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• MIAMI GAY AND LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL – APRIL 26TH TO MAY 5TH

International flavour

Yet another intelligent and sophisticated comedy from Sweden opens the festival this year. In the tradition of last year’s Patrick 1.5, Four More Years (Wed, Oct 26) is a witty and fresh romantic comedy, teeming with political satire. It follows a love affair between a married right wing politician and the socialist minister of state. The film deals with queer issues comically and intelligently, while taking a closer look at the country’s rising right-wing movement.

My Last Round (Sat, Oct 29), an Argentinean/Chilean co-production from director Julio Jorquera, features an unlikely relationship between a macho middle-aged boxer and an impoverished kitchen worker, exploring questions of social justice and masculinity.

Still from Marco Berger's AUSENTE

Also from Argentina, director Marco Berger (who some may remember from last year’s Plan B) offers up Ausente (Absent) (Thu, Nov 3), a fascinating drama about a manipulative and magnetic adolescent determined to seduce his heterosexual swim coach. This bold exploration of adolescent sexuality has garnered several international awards, including the Teddy Award for Best Feature at the Berlinale 2011.

Israeli director Eytan Fox (The Bubble) is back with Mary Lou (Sun, Oct 30), a campier and lighter film than his previous works. Multi-talented twink Meir decides to leave his homophobic high school after his best friend and love interest hooks up with the new kid at school. Meir takes off to “the bubble” (Tel Aviv) to pursue a career as a drag queen and to find his long-lost mother, who he is convinced left him to become a groupie for seventies sensation Svika (“Diva”) Pick.

Other notable international selections include Andrew Haigh’s Weekend, Benjamin Cantu’s Harvest (Stadt Land Fluss, banner photo), the exquisite Black Field by Vardis Marinakis, and Not Quite the Taliban by Jordanian gay filmmaker Fadi Hindash.

Camp, Quétaine, and Classic

ABBA and drag enthusiasts alike will want to take a chance on What’s the Name of the Dame?, a camped out documentary about the process of creating “Abbalicious”, where NYC drag queens are invited to record their own version of Abba songs – kitsch at its very best.

Celebrating its twentieth anniversary, the unforgettable documentary Paris is Burning (Sun, Oct 30) follows the lives of gay and trans performers, mostly black and latino, who compete in New York City’s balls from 1987 to 1989. This momentous film gloriously captures this moment of underground gay history before the culture exploded into the mainstream. Be there or Bea Arthur..

And as a tribute to the late, great Elizabeth Taylor, there will be two Saturday matinées of two Taylor classics in which she plays the wife of a repressed homosexual: Reflections in a Golden Eye (Oct 29) with Marlon Brando, and Cat on a hot tin roof (Nov 5) with Paul Newman.

Canadian content

Esteemed east-coast director Thom Fitzgerald, well-known for his films The Hanging Garden and Beefcake is back with his new film Cloudburst on Friday Oct 28 at Concordia. Starring academy-award winner Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker, the film is a quirky take on the road movie. After 30 years of living together in Maine, when Dotty’s daughter threatens to place her in a long term care facility and Stella cannot intervene because their relationship is not recognised, the two run for the border to Nova Scotia where they can get married.

Tracy D Smith_s Everyone and Everything

Immediately following Cloudburts, you can see west coast director Tracy D. Smith’s directorial debut Everything and Everyone, a gripping family drama. Canadian actor Charlie David (Dante’s Cove, Mulligans) is also back on the big screen in Judas Kiss, while biopic The Advocate for Fagdom (Sun, Nov 6) takes a look at the life of Toronto`s provocative queer icon Bruce LaBruce.

Local Produce

For those who would rather keep it Québécois, on Saturday Oct 29, there is Jeanne Crépeau’s La Fille de Montréal (in French only), a sort of nostalgic love letter to our fair city. When Ariane is forced out of her apartment on the Plateau by her landlord (ring a bell anyone?), she has six months to pack away thirty years of memories, while her girlfriend is on business in France.

Montreal artist and Concordia professor Evergon will also be featured with the documentary Margaret and Evergon on Saturday, Nov 5. Some of you may remember his exhibit a few years ago, featuring his 80-year old mother Margaret in the nude – I know I do. Montréal filmmaker Donald Winkler explores the relationship between this enigmatic artist and his phenomenal mother, whose bold character and unconditional support of her two gay sons, one of whom died of AIDS, are a true inspiration. Lastly, don`t miss your chance to see some emerging Québec talent for Queerment Québec (Tue, Nov 1), a series of short films from local filmmakers.

For Image+Nation’s full program and to buy your tickets, go to www.image-nation.org/2011