image+nation festival film LGBT2SQueer Montréal turns 37
Festivals and events
Canada’s pioneering image+nation festival film LGBT2SQueer Montréal will screen and stream more than 150 films from across Québec, Canada and the world at its 37th edition from November 20 to 30.
With narrative and documentary features and short films from 27 countries – including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Greece, India, Mexico, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine and the United States – Image+Nation37 unspools on several Montréal film screens: Cinéma du Musée, ONF Cinéma, Centre PHI, Concordia University and UQAM. Films will be presented in their original language, with French or English subtitles.
The importance of Queer Cinema
Founded in 1987, image+nation is Canada’s trailblazing first LGBTQ film festival and continues to play a trendsetting role within the larger festival circuit and an essential role in the lives of LGBTQ people by fostering community and identity.
Over 11 days, this year’s edition will screen and stream award-winning features, powerful documentaries and acclaimed short films from around the world, offering something for all cinematic tastes, from light-hearted comedies and love stories to deeper dramatic tales and social-issue works.
Says image+nation director Charlie Boudreau, “This year we are excited to launch our new brand and website: image+nation culture queer, an umbrella moniker to describe our organization’s roster of initiatives across the areas of presentation, development and the mentorship of queer art and artists as we close in on four decades of existence.”
Opening night film
Starring film legend Daniel Craig, the much-buzzed about film Queer is director Luca Guadagnino’s (Call Me by Your Name) spin on Beat legend William S. Burroughs’ autobiographical novel (November 20 - 7pm - Cinéma du Musée).
Closing night films
The acclaimed Brazilian rom-com Perfect Endings (13 Sentimentos) follows a 32-year-old single filmmaker who is ready to trawl through the apps to find Mr. Next, unprepared for the anxious entanglements to come (November 30 - 9pm - Concordia University’s Sir George Williams Alumni Auditorium).
The German feature film Gondola chronicles the love story of two female cable car drivers who, day after day, find ingenious ways to woo each other as they pass each other high above a quiet Georgian valley twisted with mist, cherishing each moment of connection (November 30 - 9pm - UQAM's Salle de Projection Jean-Claude Lauzon).
Lights! Camera! Action!
The festival’s A Question of Gender programme explores trans, non-binary and intersex figures challenging gender norms. Check out such films as Really Happy Someday and We Forgot to Break Up, as well as the documentaries Desire Lines, Y’a une étoile, and the internationally-acclaimed NFB doc Any Other Way: the Jackie Shane Story about the Nashville-born pioneering trans soul singer who rose to prominence in the Montréal and Toronto music scenes in the 1960s. A Question of Gender also presents a powerful short-film programme.
The Indigiqueer programme screens films by 2Spirit and queer Indigenous creators from across Turtle Island. A programme of short films includes Woman Dress, Headdress and Guardian of Sleep.
Back for its 24th year, the Queerment Québec programme (being screened at the PHI Centre) highlights short films by local filmmakers exploring queer Québecois perspectives, including Beauty is Revenge by Tranie Tronic (a.k.a. Montrealer Atif Siddiqi).
The Made au Canada programme celebrates Canadian filmmakers who portray our national queer identities. This year’s programme includes a record number of features: Drive Back Home (starring Alan Cumming), Sweet Angel Baby and The Queen of My Dreams, as well as such documentaries as Bulletproof: A Lesbian’s Guide to Surviving the Plot and Flashback, the acclaimed doc about the legendary Edmonton disco that was dubbed “the Studio 54 of the prairies.”
The Focus France programme highlights international francophone cultures and identities through the lens of LGBTQ cinema, presenting four features: Drone, Langue étrangère, Les reines du drame (Queens of Drama) and Miséricorde by Alain Guiraudie, the documentaries Si je meurs, ce sera de joie (If I die, It’ll be of Joy), La révolution des coordinatrices d’intimité (Sex is Comedy), along with a sneak peak of the webseries Split, as well as an in-person shorts programme and discussion.
The Focus Acadie programme presents Julien Cadieux’s latest documentary Y’a une étoile with the filmmaker present at the screening.
A partnership with the Beijing Queer Film Festival, this year’s Focus Beijing programme builds connection and discourse between queer filmmakers from different cultural backgrounds to raise awareness of LGBTQ issues on a global scale. Included are the documentary Mama Rainbow (彩虹伴我心) and the shorts programme To the South.
The new Zeitgeist programme features films that showcase contemporary queer voices that reflect current cultural preoccupations, while the third edition of the I+N@PHI x FMC/CMF SERIES co-presented by the Canada Media Fund features a groundbreaking series of conversations with Canadian creators about their latest projects, including: Courtney Montour (Rising); Martin Henri, Eli Jean Tahchi, Myriam Farsaoui, Béatrice Moukhaiber and Jean Pierre Bergeron (La dernière communion); Julien Cadieux (Y’a une étoile); Alysha Brilla (The Queen of My Dreams); and Justine Pimlott (A Mother Apart).
Click here for the full I+N37 schedule.
image+nation runs from November 20 to 30, 2024. For tickets and info, visit image-nation.org.
Richard Burnett
Richard “Bugs” Burnett is a Canadian freelance writer, editor, journalist, blogger and columnist for alt-weeklies, mainstream and LGBTQ+ publications. Bugs also knows Montréal like a drag queen knows a cosmetics counter.