As usual, Inside Out is bubbling over with local talent. Here’s a selection of homegrown shorts to make you laugh, cry, dance and protest.
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What’s the difference between the Afghan war and a lesbian breakup? The Afghan war is shorter and less bloody. Chris Chew’s “sort of” sequel to last year’s hit Falling for Caroline starts with die-hard romantic Darcy having her heart stomped on as a 30th birthday present. Her girlfriends rally to help her recover with a simple two-step solution: get revenge and score some easy online hookups.
Part of Lesbian Shorts: Building a Herstory
Sat, May 24, 2:30pm
Reveille
Actor Ron Kennell’s directorial debut has already been making the festival rounds and racking up awards. Reveille adds a gay turn to the well-trodden path of wartime love stories. Just like every other day, Aaron and Xavier wake up in each other’s arms, but today is special: Xavier is being deployed to Afghanistan. With the flickering thought that this might be the last day they ever spend together, Aaron struggles to make every second count.
Part of Gay Shorts: Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda
Wed, May 28, 9:45pm
Waack Revolt
The waacking I’m most familiar with usually involves a dick or three. But it’s the 1970s-era dance style of flailing arms and fierce posing for which Sonia Hong’s Waack Revolt is named. The time-travelling love story begins in 1940s Hollywood when lovers Emily Law and Fly Lady Di bond over their shared need to groove. But public outrage over their freakish moves forces them to flee both their era and their identities, and they float between time periods and genders while waacking up a storm.
Part of Mixed Shorts: Local Heroes
Thurs, May 29, 7:30pm
FAG Feminist Art Gallery Video
When Allyson Mitchell and Deirdre Logue launched the Feminist Art Gallery in the garage of their Parkdale home, they arrived with one hell of a mandate: phuck the patriarchy and bend the walls of the conventional gallery system until they break, all without accepting a cent of government money.
Three years later, FAG is still going strong, nurturing and supporting a plethora of practices. A kind of musical scrapbook manifesto, their video flips through the ongoing mayhem of party pot-lucking, angry letter writing, free schooling, cat petting, directed reading, protest-sign making, herbal tea and gluten-free-muffin-top-consuming days that make FAG a place like no other.
Part of Mixed Shorts: Local Heroes
Thurs, May 29, 7:30pm