Supported by Hollywood Suite
June| Pride of Canada: True North, Strong and Fierce
In honour of Pride Month, celebrate queerness in all its vast and diverse forms with this collection of films, documentaries, digital series, and more that spotlight the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and their stories. Witness queer joy, strength, and authenticity across these works from the north.
Content Warning:
Some of the projects included in this collection deal with topics that may be distressing. Viewer discretion is advised – please check ratings and warnings on individual selections before engaging.
Drag Heals
Director:Charlie David
Drag Heals is a hybrid stage workshop and documentary TV series that follows eight drag artists over an intensive ten day workshop to build their own show. In each workshop, a guest coach joins stage director Tracey Erin Smith in exploring soul-deep story sharing techniques as well as the unique talents and skills required from a drag performer.
Drawn to you
Director:Eleanor Davitt
Young Emily didn’t see anything wrong with her drawing of two girls holding hands, but her mother saw otherwise and tore both the paper and her child’s heart in two. Little did they know, the drawings had come alive and are determined to reunite with one another across the vast bedroom of pages, no matter what risk comes their way.
Erin’s Guide to Kissing Girls
Director:Julianna Notten
As middle school is ending, Erin, the only out person in her grade, and Liz, fellow comic nerd and track star, find their friendship tested when Liz is accepted to private school and Erin falls hard for new girl and ex child-star, Sydni. Erin believes the only way to save herself from certain doom is to ask Sydni to the big dance, but the plan goes awry when she starts to lose Liz along the way.
Selected by Hollywood Suite
First Stories – Two Spirited
Director: Sharon A. Desjarlais
This short documentary presents the empowering story of Rodney “Geeyo” Poucette’s struggle against prejudice in the Indigenous community as a two-spirited person.
Gay Mean Girls
Director: Heyishi Zhang
Gay Mean Girls is queer coming of age dramedy about how relationships shift as we redefine ourselves. Lucy Ching, prom committee member seeks to establish Gay Prom Royalty in an attempt to charm her best friend Miranda, a lesbian YouTuber.
Here & Queer
Directors: Lucius Dechausay, Mercedes Grundy & Chelle Turingan
Here & Queer is an interview series hosted by Peter Knegt that celebrates and amplifies the work of our greatest LGBTQ+ artists through unfiltered conversations.
Heritage Minutes: Jackie Shane
Directors:Pat Mills & Ayo Tsalithaba
As a pioneering trans soul singer in the 1960s, Jackie Shane’s unapologetic and authentic presence in Toronto contributed to the local R&B music scene and made her an enduring queer icon in Canada.
NAKED: Sex and Gender
Director: Stephanie Weimar
NAKED is a documentary feature film about the gender binary. What is it, how does it manifest itself in our minds and our lives – and how can we go beyond? Just how different are “men” and “women?” Are they even two distinct groups?
Queen of the Oil Patch
Directors: Dylan Wertz, Dominique Keller, Neil Grahn, Shirley McLean, Frederick Kroetsch & Kurt Spenrath
Massey Whiteknife is a businessman in Northern Alberta’s oil sands. He’s got an idea that will push the boundaries and buttons of just about every person doing business in this rugged region: he’s introducing a fresh face to take over his company. Iceis Rain is a free-spirited female recording artist looking for a change. The thing is – Iceis and Massey are the same person. Massey is Two Spirited – and at night, it’s Iceis who often hits the town. Now, Iceis is about to take on the business scene in Fort McMurray, Alberta. It’s going to be a wild and fantabulous ride as Massey and Iceis experience the reality of being Two Spirited in Canada’s oil sands.
Queering the Script
Director: Gabrielle Zilkha
This feature-length documentary examines queer relationships in shows such as Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost Girl, The 100 and Carmilla. Stars including Ilene Chaiken, Stephanie Beatriz, Lucy Lawless and Angelica Ross join with the voices of numerous kickass fangirls in this fast-paced history of queer women’s representation of contemporary television.
Selected by Hollywood Suite
