All films

DocumentaryIN-CINEMA

A dive into the life and archives of the prolific, avant-garde filmmaker, Barbara Hammer, a lesbian feminist artist who paved the way for queer women in film. Hammer was a keynote speaker for Image+nation’s 20th anniversary conference, and many of her films have been featured over the festival’s four-decade span. Known first for her sensual and erotic short film Dyketactics (1974), Hammer challenged the male gaze by becoming the first lesbian filmmaker to create a lesbian-lovemaking film. From then on, she continued to create lesbian aesthetic films, facing pushback and criticism, as well as indirect forms of censorship. She persisted, despite endless barriers, ultimately succeeding in shedding light on the lives of an invisible social group, and with an impeccable sense of creativity. Witness Hammer’s incredible milestones, like the feature of her 1985 film Optic Nerve in the 1987 Whitney Biennial; the reception of a domestic partnership certificate with her life partner; and winning the 2000 Frameline Award at the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. This poignant documentary of a woman’s extraordinary life, and her career as a ground-breaking visual poet, isn’t to be missed.

MADE AU CANADACOMPETITIONDocumentaryIN-CINEMAVIRTUAL

Explore the unique voice of queer, contemporary, Canadian country music. Critically acclaimed director Colette Johnson-Vosberg sits down with Amanda Rheaume, Shawnee Kish, Bobby Dove, Drake Jensen, and Patrick Masse to talk about their individual journeys in the music industry, many of whom emerged from humble, small town origins. Calling all music fans: whether you’re a musician yourself, or the music in your headphones helped you survive high school, there is plenty to take away from this ninety-minute tell-all featuring some fascinating Canadian talent. From one artist’s very necessary mention of Canadian rock icon Alanis Morissette (as well as KD Lang) to the moody music videos of another artist facing his darkest demons, Don’t Fence Me In remains down-to-earth, relatable, tender, and courageous in the ongoing battle against industry censorship. Whether it’s a question of identity, or who is waiting for you at home, persistence, personal growth, self-acceptance, and healing take the place of silence and shame, allowing the voices of these inspiring queer artists to resonate more loudly, and authentically, than ever.

DocumentaryIN-CINEMAVIRTUAL

1973 was a pivotal year in tennis, but sports superstar Billie Jean King was an emotional mess. The title of Number One tennis champion would turn out to be an easy win compared to the rights she was about to claim for the next generation. Winner of the women’s singles title at the 1968 Wimbledon Championship, and founder of the Women’s Tennis Association, Billie Jean King made history as a fearless athlete, transcending expectations of what women athletes could achieve. A friend of music legend Elton John, and rival of the self-proclaimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs, King sits down with Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff to discuss her impressive career, as well as her personal life, amidst second wave feminism and a chaotic double life as a public sports figure questioning her sexual orientation behind the scenes. From King’s humble origins–excluded from a team photo for wearing home-sewn tennis shorts instead of a dress–to her massive success, subsequent downfall, and rise back to a dignified public image, Give Me the Ball! tells a remarkable story for the warrior in us all who refuses to be treated like a second-class citizen.

COMPETITIONDocumentaryIN-CINEMA

Furtive glances, sexy fashion, the alcohol-fuelled excuse to flirt, dance and sneak past the fences: rodeo culture offers more than bull riding. In intimate profiles of queer Michoacáns—from a free and femme church leader to a hypermasculine cowboy—Efraín Mojica attempts to deconstruct the traditions and contradictions of their roots. For as long as Mojica can remember, Mexico’s jaripeo bull-riding events have been part of their life—from bored childhood trips to teen cowboy fantasies to the present, lost in the packed crowd on a hot Christmas Day. The masculinized events are seeped in religion and booze, but within and often because of the strict codes, queer subcultures flourish. Mojica and Rebecca Zweig’s documentary lassos together these complexities, doing so in kinetic and sensual ways, fingers slipping down ropes, hips bucking on top of a bull. Together, the two directors maximize the filmic medium, combining frank, beautifully lensed conversations with mesmeric Super 8 footage, pulse-pounding music, and dreamy sequences: red lights flashing among dried corn stalks; a red-eyed mechanical bull, nose steaming. The film acting as a bridge between the vivid external and internal lives of a region and its defining rituals.

FRISSONS QUEER: FANTASIA x IMAGE+NATIONCOMPETITIONDocumentaryIN-CINEMAVIRTUAL

In late-70’s NYC’s “slummy and fabulous” West Village, a serial murderer dismembered victims and “exploitive” Exorcist-director William Friedkin ripped a page from the headlines, inciting the community to action. As anarchy raged, an unexpected jouissance permeated the hot-blooded summer of ‘79. Addison Verrill, a 36-year-old Variety reporter, split time between his live-in lover, splashy premieres with the likes of Streisand, and exploring “eroticized fears” in pitch black container trucks. His shocking murder convinced crusading journalist Arthur Bell to dedicate himself to the case—a mission that inadvertently inspired Cruising. Helmed by a straight director and his straight superstar, Al Pacino, the film attempted to infiltrate the hedonistic, “leather and Levis” world of the notorious Mineshaft bar. Gay extras flocked while gay activists turned the set into a battlezone as two competing visions of representation clashed. The results would be felt for generations. Jeffrey Schwartz, the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker of Vito (I+N24, 2011) and I am Divine (I+N26, 2013), guides this graphic, gripping documentary. In it, Dan Savage joins historians, journalists and leathermen alike to trace Cruising’s makings and cultural mark all the way to the youth culture of today.

DocumentaryIN-CINEMA

Testimonies from over ten openly LGBTQ+ women and men fighting on the battlefields of Ukraine. A moving, hard-hitting documentary that celebrates the courage and incredible resilience of these extraordinary soldiers. They were artists, vets, drama teachers, cabinetmakers, scientists and farmers. They became soldiers, field nurses, snipers, bombardiers and drone builders when Russia invaded their country in 2022. It is estimated that more than 25,000 of them are fighting today. People of all ages and from all walks of life who have enlisted to defend their country, but also because, as they say, ‘if Russia occupies Ukraine, we will be relentlessly hunted down and even killed. We might as well die for a just cause’. In this hard-hitting documentary, some of the archive footage is harrowing – destroyed landscapes, the mutilated bodies of soldiers, gay men and lesbians beaten by Russians in the street – but the candid testimonies of these magnificent human beings offer hope for the future and for humanity. An essential documentary on a reality that is almost never discussed.

DocumentaryIN-CINEMA

The handsome 4K digital restoration of Paris Was a Woman (1996)—the Opening Film of I+N09—traverses Paris’ Left Bank from the dawn of the 20th century to the shadows of WWII, unspooling the loves, legacies, and collaborations of creative queer women drawn there by the “promise of freedom. Street by street, we drop in on “rough diamond” Djuna Barnes at 9, rue St-Romain, and on Sylvia Beach and Andrienne Monnier as they reshape bookselling on Rue de l’Odéon. We’re there when Natalie Barney launches one of few “true literary salons,” Alice B. Toklas redefines the artist-muse relationship, and Genêt confronts the “tension between Communism and Fascist totalitarianism.” And throughout, iconic women comment on themselves and one another, as well as artists who inspired them: Colette, Josephine Baker. Celebrating its 30th anniversary in collaboration with director Greta Schiller and writer Andrea Weiss, this fleet yet encyclopedic compendium of queer female modernists compiles rare home movies and interviews, and is enlivened by striking imagery: Parc Monceau blanketed in snow; tanks driving down war-torn streets. Altogether, marking the glorious starts and sometimes thorny ends of larger-than-life luminaries in the “capital of hedonism.”

DocumentaryIN-CINEMAVIRTUAL

One fateful morning, Brittney Griner’s everyday life went from easy dunks and admiring crowds as a WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, to unrelenting fear, malnourishment, and dangerous work conditions in a freezing cold Russian penal colony. With less than a gram of cannabis oil found in her luggage, what might be considered careless oversight led to immense repercussions that rocked nations, became a wedge political issue, and would be used as a cudgel against “wokeness.” Captured by director Alexandria Stapleton (Sean Combs: The Reckoning), Griner’s rise to fame, family dynamics, and home life with her wife and baby are interspersed with a play-by-play of the incident. Griner, given the circumstances, comes off as affable and gracious, even as she recounts her harrowing 295 days in custody. It is in the aftermath of this spectacle that we witness the joy of a fresh start through the continuation of her wife’s tireless advocacy for international hostages and a renewed appreciation for her beloved sport.

COMPETITIONDocumentaryIN-CINEMA

To Dance Is To Resist follows Jay and Vol’demar, a queer couple and professional dancers navigating life in Kyiv during Russia’s full-scale invasion. In a city under attack, the underground queer scene becomes a fragile sanctuary where dance, love, and artistic expression become acts of resistance. With intimate access to their lives, the film moves between tender moments at home during blackouts, rehearsals where bodies carry and release trauma, and underground raves pulsing with both joy and danger. As air raid sirens interrupt the night, Jay and Vol’demar find strength in their relationship, their artistic practice, and the community that surrounds them. Continuing to create and gather becomes an act of defiance, affirming life amid the devastation of war. Structured as a poetic, non-linear journey, the film weaves vérité footage with performance, archival fragments, and immersive cinematography to trace the emotional landscape of its protagonists. Sirens fold into synths, laughter breaks through silence, and Kyiv emerges as a wounded yet resilient presence. Its textured soundscape brings the city’s pulse to life, while dance becomes a means of processing trauma, reclaiming agency, and sustaining hope. To Dance Is To Resist is a testament to the power of art and queer community to endure in times of crisis.