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Struck by “archive fever,” a gay transmasculine Iranian-American searches for the roots of his desire. Navigating with us through this steamy hybrid documentary, he comes into contact with trailblazing transcestor Lou Sullivan, the contemporary lived experiences of other queer men, and the eroticism of his own unique body. With the assistance of young non-binary archivist Kieran (Theo Germain), older transman Ahmad (Aden Hakimi) delves into Chicago’s LGBTQ+ archives and the past and present bathhouses of Boystown to explore his homosexual longing. He learns—as we do through the real-life interviews and the history of raids and radical action that nest within this fictional storyline—that there is no one answer. There are as many points of view as there are interviewees. Archival footage of Lou Sullivan, who openly identified as trans and gay as far back as the 1970s, shows that though these conversations are not new, they are still very much necessary, connecting transmasculine gay men with themselves and the larger community. Jules Rosskam’s narratively frisky and hugely affecting film is a celebration of complexity, working to dissolve rigid labels and authoritative permission when it comes to narrating one’s own sexuality.

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A short queer history of violent police raids on queer bars between the 70s and 2000s, and the rise of LGBTQ+ communities fighting back. Tribute to Joe Rose.

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Six longtime friends—and one enticing “nymph”—trek to Nova Scotia’s scenic eastern shore to attend a Good Riddance party in celebration of Darcy’s divorce. There, amongst long pours of wine, tangled histories collide in uproarious ways in this wistful dark comedy. Darcy (Lesley Smith) is finally free of matrimony. But that puts her in the sights of jittery heartthrob Dax (Hilary Adams), who has a habit of using sex and her music career as a balm. Her other friends are there for guidance, but they too have some major distractions: “boozebag” Lucy (Jessica Marie Brown) is reeling from a breakup, Lauren (Nicole Steeves) is insecure about the wandering eye of Phoebe (Faly Mevamanana), and the two Julies (Stephanie Clarke, Kat McCormack) are glowingly pregnant but stagnant in the boudoir. Perennial lake activities—hiking, swimming, taking too much Molly—bring them together, while the weight of shared baggage threatens to sink their proverbial canoe. Writer-director Tara Thorne infuses Lakeview with the bite of her audacious revenge thriller Compulsus (I+N35, 2022), adding rat-a-tat-tat humour as she ping-pongs deftly between one crisis to another, charting the zippy chemistry and pliancy of true friendship.

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SPANISH • FRENCH ST | Argentinian filmmaker Matías is an intense perfectionist struggling to shape his autobiographical film as the past wriggles from his grip. Is Alexander—a dashing fabulist from Sweden he met in Italy as a boy—the lost love of his life? Or just a lovely, bittersweet dream? At the United World College of the Adriatic, with its diverse, exuberant student body, young Matías (Santiago Madrussan) finds a freedom he never knew in Argentina. There, he is befriended by Alexander (Oscar Morgan), whose rousing stories and bedroom eyes make the world more magical, and whose family’s vast holiday home becomes a memory palace for all that was left unsaid. In his 40s, Matías (co-writer/director Juan Pablo Di Pace) looks back at this time and, with a festival deadline looming, tries to fathom the sizzling closeness and coded interactions. A key piece of evidence lying dormant for when he least expects it. With its meta intrigues and captivating sweep, Duino is an elegiac masterwork crackling with swoon-worthy chemistry. A film that asks: how far are we willing to go for a proper conclusion, and what, in the end, remains voices in the wind?

Documentary

Spoiler alert: chances are if you were watching television in spring 2016, you witnessed the startling peak of the Bury Your Gays trope. LGBTQ+ females from Buffy’s Tara to The 100’s Lexa have gotten the axe and this wry exposé investigates the dismaying trend and ensuing sea change. Bouncing back and forth from Toronto to culture hubs like L.A. and London, Bulletproof unfolds like the plot of a great mystery. There are the victims: queer female characters. The murderers: harried television writers, showrunners, and producers who, for a myriad of reasons that the doc unpacks, have chosen to kill off fan-favourites. And then there are the detectives: a “rainbow network” of journalists, media psychologists, fan community leaders, and many more who dissect the catalysts and impacts of shifting queer depictions. Not to mention the documentarian themself, “gay as hell” TV junkie Regan Latimer on year six of what was supposed to be a one year project, uncovering personal, societal, and scientific revelations alongside their wise-cracking on-screen surrogate, Lindy Zucker. Through clever references and animation, Bulletproof proves that representation has life-or-death stakes and fantasy can be as essential as reality.

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A man comes home to his lover on their anniversary expecting a romantic night of celebration only to find someone tied up in the bathroom.

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Determined to breathe new life into the queer stock character of the sex worker, budding writer Max (masquerading as Sebastian) becomes a “digital hustler” while bathing in the words of Bret Easton Ellis. What starts out as novel fodder becomes a high-stakes balancing act between liberation and exploitation. Close-lipped and leery of scrutiny, even the publicness of social media, “wholesome boy next door” Max (Ruaridh Mollica) is able to act out his “desire to taste everything” in London bedrooms. First with older men, including the kind and curious Nicholas (Jonathan Hyde), then with more daring configurations. But when shame unexpectedly creeps into his initial, unfettered view of the sex trade, Max finds everything from his book proposal to his very sense of self tested. Before he lets his obsession with how he’s perceived subsume him, he must decide what kind of writer he will be, what kind of lover, what kind of man. His finger on the cultural pulse, Indiewire’s LGBTQ+ Filmmaker on the Rise Mikko Mäkelä (A Moment in the Reeds, I+N31, 2018) pits the coldness of market forces against the beating of a warming heart to see which—in the 21st century—will endure.

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Between loads of laundry at the corner laundromat, Cooper shares the tumultuous story of her gender reassignment journey.

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A journey into Aly’s world and his personal growth through the eyes of his new furry, Eden. Aly opens up about his next character, Lusia, who will resemble him in every way.

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Infamous outlaws The Lily and The Scorpion are on the run after a bank job gone wrong, but as day turns into night, the partners’ trust in each other begins to fray.