best Short Film Award: LIVING IN THE OVERLAP, directed by Cindy Hill and Mary Dalton Sponsored by Michael Leshner and Michael Stark (in honour of Mikey/Schmikey), this $1,000 cash award is presented to a short film under 50 minutes in length.
Canadian Juried Awards: This year’s jury members are Kim Crosby (artist and coordinator at T Dot Renaissance Toronto), Gein Wong (interdisciplinary director, playwright, spoken word poet, composer and video artist) and Michael Souther (co-founder of Amaze Film + Television, which produces Call Me Fitz).
Best Canadian Film Award: TOM AT THE FARM, directed by Xavier Dolan. Sponsored by EP Canada/Canada Film Capital, the $2,000 cash award for Best Canadian Film is presented to an established Canadian artist for a short or feature-length narrative or documentary film.
Still from Tru Love – Courtesy of Inside Out
Emerging Canadian Artist Award: TRU LOVE, directed by Kate Johnston and Shauna MacDonald and100 CRUSHES CHAPTER 6: THEY, directed by Elisha Lim. Sponsored by Inside Out’s presenting sponsor RBC, the $2,500 cash award for Emerging Canadian Artist is given to an emerging Canadian filmmaker who is in the early stages of his or her career. The recipient must have directed no more than two fiction narrative short films, or no more than one fiction narrative feature-length film.
Hot Shorts Award: WAACK REVOLT – A DANCE FILM, directed by Sonia Hong. Sponsored by HardTV, the Hot Shorts Award is given to a Canadian film or video that addresses, in a unique fashion, LGBT sexuality and/or erotica.
International Awards: Gosia Kamela (producer Bell Media, Drama), Laurie Colbert (director Margarita) and Bill Guentzler (Artistic Director, Cleveland International Film Festival) are this year’s jury members.
Bill Sherwood Award for Best First Feature: 52 Tuesdays, directed by Sophie Hyde. Named in honour of the gay American film director, who stepped boldly onto the international film stage in 1986 with his first feature, Parting Glances, the $1,750 cash prize for the Bill Sherwood Award for Best First Feature is an international prize presented to a first time feature director.
This year, Inside Out presented a stellar lineup of films. It was also great to see the diversity in themes and styles, as well. A big congratulations to all award winners, and to Inside Out staff and volunteers for another great run!
Theatre InspiraTO, the producer of Canada’s largest ten-minute play festival, InspiraTO Festival, will showcase the best ten-minute plays from around the globe, and feature local playwrights with 25 ten-minute plays set to take on Toronto beginning tonight.
This year’s collection of plays were selected from InspiraTO‘s international competition with 600 ten-minute play submissions worldwide.
The festival’s theme this year is crossing dimensions. Each of the 25 shows have a sub-theme: the Red Show has in-your-face plays; the Blue Show with lost-in-space plays; and the Orange Show, out-of-place plays. Within each show there are seven different ten-minute plays or diverse stories that are interwoven into each show’s sub-theme. Layers within layers of stories, if you will.
With no intermissions in the shows, and quick set changes between plays, it allows the audience to experience what is akin to a full length play.
The festival will run beginning tonight, May 29th until Saturday, June 7th. All performance will be held at Alumnae Theatre‘s Mainstage. Tickets $20/$15 students. Festival Pass $50/$40 students. Tickets available online. Reserve online and guarantee your seat. No service fees. Tickets are also available at the Alumnae Box Office one hour before each show. Cash only at the door. Not for children under 14 years old.
RedShow: Ghost Lite by Justin Warner / Therapeutic Magic by Jennifer Turliuk / A Siri-Ous Situation by J. Lois Diamond / Red by Jordan Hall / Day Care by Steven Simoncic / The Magyar by Sandra Cardinal/ The Saga of Ginny by Ian August Times: May 29 at 7 pm; May 31 at 6 pm; June 5 at 9 pm; June 6 at 8 pm; June 7 at 4 pm.
BlueShow: Jars by Brittany Taylor / The Dolphin Kick by Asher Wyndham / Eating French by Damon Chua / Haunted by Matthew Sarookanian / Freefalling by Aurin SquireIn / Kabul by Laurie Fyffe / The Marionette Makers by Dominik Loncar Times: May 29 at 9 pm; May 31 at 8 pm; June 3 at 8 pm; June 4 at 7 pm; June 7 at 6 pm.
OrangeShow: The Writer by Chip Bolcik / His Best Friend by Cody McLenon / Doppleganged by Chelsea Marcantel / Swingset by Julie Cohn / End of the Rainy Season by Mark Rigney / Adrift by Ken Hall / There’s No Here Here by Craig Pospisil Times: May 30 at 8 pm; May 31 at 4 pm; June 4 at 9 pm; June 5 at 7 pm; June 7 at 8 pm.
WhiteShow: Audiences will be led to 4 site specific locations (rain or shine) starting from Alumnae Theatre and watch a ten minute play at each venue. This will be about an hour in length. Limited seating. Times: May 30, May 31, June 4, June 5, June 6, June 7 all at 7:55 pm.
Each show in the festival is 70 minutes (seven plays), which means you can easily see two or three shows back to back. As an audience member, you also get a chance to vote for their favorite plays with the winners announced at the finale awards ceremony on the last day. Definitely plenty of theatre options at InspiraTO Festival.
How oft when thou, my music, music play’st, Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway’st The wiry concord that mine ear confounds, Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap, To kiss the tender inward of thy hand, Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap, At the wood’s boldness by thee blushing stand! To be so tickled, they would change their state And situation with those dancing chips, O’er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait, Making dead wood more bless’d than living lips. Since saucy jacks so happy are in this, Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.
The 24th annual Inside Out LGBT Film Festival takes over Toronto tonight. Inside Out has become one of the largest avenues for LGTQ programming in our city and throughout Canada. This year the festival’s International Focus offers a fascinating look at features and shorts from Latin America. The International Focus programme will showcase a diverse group of filmmakers from Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Venezuela and Brazil.
This year, I am glad to see Latin American talent being celebrated at Inside Out as well. And as some of you know, I often like to choose my top picks at each festival. Thus, I give you my Top Picks at Inside Out.
International Focus: Latin America — Feature Films
When Alejandra, a publishing editor who lives in her own insular world, encounters Maria, a carefree private-school student, sparks ignite. Maria becomes an inspiration to Alejandra, and something of a muse. Alejandra becomes an opportunity for Maria: an escape from frivolous school friends into an exciting new world. Soon the couple become involved in an all-consuming love affair in which they push and challenge each other intellectually and emotionally.
Sunday, May 25th, 9:45pm The Third One / El Tercero Dir. Rodrigo Guerrero (Argentina)
This sexy Argentine three-hander begins where many intriguing encounters begin these days—in Internet chat rooms, where flirtation, dares, exposed flesh and typos run rampant. When nervous young Fede finally shows up for dinner at the home of Franco and Hernán, a settled older couple, fantasy gives way to reality—and reality has its own charms. The film possesses a refreshing realism and honesty as the story slowly unfolds and the characters relax and become comfortable with each other.
Other Feature Films Tuesday, May 27th, 9:30pm Centrepiece Gala — Love Is Strange Dir. Ira Sachs
After 39 years together, Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina) finally tie the knot in a quiet ceremony attended by family and friends in lower Manhattan. But when the Catholic school where George works as choir director learns of their nuptials, he is fired from his longtime job. Suddenly, with no real savings to count on, the couple find that they can’t afford the rent on their Chelsea apartment and they lose their home.
Thursday, May 29th, 5:15pm What It Was Dir. Daniel Armando (USA)
Adina, a successful Latina actress, returns to New York in the aftermath of her failed marriage and the death of her sister. Unable to face her mother, Adina finds herself in a fog, drifting through her days. Her memories mingle with the present as she tumbles through a series of intense, complex connections with a sexy, butch body artist, a young college student and a former girlfriend.
Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, parents of four boys, were married in 2004 during a brief period when San Francisco City Hall issued marriage licences, but the women later received a letter telling them they weren’t legally married. Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, together since 1998, want to marry for the sake of the family they’re planning. This comprehensive behind-the-scenes documentary follows two couples, who challenge California’s Prop 8, a 2008 ballot initiative designed to thwart the recognition of same-sex marriage in the state.
If you missed this documentary at Hot Docs last month, this is your chance to see it on the big-screen.
Sunday, June 1st, 7:30pm Closing Night Gala — 52 Tuesdays Dir. Sophie Hyde (Australia)
Sixteen-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans to change genders. In order to minimize the stress as Jane transitions to James, it is decided that Billie will live with her father, Tom, for a year and will see James once a week, every Tuesday. 52 Tuesdays was shot on consecutive Tuesdays over the course of a year with a cast of non-professional actors who were given their scripts, and the scenes in which they appear, one week at a time.
Other Screenings and Events Saturday, May 24th, 12:30pm Free Family Screening — Shorts For Shorties Inside Out and TIFFKids have joined forces to bring you only the best in Saturday morning cartoons and short stories to enjoy with the whole family. You can enjoy tales of growing up, getting along, and learning to be yourself and finding your place in the world, as you take a seat and play along with cats, dogs, squirrels and even balloons. How fun!
This program will show 12 short films, including A Purrfect Pair, Maccupation, Papa’s Boy, and Wini + George, just to name a few.
This panel features executive producer Vanessa Piazza and show runner Michael Grassi, along with key cast members, including lead actor Anna Silk. It will showcase some clips, tales from the behind the scenes, and discussion focused around creating, writing and bringing to life strong, engaging bisexual and lesbian characters within the genre of science fiction. This is a not-to-miss for fans of the show and science-fiction geeks as well.
This list should give some of you plenty of choice, and time to go purchase your tickets. Screenings for the 2014 Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival will take place at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Visit insideout.ca for more film and box office information.
