Posts Tagged: VQFF

Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: Watercolors

Wow, that was… really not good at all. A deadly earnest, by-the-numbers coming out story that felt ripped straight out of an after-school special.


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: The Taqwacores

This movie kicked ass! Bursting with energy, funny, some great cinematography, good character development and of course some great music (I’m not into punk, but damn, you couldn’t not like it). Educational, too: The Taqwacores served as a crash course on Islam, and a look into a culture I’m really not familiar with.


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: All Boys

This film by Markku Keikkinen is an expose of the Eastern European gay porn industry, focusing on a minor porn studio based in Prague, one of many that sprang up in Eastern Europe in the mid-90′s. It’s a brutally fair and unforgiving look past the fantasies, at the actual business of selling sex and the people who make it work.


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: Violet Tendencies

Meet Violet, the last single fag hag in her circle. She has an active social life with a large number of lovely, exciting, eccentric friends, friends who love everything about her… except her pussy. Will Violet ever find a man to fulfill all her needs? Will she ever meet her elusive “fag stag,” or is she looking for love in all the wrong places?


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: The Coast Is Queer

Wow, that was an awesome crop of movies this year! Fifteen short films were showcased, ranging in quality from “pretty good” to “excellent”. I’ll just mention the ones that made a strong impression on me.


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: Riffs On The Theme Of Activism

For various reasons I missed The Love That Won’t Shut Up, Rex vs Singh, and The Portside. I’d be damned if I was going to miss the last of the screenings commissioned by the Queer History Project.

Riffs consists of five very short films (about 5 minutes long on average), with the focus being on a panel discussion with the directors. Moving and informative, Riffs is an excellent conclusion to an already fantastic series.


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: The Butch Factor

Hm. Okay. This documentary is going to be a tough one to review. From what I’m hearing it was extremely polarising, with people saying they hated it, it made them angry, they almost walked out. I didn’t almost walk out, and it didn’t make me angry; I agreed with the basic thesis, but had definite problems with some of the actual interviews and scenes.


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: Mr. Right

I expected a light, fluffy comedy like The People I’ve Slept With, but this movie turned out to have quite a bit of drama and character development.


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: The People I’ve Slept With

Oh my fucking gawd, that was amazing. I was a little hesitant to like it, since just before the screening I learned that director Quentin Lee also directed the short Little Love, which I wasn’t that crazy about. But good news, it looks like his forte is light comedy!


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: Pornography: A Thriller

Well, that was a mindfuck and a half! Hot porn stars, a mythical snuff tape and urban legends collide in this creepy nightmarish thriller. From the synopsis I expected weird horror, and at first that’s what it looked like I was getting. The first act, dealing with the life and disappearance of porn star Mark Anton, was really disturbing but had no overtly supernatural elements.


Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: Strong and Silent Types

My first show of the festival was a collection of five short films about—as the name implies—men and masculinity. A little uneven, it was still a very good kickoff to my VQFF experience.


Queer Film Festival 2009: a few reviews

A good crop of movies this year! I didn’t see as many as I wanted, due to previous commitments (or in one case getting the show times mixed up), but I had a great time at this festival. Here are some of my thoughts on the movies I saw, in chronological order.


Laugh At Me

The Queer Film Festival is in full swing. Last night I they showed The Coast is Queer, a showcase of shorts by local filmmakers that’s become an annual tradition. There was so much excellent material this year that it’s hard to pick a favourite, but I’d have to go with David C. Jones’ Laugh At Me. Which, good news, has been on YouTube for a while