image+nation, Canada’s first LGBTQ film festival, returns in cinemas and venues across Montreal for a 32nd edition from November 21 to December 1. As well as continuing to offer a pioneering platform for queer stroies that defy the conventional LGBTQ narrative, the 2019 festival will present one more its animated shorts program, Animation: Drawn to You, back by popular demand!
“As we live through times of social change in the world, image+nation 32 proudly brings new films from countries that share stories through LGBTQ cinema’s newest voices,” said Programming Director, Katharine Setzer. “With an emergence of exciting Eastern-European filmmaking, the cream of local talent, and even a pioneering Guatemalan production, this year, more than ever, we’re bringing the best new and innovative storytelling to Montreal.”
Following a decade-long hiatus, image+nation 32 is bringing back an old favorite; the animated shorts program, Animation: Drawn to You. From a mesmerizing stop-motion based on an Anishinaabe poem to a campy queer western with some rib-tickling naughtiness thrown in, moviegoers can enjoy an evening of cinema where imagination is the champion of change and affirmation.
The 96-minute program features 10 stylistically and thematically distinct shorts from across Canada and around the world:
- Drawn to You (Eleanor Davitt | Canada) A heart-warming animated gem that shows the struggles and joys that come with being true to your heart.
- Les lèvres gercées (Fabien Corre | France) In a kitchen, a mother and a child struggle to establish a dialogue.
- Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) (Amanda Strong | Canada) Accompanied by a 10,000-year-old shapeshifter, Biidaaban sets out on a mission to reclaim the ceremonial harvesting of sap from maple trees. Driven by the words of Anishinaabe writer Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, this mesmerizing stop-motion animation intricately weaves together multiple worlds.
- A Double Life (Job, Joris & Marieke | Netherlands) A deliciously dark comedy about a husband and wife whose different ideas of gender conformity lead to an unexpected confrontation.
- Bacchus (Rikke A. K. Planeta | Denmark) Alex, a young woman bored with modern life, is lured by Bacchus into a colorful and mysterious world to explore her deepest desires.
- Tangle (Malihe Ghloamzadeh | India) Hauntingly told in black and white, this exceptional animated short tells the tale of a girl in wartime.
- Stinkhorn (Hilary Harp & Suzie Silver | Canada) Set in a campy western mining town, Stinkhorn tells the tale of a lady blacksmith named Dusty and her naughty trickster paramour, Blaze. A psychedelic trip wrapped in a queer western, Stinkhorn is a magical who-rides-who tale with a twist.
- Tom Has a Plant (Thinh Nguyen | Denmark) Tom has a plant. He just wants to give away to the one he loves.
- Docking (Trevor Anderson | Canada) Trevor reflects on his fear of dating in this sci-fi send up.
- Kiko’s Saints (Manuel Marmier | Canada) Kiko, a Japanese illustrator on assignment in France, finds an inspiring obsession with a gay couple on the beach. Secretly drawing them, these two bears provide just the push she needs to change her life and break the rules.
Tickets for Animation: Drawn to You available online. Learn more about image+nation at www.image-nation.org.
