Y'a une étoile (FREE SCREENING)

Short

Alex is in the throes of his transition when his best friend abandons a joint venture to assert their burgeoning identities he’s forced to confront his anxieties before entering the unknown alone.

Made au CanadaDocumentary

Whether wowing 1960s nightclub audiences with her vocal prowess or vanishing from the scene in a haze of rumours, Jackie Shane never failed to leave her mark. Through recorded conversations with the boundary-bursting yet reclusive icon, and the magic of ghostly, gorgeous rotoscope animation, Jackie is restored to us. Encouraged to leave Jim Crow-era Nashville by Joe Tex so that her talent could soar, Jackie Shane brought her R&B sound and daring charisma to adoring fans everywhere from mafia-controlled Montreal to her beloved Toronto, getting kidnapped and turning down a transphobic Ed Sullivan Show offer along the way. Close friends with Little Richard and an opener for the likes of Etta James and Marvin Gaye, Jackie Shane was an It girl in a time when using “she/her” seemed unthinkable. So she had a choice: global superstardom or her own hard-earned authenticity. This is the story of that choice, told through Jackie’s own words, vibrant reenactments, and assessments by contemporary trans figures, with music as the film’s soul. Executive produced by Elliot Page, Any Other Way is a triumph of the documentary form—as polished and impressive as Jackie herself.

CompetitionFeatureVIRTUAL EXCLUSIVE

DUTCH • FRENCH ST | Capturing the recklessness of youth and the excitement of newfound sexual liberties in sensuous black-and-white cinematography, Dennis Alink’s Out offers up a vivid and tender tale of being young and gay. Tom (Bas Keizer, in a star-making performance) and Ajani (an effervescent Jefferson Yaw Frempong-Manson) are closeted secondary school sweethearts who yearn for life outside of their small-minded, rural community in the Netherlands. Their solution is Amsterdam, where the queer scene is thriving and they can work at their dreams of becoming filmmakers. Quickly falling into the Dutch capital’s gay nightlife offers the pair some initial thrills: cheeky games of Never Have I Ever, limo rides across the city, eye-opening trips to the bathhouse. But the challenges quickly follow, pushing them to separately question: “Who am I, and where do I fit in?” Recalling such classic monochromatic films about wayward youth as The Last Picture Show and Gus Van Sant’s Mala Noche, Alink and his queer collaborators present a lived-in, piercing portrait that proves coming out isn’t just a pronouncement of one’s sexuality, it’s a simultaneously joyous and heartbreaking journey of self-discovery.

Made au CanadaShort

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.

CompetitionFeatureVIRTUAL EXCLUSIVE

DUTCH • ENGLISH ST | Capturing the recklessness of youth and the excitement of newfound sexual liberties in sensuous black-and-white cinematography, Dennis Alink’s Out offers up a vivid and tender tale of being young and gay. Tom (Bas Keizer, in a star-making performance) and Ajani (an effervescent Jefferson Yaw Frempong-Manson) are closeted secondary school sweethearts who yearn for life outside of their small-minded, rural community in the Netherlands. Their solution is Amsterdam, where the queer scene is thriving and they can work at their dreams of becoming filmmakers. Quickly falling into the Dutch capital’s gay nightlife offers the pair some initial thrills: cheeky games of Never Have I Ever, limo rides across the city, eye-opening trips to the bathhouse. But the challenges quickly follow, pushing them to separately question: “Who am I, and where do I fit in?” Recalling such classic monochromatic films about wayward youth as The Last Picture Show and Gus Van Sant’s Mala Noche, Alink and his queer collaborators present a lived-in, piercing portrait that proves coming out isn’t just a pronouncement of one’s sexuality, it’s a simultaneously joyous and heartbreaking journey of self-discovery.

Made au CanadaShort

I asked various AI to create images and narratives of black wonder womxn fighting in Florida. These are their responses: White supremacism, sexism, homotransphobia are spreading across the web. Let’s play with it and get back some power.

CompetitionDocumentary

In Sandi DuBowski’s crucial, decades-spanning documentary (executive produced by Darren Aronofsky), Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie takes on the Orthodox regime amid escalating reactions to his experimental spirit. It will take harrowing face-to-face confrontations, heated ideological conversations, and all the Radical Faerie magic he can muster to weather the onslaught. Part of a line of rabbis stretching back to the 11th century, at age 28 Amichai left his isolated, pressurized upbringing in Israel for the freedoms of late-90s New York. In America, he joined the Radical Faeries and tapped into the feminine divine with his Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross drag persona, finding redemption through transgression, and founding the God-optional congregation Lab/Shul. Still, he encounters a wall of tradition and the pull of his familial dynasty. Enrolling to become a rabbi at the Conservative-leaning Jewish Theological Seminary, he endeavours to change the system from the inside, but soon finds himself at odds with his peers and “co-conspirators,” defending laws he once broke. Will he have the stamina and willpower to remain true to his ideals, or will his lofty goals end up quelling his radical energy and all that he means to others?

FeatureVIRTUAL EXCLUSIVE

Andrea Caulfield preys on talent. An influential curator, she digs her claws into Lex, an anonymous digital artist. She flirts. She flays. Though Lex, who is strung out by stress but fiercely attached to her craft, might be the wrong mouse for this cat. Under the Influencer is an audacious, jittery thriller full of dark surprises with much to examine and upend about the extractive nature of art and art purveyors. Anchored by her tireless assistant (Joy Sunday), Andrea Caulfield (Erin Matthews) is able to paint a lucrative face on anything, and is all about unconventional and abusive methods under the mantra that suffering and sacrifice breeds the best—and most saleable—art. Is she uplifting female and non-binary BIPOC artists or capitalizing on their narratives? Lex (Lauren Neal) believes in Andrea, trusting that she will help take her away from her thankless call centre job and into the art world’s upper echelons. Or maybe her lust for the older woman is clouding her judgement. When one of Andrea’s business tactics explodes Lex’s nerves, Lex’s mother (Margo Carre) advises her to stand up for herself—a permissive prospect for a woman coming unhinged.

Made au CanadaShort

After the 100th 'The Thursday Testo,' (TTT), the tri-languistical references such as the Roman and Korean (Hangeul) alphabets and the Japanese syllabic (Katana) alphabet of the word TRANS on a comedy sketch by Kě.

Made au CanadaShort

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.