Our guide to the 2012 Vancouver Queer Film Festival

Thursday, 16 August 2012: Opening gala & party

Romeos @ 7pm
Empire Granville 7 Cinemas
Fueled by vim and promise, Lukas moves to Cologne, Germany—leaving behind his small hometown where he was raised as a girl. He soon discovers that being a 19-year-old trans man in the big city is full of new challenges. On campus, Lukas is assigned to a female dormitory. His best friend—Ine, a lesbian—is slowly withdrawing her faithful support. And in the cisgender gay scene, he struggles to “pass” amongst a group of particularly macho young men. Just when navigating day-to-day life seems complex enough, Lukas takes an interest in Fabio—the hottest and cockiest of his new gay friends.

Opening Gala Party @ 9:30pm
Fortune Sound Club, 147 East Pender
Let's get this party started! The opening gala party is always a great way to start the Festival!

Friday, 17 August 2012

Mosquita y Mari @ 7pm
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
Book smart Yolanda (aka Mosquita) and tough girl Mari are brought together by a common duty to their culture and families, and a shared struggle to survive their senior year of high school. Their connection soon evolves from supportive companionship to attraction and young love.

Kiss Me @ 9:30pm
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
When Mia meets her future stepsister, Frida, at their parents' engagement party, the looks that pass between them betray an instant attraction. Unlike Frida, who is openly queer, Mia has led a straight life and plans to marry her fiancé Tim. But love comes along at the most unexpected times in the most unexpected ways.

View all the shows on August 17th

Saturday, 18 August 2012

Nate & Margaret @ 7pm
Director in Attendance
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
Nate’s friends don’t understand why he spends so much time with a spinster who collects coffee mugs and tells jokes that are more sad than funny. When he gets his first boyfriend, Nate and Margaret’s friendship is put to the test.

I Want Your Love @ 9:30pm
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
The 20-somethings in I Want Your Love are San Franciscan bears and hipsters, men with tender desires and hopeful passions hidden beneath their facial hair and skinny jeans. They gather to say goodbye to Jesse-the starving artist protagonist-before he gives up his low-rent apartment in the Mission District and moves home to Ohio. Friends and ex-lovers reminisce, have a few too many cocktails and look for someone to hook up with over the course of a night that will surely be dubbed the "you had to be there" house party of the year.

View all the shows on August 18th

Sunday, 19 August 2012

The Falls @ 5pm
Director in Attendance
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
You’ve met them before: two young men in white shirts, ties and suit pants, carrying pocket-sized Bibles. Now meet RJ Smith and Chris Merrill, Mormons serving a year-long riteof- passage religious mission in Portland, Oregon. As mission companions, they spend nearly all of their time together to spread the word of the Mormon Gospel. When they begin to fall in love with each other, they are forced to choose between their religious devotion and a desire that both have tried to hide for years.

Joe + Belle @ 7pm
Director in Attendance
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
Joe and Belle are a disaster. Each is a hot mess of angst and turmoil. Joe, a rebellious Israeli-American, is tangled up with small-time thugs. Meanwhile, Belle stages her next suicide attempt following her recent release from a psychiatric hospital. Pairing these two together is the kiss of death-literally! When Belle accidentally kills Joe's dealer, the duo must flee the scene "Thelma and Louise" style. Their foolhardy plan is to escape to Sderot (a target site for Qassam's rocket attacks) and hide amongst the unrest.

Shahada @ 9:30pm
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
In Burhan Qurbani’s debut feature film, three very different protagonists struggle—each in their own way—to find the right path to faith, cultural ties and personal desires.

Fierce & Fabulous Party @ 8pm
Vancity Theatre
A free party for queers and allies under 25 only.

View all the shows on August 19th

Monday, 20 August 2012

Director Spotlight: La fille de Montreal @ 7pm
Director in Attendance
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
Ariane lives in Montreal’s colourful Plateau in the very same apartment she lived in as an art student. After 25 years of tenancy, she receives an eviction notice. The move necessitates a trip down memory lane, as Ariane packs or purges memorabilia dating back to the days of floppy discs and laméblazers.

Director Spotlight: Revoir Julie @ 9:30pm
Director in Attendance
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas
Julie and Juliette reunite after 15 years—an unexpected visit that evokes singing, drinking and long-awaited amour.

View all the shows on August 20th

Tuesday, 21 August 2012

The Green @ 7pm
Vancity Theatre
Michael and Daniel have left the hustle and bustle of New York City for the greener grass of Connecticut. The handsome well-to-do couple seems to have found solace in suburban life, until Michael is accused of engaging in inappropriate behaviour at the private high school where he teaches.

Tomboy @ 9:30pm
Vancity Theatre
Moving mid-summer to a small French suburb is a trying transition for Laure, an 11-year-old tomboy. Without the structure of school, Laure must navigate the social norms of the local playground, where boys play football and girls chit-chat on the sidelines. The incipient roles of pre-pubescent gender accelerate for Laure when she is mistaken for a boy. Without missing a beat, she introduces herself as Mikael and meets each carefree summer day in this new-found identity.

View all the shows on August 21st

Wednesday, 22 August 2012

The Invisible Men @ 7pm
Vancity Theatre
Louie has fled Palestine to Tel Aviv, Israel's most queer-friendly city. While Tel Aviv offers safety from his family's persecution and the punishment of Palestinian security forces, Louie is far from safe. Israel strictly prohibits offering assistance to Palestinian illegal immigrants, and with no passport, fixed address, bank account or loved ones, living in Tel Aviv means Louie must become an "invisible man."

Gender Like It Is @ 9:30pm
Vancity Theatre
Associate Programmer Amy Fox presents this selection of groundbreaking films by trans women and genderqueer directors who tell gender like it is.

View all the shows on August 22nd

Thursday, 23 August 2012: Centrepiece gala & party

Mia @ 7pm & 9:30pm
Rio Theatre
Demure and kindly Alé makes her home in Villa Rosa, a queer shantytown on the outskirts of Buenos Aires; she makes her living collecting recyclables. While rummaging through trash, she finds the diary-sized suicide note of a woman named Mia. Compelled by Mia’s story, Alé becomes determined to find Mia’s eight-year-old daughter and return the diary—an endeavour that takes her unexpectedly into the home and hearts of the grieving family.

Centerpiece Gala Party @ 9:30pm
The Electric Owl, 928 Main Street
Drag superstars Celestial Seasons and Sienna Blaze further delight your senses while DJ Cho Cha spins tunes to make the party a full-on sensory overload.

View all the shows on August 23rd

Friday, 24 August 2012

North Sea Texas @ 5pm  - Presented by GayVancouver.Net
Empire Granville 7 Cinemas
Daydreams and fond memories are about the only things happening in Pim’s coastal Belgian town. His single mother Yvette—an ex-beauty queen—clings to her fantasy of finding a good man and becoming a famous folk accordionist. Meanwhile, Pim quietly grows with little parental guidance leaving his fledgling gay feelings unhampered. He spends his days drawing naked boys, dressing up in his mother’s clothes and developing a crush on Gino, the neighbour.

The Coast is Queer @ 9:30pm - Presented by GayVancouver.Net
Rio Theatre
Strange, sappy, scrappy, sexy and spectacular are just a few words that come to mind when describing this annual local program. Come out and celebrate new short films by queer Vancouverites.

View all the shows on August 24th

Saturday, 25 August 2012

Postive Youth @ 5pm
Empire Granville 7 Cinemas
Actor Charlie David (Mulligans, Judas Kiss) makes his directorial debut with this inspirational documentary about the reality of living with HIV in 2012.

Difficult Love @ 7pm
Empire Granville 7 Cinemas
A poignant documentary that illuminates the duty and passion behind Zanele Muholi’s lush, evocative photographs.

View all the shows on August 25th

Sunday, 26 August 2012: Closing Gala & Party

Dirty Girl @ 7pm
Empire Granville 7 Cinemas
Dirty Girl is set in small-town Oklahoma in 1987, where the school’s “dirty girl,” Danielle, befriends the gay outcast, Clarke. Theirs is a quirky yet close friendship that just might get them through high school intact. Together, the pair flee classmates’ taunts and their menacing parents and hit the open highway—on a road trip that takes them beyond the Oklahoma state line towards a journey of self- discovery, acceptance and 80s tunes blaring on the car stereo.

Closing Gala Party @ 9:30pm
Celebrities Night Club, 1022 Davie Street
DJs G-Luve and Taffi Louis provide way cool music from past and present and legendary drag artists Joan-E and Isolde N. Barron dazzle us with retro performances.