Inside Inside Out - Film Reviews Pt 2

Every year Inside Out, the Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival, drops a hot steaming load of films into the laps of local movie-lovers. The fab team grabbed a handful of titles and sat down for some old-fashioned homo popcorn entertainment.






























Christopher and His Kind

The big draw in this film is Matt Smith, the newest Dr Who, playing gay author Christopher Isherwood. Although Smith acquits himself well (and is actually quite sexy in a non-nerdy way) the character is an observer and the moments of emotion, lust and opposition to the Nazis come out of nowhere. The real attractions are the sumptuous BBC production values and the loving, lingering pans of 1930s Berlin hustlers in their wife-beaters and bathing trunks. Anyone who isn’t familiar with the plot of Cabaret will be engrossed; the rest of us will enjoy but will keep waiting for Liza to arrive and liven things up. - Drew Rowsome
 
Screens Sat, May 21 at 9:30pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 1, and Sun, May 29 at 5:15pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 2.









 























The Advocate for Fagdom

Local rebel pornographer/filmmaker Bruce LaBruce’s canon of work makes a great subject for a provocative documentary. Directed by Angelique Bosio, The Advocate for Fagdom is packed with classic clips from well-known LaBruce films like Super 8 1/2, No Skin Off My Ass and Hustler White. These are put in context with snippets from some of his more rarely seen shorts and commentary from collaborators and contemporaries, including Gus Van Sant, Harmony Korine, John Waters, Bruce Benderson and Vaginal Davis.

Highlights include candid behind-the-scenes footage of BLAB’s LA Zombie, featuring pornstars François Sagat and Matthew Rush; hearing Van Sant talk about being duped into thinking homocore culture was a big scene in Toronto, rather than just an idealistic invention of LaBruce and GB Jones; and vintage video clips of LaBruce in drag, hunting for poppers in NYC, or poking fun at politicians at Queen’s Park. Plus: hot boys with bad attitudes, horny hustlers, zombie sex, stump-fucking and skinheads licking boots and each other.  - Matt Thomas

Screens Sat, May 21 at 5pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 2.





























We Were Here

This moving documentary asks five people to share their stories as witnesses to the early days of the AIDS crisis in San Francisco. Among the subjects are a sympathetic nurse turned champion researcher, a flower salesman whose business model changed as obituaries grew in number, a social outcast who found a cause in responding to the epidemic, an activist and organizer, and an AIDS survivor.
 
The intersection of their stories reveals how the avalanche of sorrow and death was matched by the inspirational response of a courageous community. The gruesome footage and tragic episodes are hard to watch, but the deeply personal stories are intensely gripping from start to finish. The film is a must-see for every gay man living in the aftermath of the epidemic. - Jonathan Valelly
 
Screens Mon, May 23 at 7pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 1.

 
For more information, visit insideout.ca.