Vancouver, BC—REAL Women of Canada may not have been thrilled to see same- sex marriage legislation upheld in the Supreme Court this past spring, but there will be a lot of very gay—in both senses—people watching Nancy Nicol’s The End of Second Class this summer at the 19th annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF). The End of Second Class documents the struggle of gay and lesbian Canadians to obtain the same legal rights as their heterosexual counterparts. REAL Women targeted the VQFF last year, in a failed attempt to have arts funding for the event eliminated.

The 11-day festival boasts the largest queer arts event in Western Canada and the second largest film festival in Vancouver. "The festival has grown by leaps and bounds and we expect an increase to 12,000 attendees this year. The range and quality of films is absolutely amazing. We're very excited about the continuing growth of the festival and looking forward to our 20th anniversary in 2008," says Drew Dennis, Executive Director of Out On Screen, the organization that puts on the festival. The success of the festival is due in no small part to Vancouverites' appetites for good independent film, of which there is plenty in this year’s lineup. Each year a roster of international and local films are showcased, representing the diversity of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, in short—queer experience from around the world.

This year’s highlights include films in the Vancity-sponsored Human Rights Series such as The End of Second Class, and Canadian filmmaker Arturo Torres' Super Amigos, a documentary about four masked and caped real-life superheroes in Mexico city, including Super Gay, who fights homophobia. The Opening Gala film is the award-winning Israeli film, The Bubble (Ha Buah), a timely and powerful love story about a Palestinian man and an Israeli soldier. This year's featured filmmaker is John Cameron Mitchell (Shortbus; Hedwig and the Angry Inch), who will be interviewed by Montreal Mirror film critic and first-time author Matthew Hays. Hays' book, View From Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers, will receive its Vancouver launch during the festival. Mitchell will attend the screening of Follow My Voice, which tells the story of the making of a tribute album based on the music of Hedwig, with proceeds donated to New York's Harvey Milk School. The film includes performances by Rufus Wainwright, Yoko Ono, Sleater-Kinney and others. Other festival highlights include the world premiere of a new short film by filmmaker and author Ivan E. Coyote and musician Veda Hille, The Love That Won't Shut Up. Commissioned for Out On Screen's new Queer History Project, an initiative created to document queer people's rightful place in Canadian history, the film gives voice to Vancouver seniors who talk about what it was like to be queer in Vancouver in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Other local programming includes the Coast is Queer series, short films by BC filmmakers, as well as Riots to Astronauts: The Anniversaries of Change Project, being shown in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Vancouver's 1907 race riots. This series examines themes of displacement, immigration, and diasporic communities and is co-presented with the Powell Street Festival Society. Each season there is a youth focus, as part of Out in School's smashing stereotypes outreach. This year the world premiere of local shorts created by queer youth, Firstout Video, will take place at Pacific Cinematheque.

VQFF Programming Director Vanessa Kwan has added an element of whimsy to the festival in addition to a wide array of films. This year the focus is on performance, with local performance artists livening up events with impromptu appearances at venues and even during film lineups. "We're really in a celebratory mood as we move closer to two decades of showing the best queer independent films from around the world," says Kwan. "Some fun, some levity, a spontaneous feel to the festival, a whole experience, is what we want to create for our audiences."

-30-

To preview breaking news, sneak peeks and festival announcements visit our website. Tickets go on sale July 19 and will be available at TicketsTonight.ca, Little Sister's bookstore, Black Dog Video and Cinemark Tinseltown. Prices are $9.50 general admission; $6.50 students, seniors, underemployed.

For more information contact:
Lauryn Hayden
Media Relations Coordinator
ph 604-844-1615
lauryn@outonscreen.com
www.outonscreen.com