Toronto International Film Festival...
and the LGBT films are...
About Ray
Directed by Gaby Dellal - USA
Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon and Elle Fanning star in this funny and touching story about a NYC teenager struggling with gender identity.
Benjamin
Directed by Sherren Lee – Canada
When a dually-pregnant lesbian couple loses one of the babies in utero, the grieving mothers break their surrogacy arrangement with another gay couple — their closest friends — in order to keep the remaining baby. Driven by stellar performances, Benjamin traverses complex emotional terrain as it redefines the classic family drama.
Closet Monster
Directed by Stephen Dunn - Canada
An East Coast teenager and aspiring special-effects makeup artist (Connor Jessup, Blackbird) struggles with both his sexuality and his fear of his macho father, in this imaginative twist on the coming-of-age tale from first-time feature director Stephen Dunn.
Desde Allá
Directed by Lorenzo Vigas - Venezuela/Mexico
Newcomer Lorenzo Vigas’ first feature explores issues of social stratification through the story of a wealthy man who pays young men to endure a kind of contact-free abuse, only to find unexpected intimacy with one of his companions.
Downriver
Directed by Grant Scicluna - Australia
A young ex-con encounters secrets from the past and danger in the present when he returns to the rural Australian community to discover the truth behind a crime he supposedly committed when he was a child.
Fire Song
Directed by Adam Garnet Jones - Canada
One of the first films by a First Nations director to deal with two-spirited people, the thoughtful and moving debut feature by Adam Garnet Jones focuses on a young Anishinaabe man who is forced to choose between staying in his community or exploring the expanded possibilities of the world outside.
Freeheld
Directed by Peter Sollett - USA
Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Steve Carell and Michael Shannon star in this true story about terminally ill New Jersey police officer Laurel Hester, whose 2005 legal battle to pass on her pension benefits to her domestic partner became a flashpoint for LGBT activism.
Girls Lost
Directed by Alexandra-Therese Keining - Sweden
Three outcast teenage girls get a new perspective on high-school life when they are mysteriously transformed into boys, in this skillfully crafted tale of sexual confusion with a supernatural twist.
The Guy From Work
Directed by Jean-François Leblanc - Canada
Raynald has worked at the same tire plant for over thirty years without incident — until a long-held secret compels him to break the unspoken rules of his workplace’s raucous fraternity.
In Jackson Heights
Directed by Frederick Wiseman - USA
Legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman (At Berkeley, National Gallery) explores the culture, politics and daily life of the Queens, NYC district of Jackson Heights, which lays claim to being the most diverse neighbourhood in the world.
Never Steady, Never Still
Directed by Kathleen Hepburn – Canada
A troubled young man is driven back to his childhood home by a horrible mistake — and discovers that he is not alone in his struggle. Never Steady, Never Still is a thundering whisper that beautifully captures the solace of family and home.
One Last Night
Directed by Kerem Blumberg - Israel
In this tough and tender punk-rock romance, Noa and Orr have just one more night to spend together in Tel Aviv before Orr leaves for Berlin. But, as is so often the case, the passions and ideals of youth may be imperilled by adulthood's tough emotional truths and knotty ethical dilemmas.
Peacock
Directed by Ondrej Hudecek - Czech Republic
A writer named Ladislav terrorizes a nineteenth-century Bohemian village with his mischief, until war breaks out and he is forced to hide in a monastery where he unexpectedly discovers his hidden desires. Peacock is at once a historical picture book, a queer literary encyclopedia, and a black comedy based on a true story about revered Czech writer Ladislav Stroupeznický.
She Stoops To Conquer
Directed by Zack Russell - Canada
A struggling talent-show performer wanders into a nightclub disguised in a mask, and is inexplicably attracted to the real-life doppelgänger of her masked character. She Stoops to Conquer is a fantastical oddity that celebrates those who defy the status quo in their search for self-expression.
The Society
Directed by Osama Rasheed - Iraq/Germany
Lovers Muhamad and Ahmed live in a society that not only rejects homosexuality but actively and insistently pressures its young men into marriage and fatherhood. In this frank look at a strictly religious and traditional society, filmmaker Osama Rasheed delivers a raw and starkly honest statement about the experience of being gay in Iraq.
Stonewall
Directed by Roland Emmerich - USA
Roland Emmerich (Anonymous) directs this drama about the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, which became a milestone in the LGBTQ rights movement in North America.
Summertime
Directed by Catherine Corsini - France
In 1971 France, a young girl from a rural family moves to Paris and begins a life-changing affair with a feminist activist.
Te Prometo Anarquía
Directed by Julio Hernández Cordón - Mexico/Germany
The daring new feature from Mexico’s Julio Hernandez follows two teenage lovers in Mexico City who become embroiled in the city’s illegal, narco-run blood trade.
Women He's Undressed
Directed by Gillian Armstrong - Australia
Australian filmmaker Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career, Little Women) directs this documentary tribute to legendary Hollywood costume designer Orry-Kelly, who won multiple Academy Awards for his work on such classics as An American in Paris and Some Like It Hot.