Inside Out — Canada’s largest 2SLGBTQ+ film festival provides the queer community a safe space to see their stories on the screen

For over 30 years, the Inside Out film festival has been bringing Toronto’s 2SLGBTQ+ community together to celebrate the best queer film from Canada and around the world.

Founded in 1991, Inside Out is now the largest event of its kind in the country and is perhaps more important and necessary today than ever before.

“33 years ago, there was what became a collective of queer artists that sought a physical space to gather and show their films and their art. It started out very small — a film being shown on a sheet on the wall — and grew into what we are now,” says Andrew Murphy, co-head and Artistic Director of Inside Out.

“It was a very interesting time still in queer history.”

These days, even with more — quote-unquote — “mainstream audiences” having access to or accepting LGBT themes on their television and movie screens, Murphy says there is still very much a need for the queer community to have a comfortable and safe space to gather and see their stories.

“We have more access to information than ever and more ways to communicate, but it’s also very isolating, especially for young queer people,” he explains.

“I do like to think Inside Out offers that place where you know you can escape, find your community, be entertained, but also learn.”

In a time where anti-2SLGBTQ+ legislation — particularly anti-trans legislation — has dominated American politics and headlines worldwide, Executive Director and fellow festival co-head Elie Chivi, says this year’s program highlights stories of queer resilience and queer identity.

“We ask the question often — ‘what are we trying to do? What is the message for this year? What are we trying to say?’ — and I think, now more than ever, it’s really important for the queer community to continue to take up space and to continue to see itself on screen,” Chivi says.

“This year is really focused on queer resiliency. There are a lot of really beautiful, positive stories in there and I think we need them now more than ever.”

Inside Out boasts a full slate of both in-person and digital screenings and, because organizers are committed to improving accessibility for all audience members, the festival offers a 15 per cent discount (called Reel Access) to students, seniors, underwaged patrons, BIPOC-identified individuals, and patrons with disabilities for all in-person and online screenings.

There are also free youth and senior matinees, relaxed screenings with reduced capacity, and every single film will have captions or full subtitles.

Among the highlights included in this year’s program are six films that started their journey through Inside Out’s International Finance Forum (IFF), the first and only finance forum of its kind in the world, providing 2SLGBTQ+-identified producers, writers and directors creating 2SLGBTQ+ content an opportunity to move their feature projects forward through professional development, mentorship and the platform to pitch their projects directly to top international industry executives and decision-makers.

Those efforts are already paying off.

“Since 2017, nearly 40 per cent of those overall projects have been financed, made and released, or will be released in 2023,” says Murphy.

The festival also directly supports women, non-binary, and trans filmmakers who are telling 2SLGBTQ+ stories through its RE:Focus Fund, which offers post-production and travel grants.

Inside Out 2023 runs from May 25 to June 4 both in-person and online. For a full list of featured films, or to purchase tickets, visit insideout.ca/festival.