Picking out a good movie can be hard enough. But when you’re queer, finding a movie that you can identify with presents a new set of challenges, ones that can’t always be filled from the racks at the local Blockbuster.

“While you can kind of seek out these films on your own, it’s a real difficult process,” said Carman Johnston, festival organizer for local LGBT* film festival Reel Pride, which has screened a series of queer films annually for 17 years.

“It’s nice to have a festival collect a ‘best of.’”

This year, Reel Pride is taking place over two weekends. It ran two films a night from Thursday, Oct. 7 to Saturday, Oct. 9 and will continue Thursday, Oct. 14 to Saturday, Oct. 16, departing from its previous weeklong format.

“ People often think that if they’re not gay or lesbian, that this isn’t a film festival for them. There are a lot of films that people of all orientations can relate to.

Carman Johnston, festival organizer, Reel Pride

“We found with having the five – to six-day festival that people like to come out, but it’s hard to make it more than once or twice,” Johnston said. “(Having the festival over two weekends) will make it easier for people to come see more films.”

Over the six nights, the festival will screen nine feature films and two compilations of documentaries.

On Oct. 14, multimedia artist Paul Wong will be at the screening of his piece, home-style, co-presented with Platform Gallery. Johnson cites this as a highlight of the festival.
“I’m not sure exactly what you’d call his work, but it’s more experimental shorts he’s doing,” he said.

The festival will take place entirely at the recently renamed Gas Station Arts Centre, although previous years have seen films screened at the Globe Cinema, Imax and Cinematheque.
Johnston says the move to the Gas Station and Osborne Village will create more of a street presence for Reel Pride.

While the festival aims to increase accessibility of LGBT* films for queer audiences, Johnston also points out that Reel Pride can be enjoyed by a wider demographic.

“People often think that if they’re not gay or lesbian, that this isn’t a film festival for them,” he said.

“There (are) a lot of films that people of all orientations can relate to.”

Reel Pride continues at the Gas Station Arts Centre Thursday, Oct. 14 to Saturday, Oct. 16.

Published in Volume 65, Number 7 of The Uniter (October 14, 2010)