Intro: How The Reelout Festival Reeled Us In.

The Reelout Film Festival, hosted at Kingston’s local independent theatre The Screening Room, exceeded all of our expectations and enlightened us in many ways. From the variety of films offered to the positive and inclusive atmosphere, this festival succeeded in raising awareness for queer representations. Not only were there excellent and diverse portrayals of queer individuals in the films, this same type of diversity was also reflected in the atmosphere of the festival itself.

This festival seemed less like a commercial endeavour and more like an appreciation of art and a celebration of sexual diversity. There were many aspects of the production that highlighted the independence of the theatre, such as acknowledging the land, thanking local sponsors, and having no trailers or advertisements before the film began. At a regular movie theatre, it feels as though it is a much less intimate setting. As soon as our tickets were checked, we were given colourful buttons and asked to give our feedback after the movie by voting with the buttons for different ratings. This allowed us to transcend our roles as mere audience members, and allowed our opinions to matter in a grander scheme.

We were surprised by how popular this independent festival was, as most of the films that we attended were sold out. The audience ranged from students our age to seniors, which showed how the themes and messages presented in these films are relevant to everyone. The staff members at the theatre and working for the festival greeted the guests with warmth and attentiveness, contributing to the overall engaging and inclusive atmosphere of the theatre space. It was made very clear throughout such aspects of our experience that the Reelout Festival is not put on with the sole intent to raise money. The profuse dedication put into creating a welcoming environment for all ages and genders emphasizes the festival’s amount of respect for their movie-goers. On top of this, it is very pleasing to see the themes of acceptance and understanding found within the festival’s movies being reciprocated in the theatre’s physical atmosphere and staff member behaviour.

“This film festival was an enlightening experience for me. I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did and I feel as though I learned a lot about international LGBTQ experiences.” - Katya

“Reelout was both a thoroughly enjoyable and profoundly eye-opening experience.” - Ella

“I enjoyed my experience at reelout, as it opened my eyes to various issues the LGBTQ community faces on the daily.” - Isabella

“The intimate setting of The Screening Room and the Reelout Festival surprised me in many ways as I felt like I was one with the audience. It was a new and different environment that really sold the experience for me.” - Makaila

- 462 words

Reelout. “Reelout 2020 Programming Announcement January 1, 2020.” Reelout, 11 Dec. 2019, www.reelout.com/2019/12/reelout-2020-programming-announcement-january-1-2020/.

Huot, Wendy. “Announcing the Fall 2015 Cinematica Classics Lineup: Lions, Italians and Orson Welles, Oh My!” SR_Header, 20 Oct. 2015, screeningroomkingston.com/cinematica/columns/cinema-news/announcing-the-fall-2015-cinematica-classics-lineup-lions-italians-and-orson-welles-oh-my/.

- Makaila 

OML. “Good Kisser - Trailer.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Oct. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=egKc-lfMAjU&feature=youtu.be.

Review of Good Kisser (2019) by Makaila Atsonglo

       Good Kisser, one of the films premiered at the Reel Out Film Festival, is directed by Wendy Jo Carlton and follows the romance between two women, Kate and Jenna. These two women have been together for about two years. I would describe Kate as realistic, money-oriented, and a “straight to the point” type of person. To contrast, Jenna’s personality is seen as more bubbly, hopeful and likely to succumb to her emotions. This couple decides to try something new within their relationship to keep it interesting. The new addition comes in the form of Mia, a well-travelled yet sophisticated woman from Kate’s past, (unbeknownst to Jenna), who has agreed to a three-some with Kate and Jenna. Throughout the movie, Jenna is hesitant and anxious about being with another woman besides her partner and feels as though something is off, with the situation and with her relationship. Despite trying to ease her partner, Kate loses herself in the moment and in her attraction to Mia, leaving Jenna suspicious of her girlfriend’s devotion to Mia. In the movie, it is evident that Kate has her attention on Mia more than Jenna. However, Jenna and Mia connect emotionally through their interests and compatible personalities. The three women go along with their intended plans, which results in Mia being the main focus for both Jenna and Kate, leaving the other jealous and feeling neglected. By the end of the movie, it is revealed to Jenna that Kate has been having an affair with Mia for several months and proposed this idea of a threesome as a way to come clean about her transgressions. The movie ends with Jenna leaving Kate, but Mia confesses her attraction to Jenna and asks her to run away with her, leaving Kate single.

        Good Kisser showed a good representation of lesbian women and the LGBTQ+ community, but it lacked representation of racial minorities and those with disabilities. This movie had 5 characters in total, three main characters and two minor characters who had little dialogue. However, all of these characters are able-bodied. The only glimpse of mental illness was when Jenna took a pill to calm her nerves, but this was never elaborated upon. The minor characters were Clark, Mia’s next door neighbour who was helpful in calming Jenna down and providing insight on Mia. Another minor character was Yuka, an androgynous Uber driver who took the main characters to Mia’s house and made a second appearance at the end of the movie, befriending Jenna. Clark is the only male and stands in as a supportive figure to white lead, Mia, and racially ambiguous Jenna. He is one of three non-white characters in the movie, being racially ambiguous, yet has the fewest lines and appearances. Likewise, Yuka appears to be East Asian, and yet again, has a small amount of lines and is only a supportive character to Jenna. Both minority characters were treated just as that, minorities. They had no storylines of their own and simply disappeared and reappeared whenever the leads were in distress. Essentially, they were used for token diversity. The insignificance of their roles incited thoughts of forced diversity as it seemed that Wendy Carlton put Clark and Yuka there to get awarded for having a more diverse cast. It seemed as though the movie wanted to appease the masses in every way possible and did so by using token diversity, which is blindly accepted by popular culture. “Those who refer to popular culture as mass culture want to establish that popular culture is a hopelessly commercial culture. It is mass produced for mass consumption. Its audience is a mass of non-discriminating consumers. The culture itself is formulaic and  manipulative. It is a culture that is consumed with brain-numbed and brain-numbing passivity” (Storey). Merely placing minorities in the movie without careful thought is not going beyond the expectations of society and is a passive way of adding diversity. I feel as though ignoring the blatant misuse of racial minorities would not be progressive in ensuring that people of colour will be added in movies correctly and ensure that their only contribution is to wipe the tears of the white and racially ambiguous leads. I feel like queer and disabled people of colour are underrepresented in the LGBTQ+ community and in order for this movie to be truly intersectional, it should include these people. As a black woman, I did not feel represented in this movie as there was no one that resembled me in anyway. I believe there is definitely room for improvement with people of colour being supporting characters that are not flat, and are not solely their race, but also stand out and represent LGBTQ+ people of colour as well.

         Despite these flaws, Good Kisser has a unique and truthful way of portraying women and lesbian relationships. The fact that this movie was created for LGBTQ+ people and allies, by people who are queer, ensured that the relationships shown between Kate, Jenna and Mia were not exploitative of lesbianism or a form of queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is “a way of appealing to [queer viewers] without alienating their main audience, who may be uncomfortable with openly queer characters, or who may not care about them” (Mitchell). With the director being a woman, I could clearly see that this movie was created with the LGBTQ+  and female audience in mind. Queer people were the majority audience and Wendy Carlton did a fantastic job of appealing to the intended audience and properly representing women in queer relationships. While watching the movie, it was evident that, despite the mature sexual subject matter, the creators were dedicated to an authentic portrayal of emotions and connections between the characters that did not adhere to common fetishes and sexist stereotypes. This was evident in the way that throughout the movie as I was taken on a rollercoaster of emotions following Jenna’s anxiety, was able to get to know all the character’s dynamics and was not just thrusted into the sexual aspects of the plot. The LGBTQ+ audience was appealed to without exploiting them, yet still enticed the entire theatre without baiting us.

        Overall, Wendy Carlton did a good job in her portrayal of women and lesbian relationships by building the main character’s personalities authentically without oversexualization. However, I believe she played it safe by using diverse characters as tokens to appease popular culture. With the amount of underrepresentation queer people of colour and queer people with disabilties recieve, I belive it is important to acknowledge that Good Kisser merely scratched the surface of intersectionalism and more work needs to be done.

Word Count: 1100

                                              Works Cited

Storey, John. “Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. .” Queen's Single Sign On - Loading Session Information, 2009, ereserves.library.queensu.ca/ares/ares.dll?Action=10&Type=10&Value=117942.

Milton, Josh, et al. “What You Need to Know about Queerbaiting.” PinkNews, 26 June 2019, www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/02/26/what-is-queerbaiting-everything-you-need-to-know/.

Thompson. “Black Music Month: 36 Black Movie Soundtracks You Should Know.” Vibe, 12 Feb. 2020, www.vibe.com/photos/best-black-movie-soundtracks-list/love_basketball_soundtrack-1560735297.

Vision Portraits. “Vision Portraits Trailer - No Captions.” Youtube, produced by Rodney Evans, H. Robert Wunder, 26 June 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em6awVVkz5I&t=1s

“Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America (2019) Media” IMDB, Open Door Productions, 2019, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10478556/mediaviewer/rm2514066433.

Trailer for Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America (Katya’s film)

Out On Film Festival. “UNSETTLED: Seeking Refuge in America - Film Screening | OOF2019″ Youtube, 26 Aug. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEmA3iZWzsM&t=16s.

Film Review of Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America by Katya

         Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America is an eye-opening and heartbreaking documentary about a group of LGBTQ refugees seeking a safe new beginning in the United States. Directed by Tom Shepard, this film follows the lives of four individuals as they flee their home countries in the hopes of finding security and acceptance elsewhere. Subhi, a young man from Syria, is the first person that we are introduced to. He shares his story of facing homophobic discrimination from both his family and fellow neighbours, including having rocks thrown at him on the street and a traumatic experience of physical violence with his own father. This incident gave him a very serious head injury and led him to spend hours in the hospital. Next, we are introduced to Mari and Cheyenne, a lesbian couple from Angola who were also rejected and persecuted from their families and fellow citizens. They share stories of having to meet up in secrecy in order to avoid harassment, as well as awful events that they have had to endure, including the murder of their dog and deliberate food poisoning from one of their mothers simply because of their lesbian relationship. Lastly, we meet Junior, a gender non-conforming individual from Congo whose own mother advocates for the murder of LGBTQ individuals. All four of these strong individuals decide to flee their countries and seek refuge in San Francisco, which proves to be challenging for all of them.

          Before getting into an analysis of this film, it is important to consider the concept of intersectionality. This term was first coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 to demonstrate the multifaceted oppression experienced by Black women. Using an intersectional lens when discussing this documentary is crucial because it leads us to understand how systems of oppression such as race, class, gender, and sexuality work together in shaping unique experiences for different groups of individuals (Kaufman). In this blog post, I will be discussing the interlocking systems of oppression that affect the LGBTQ refugees in this film, and why it is important to acknowledge these in order to understand and properly admire their courage and resilience.

          Throughout the film, all four refugees face hurdles as they endeavor to build new lives in an unfamiliar country. Mari and Cheyenne struggle to find an attorney to help them gain refugee status in the United States, and the fact that this process takes months adds stress to an already difficult situation. Subhi faces a challenging decision when he is asked to speak openly about his experiences with homophobic discrimination in Syria in front of the UN Security Council; something which could potentially put his safety at risk. Junior sadly experiences the most difficulties of the group, facing poverty, homelessness, loneliness, depression and more. They struggle to find adequate part-time jobs due to their language barrier and lack of qualifications, while simultaneously making sense of their gender non-conformance and their place in this new country. Using an intersectional lens while viewing this film, we can see that all four of these refugees are oppressed on multiple different levels: race, gender, class, sexual orientation and mental health. To make their situations even more difficult, the election of Donald Trump as president in 2016 brought up a new risk of being deported as immigrants, as well as an increase of racism, sexism and homophobia in the country. As stated by Audre Lorde, “we have, built into all of us, old blueprints of expectation and response, old structures of oppression, and these must be altered at the same time as we alter the living conditions which are a result of those structures” (Lorde 123). This task is a challenging one: changing the norms and expectations of society while concurrently dealing with the oppressive consequences of the existing ones. Now with an imbecile of a president who encourages discriminatory behaviour, this is even more of a difficult task. And to make this worse? The people with privilege have nothing to gain from making these changes, so it is up to those in marginalized positions to advocate for their own rights (Lorde 114). This is demonstrated in the film through many examples: Subhi making his story public in order to pave the way for and support other LGBTQ refugees, Mari and Cheyenne persisting through the long wait and emotional burden to gain refugee status, and Junior staying true to themself even with mental health issues and a lack of support systems.

         The fact that these four refugees were able to remain hopeful throughout such an emotionally taxing journey is a testament to their strength and determination. Something that really stayed with me from this film was the fact that these four individuals were clearly doing nothing wrong, and how awful is it that there are countries on this planet that consider a state of love and happiness to be illegal. Mari and Cheyenne are simply two women who are madly in love with each other. Subhi is like any other male on this Earth looking to find love, he just happens to look for this love with men rather than women. Junior does not feel like they identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, and they are harming absolutely nobody by feeling and identifying this way. While I knew that certain places around the world were less accepting of LGBTQ individuals, I did not realize to what extend this discrimination reached. Taking away a person’s life for the sole reason of who they choose to love is absolutely unacceptable, and we are lucky to have individuals like these four LGBTQ refugees who successfully fight for justice in our world.

         On a last note, it is important to acknowledge the multiple American allies who assisted these refugees when they arrived in the United States. Offering support to these vulnerable people plays makes a huge difference as they settle into a new country without family or friends to lean on. Allies are members of dominant groups who use their privilege to assist those in marginalized positions fight for social justice (Rostosky 331). In the case of this documentary, the allies were mainly White, middle-class, heterosexual American adults. I found it inspiring watching these Americans stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ refugees, as it showed me the significance that social support can have in the advocacy for equal rights. Overall, this documentary had a very big impact on me. It taught me about serious social issues that I was not fully aware of while demonstrating that there is hope for positive change in our world.

(Work count: 1093)

Works Cited

Kaufman, Peter. “Intersectionality for Beginners.” Everyday Sociology Blog, W. W. Norton, 23  Apr. 2018, www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2018/04/intersectionality-for-beginners.html#more.

Lorde, Audre. “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.” Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, 1984, pp. 114–123., https://bltc.alexanderstreet.com/cgi-bin/BLTC/hub.py?type=getdoc&docid=S8108-D012.

Rostosky, Sharon, et al. “Positive Aspects of Being a Heterosexual Ally to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) People.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, vol. 85, no. 4, July 2015, pp. 331–331, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1735650833/.

“Pin by 6 on Freddie Mercury: Queen Freddie Mercury, Freddie Mercury, Queen Meme.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.ca/pin/729512839617748170/?lp=true.

Film Review of Vision Portraits by Ella Blondin

As the producer, lead role, and director of Vision Portraits (2019), Rodney Evans allows audiences to explore the lives of various artists throughout his award-winning film. Evans himself practices the art of filmmaking. In the documentary, viewers are  introduced to the creative endeavors and daily lifestyles of a writer named Ryan Knighton, a dancer named Kayla Hamilton, and a photographer named John Dugdale. Despite their different artistic interests, something shared by each of the four featured individuals featured is their personal struggle with vision impairment. Evans shares his powerful story of trying to make his art form of filmmaking work with his newfound peripheral blindness. Throughout his journey, he seeks solace in, and shares the stories, of artists in similar situations. Using the personal experiences of other artists and himself, Evans provides an intersectional approach to how blindness and disability impacts individuals in society, while addressing themes of ableism and social constructs about able-bodiedness.

     Overall, I assert that this film was very successful in presenting its content with intersectional objectivity. Intersectional theory refers to the understanding that different forms of oppression and social constructs can “intersect”, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging these overlapping systems of discrimination when dealing with social issues. (Bauer) Even though the main topic of the film is blindness, Evans still acknowledges other forms of oppression and how they might affect an individual when they crossover in different ways. Specifically, the experiences of the dancer Kayla Hamilton demonstrate this film’s intersectional perspective because she discusses not only her blindness, but other ways by which she has been oppressed in life.  From being born with one sightless eye and developing cataracts, vision impairment had always been a part of Hamilton’s life. In the film, she confesses that the impact blindness was having on both her daily life and her passion of dancing pushed her to suicidal tendencies because she felt helpless and incompetent. Regarding disability, race, gender, or multiple forms of oppression at once as an obstacle or “abnormal” can make one feel like they are a “deviation from society”. (Ahmed, 121) However, Hamilton channeled these negative emotions into her art. She created a dance performance called “Blindsided”, during which her audience members must wear an eyepatch to understand how being visually impaired affects perception. By incorporating visual and musical aspects of her culture, Hamilton also addresses themes of racism and discrimination in the show, based on her personal experiences as an African-American woman. Through this multifaceted performance, the in-person viewers of Hamilton’s dancing and my fellow movie-goers were exposed to a visual and musical representation of how various forms of discrimination can cross over to magnify the amount of oppression one faces in society. Rather than allowing feelings of ostracization in society to deter her, Hamilton chooses to continue passionately dancing and choreographing, using her love of the art to embrace her differences as qualities, rather than identifying them as flaws. I think that Evans' choice to interview her was an excellent addition to this documentary to enhance its intersectionality. As made clear in Kayla Hamilton’s case, blindness and disability are highly deserving of awareness, but it is imperative that other forms of discrimination are considered. 

     The concepts of able-bodiedness as normalcy, as well as the ableism that commonly accompanies this social construct, are strong themes in Vision Portraits. Ableism refers to discrimination against people with disabilities, and the belief that being able-bodied is the social norm. (Hehir, 1) Photographer John Dugdale’s interview includes his encounters with ableism because of his blindness. Dugdale was diagnosed with AIDS which eventually induced a stroke, causing mobility issues and blindness. Dugdale notes in the movie that one of the first things his parents said to him in the hospital prior to the incident was that the accident was a shame because his career was going so well. This implies that he could no longer be a photographer because of his newfound disability, making it an act of ableism coming from Dugdale’s own family. I found this moment in the film greatly demonstrative of the social construct that being able-bodied is normal, and that having a disability renders one less capable. Even the family members of those with disabilities can possess this normative mindset. Instead of listening to his parents, Dugdalecontinues to actively take photos, even incorporating themes of blindness into his new series. For example, he photographed himself with a fellow blind and homosexual man, emphasizing sensations like touch and taste in the composition to represent how they now rely on other senses when navigating their daily lives. Instead of viewing his disability as an obstacle or tragedy, Dugdale embraced it. He makes the profound statement that, “until [I] was blind, I could never really see.” As researcher Alison Harnett says, “... it should not be assumed that it is the ultimate goal of a disabled person to be cured. The underlying message … of this logic is that disabled people can never be happy as they are and must change to be accepted …” (Harnett, 22). Dugdale insisted that learning to accept his blindness and continue his life normally brought him happiness and insight into his artwork. By continuing his photography with undying creativity, resilience, and passion, Dugdale’s story in this film contributes to the abolishment of ableist mindsets. As a member of the theatre’s audience, I now understand how people with disabilities should not be viewed as requiring a cure or change that suits them to society’s construct of able-bodied normalcy, but should be perceived as individuals who possess the same competence and potential as anyone else.

     To conclude, Rodney Evans earned my praise not only for his consistent intersectional perspective in his film Vision Portraits, but also for presenting various struggles with disability in such a creative, objective, and impactful manner. Evans uses his talent as a filmmaker to enlighten audiences about the reality of being a visually impaired member of society. Oppression against people with disabilities is a topic that is under-addressed in the worlds of pop culture and academia. By using real life stories and personal experiences in his documentary, Evans makes viewers aware of our tendency to categorize able-bodiedness as normalcy. Although Evans and the other blind artists featured in the film face challenges with their art, it does not mean they are abnormal or less talented; such a mindset would be ableist and discriminatory. I stand by my belief that Vision Portraits contains messages and themes of acceptance and intersectionality that have the ability to push society towards a future in which people with disabilities are not subjected to discrimination. 

(Word Count: 1096)

Works Cited:

Ahmed, Sarah. “Being in Question.” Living a Feminist Life, Duke University Press, 2017, pp. 115–134, doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822373377

Bauer, Greta R., “Incorporating intersectionality theory into population health research methodology: Challenges and the potential to advance health equity.” Social Science & Medicine, Science Direct, 2014, pp. 10-17, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.03.022

Harnett, Alison. “Escaping the Evil Avenger and the Supercrip: Images of Disability in Popular Television,” Irish Communication Review, 2007, Volume 8, Issue 1, Article 3. doi:10.21427/D7271M  

Hehir, Thomas. “Confronting Ableism.” Educational Leadership, 2014, Volume 64, pp. 8-14. https://www.learntechlib.org/p/99685/

Alves, Flavio. “The Garden Left Behind | Official Trailer HD.” Youtube, directed by Flavio Alves, 20 Nov. 2019, https://youtu.be/9u633bgbihU

Review of The Garden Left Behind by Isabella Galbraith

                        Film Review on The Garden Left Behind

       Flavio Alves' The Garden Left Behind tells the story of a young transgender woman from Mexico living illegally in New York City. Tina, the protagonist, lives with her grandmother, Eliana, who loves and worries for her. We witness Tina’s internal monologue and everyday struggles as a transgender woman who is also undocumented. Tina visits a psychologist, Dr. Cleary, who acts as her guide throughout the transition process. Tina spends her days as a cab driver making money to save up for her gender reassignment surgery. While Tina is struggling with these issues, she also has trouble with her relationships with others. As the film progresses, we see how her relationship with her boyfriend, Jason, is not healthy. Jason and Tina regularly have sex, but he refuses to let her meet his friends and family. While Tina is struggling to build her relationship, she becomes an advocate for the transgender community, with the help of her best friend, Carol. Tina and Carol witness a deadly beating happen to one of their transgender friends, which causes Tina to rise and take action as she is tired of all of the violence taking place within her community. This film allows us to follow Tina throughout her everyday life and showcases all of the anxiety and discrimination one faces in her position that cisgender individuals do not.

     The Garden Left Behind looks at the way gender intersects with the world around us on various issues. The grandmother, Eliana, loves Tina, but would continuously deadname her. She would misgender Tina by calling her “Antino,” which was hurtful and did not aline with her gender. The movie’s title, The Garden Left Behind, refers to the grandmother’s actual garden back in Mexico that she wishes she could visit. This longing for the garden I felt could also refer to her granddaughter, Tina, and her new gender identity. Although the grandmother is supportive, I think she sometimes wishes she could go back to when things were more comfortable for her and her granddaughter. It was easier back home in Mexico because the grandmother was not aware of Tina’s want to transition. It can be easier to follow along with what society expects of them and the societal norms instilled within their community. She holds onto Tina’s dead name, “Antino,” because it reminds her of Mexico and their past life. The grandmother grew up with “Antino,” so it is still difficult for her to process even though she loves her. Sometimes she misses the young boy and family memories they made back together in Mexico. However, at the end of the movie, Eliana finally refers to her as “Tina.” I liked the idea of this scene, and the grandmother is finally fully accepting Tina’s transgender status, but I felt like it was a bit tacky as it felt like the perfect Hallmark movie ending. There was much build-up surrounding this moment in the film, and I wanted a more powerful scene. On a positive note, I enjoyed how the film used actors and actresses of various cultural backgrounds and had transgender actors playing transgender characters. This film also highlights the dangers of toxic masculinity and gender roles. A young white man, Chris, works at the bodega that Tina often visits. In the opening scene, we see Chris with his friends shouting slurs at Tina from their car. Chris and his friends believe in heteronormativity and are aggressive toward those who do not fit their ideals. They follow hegemonic gender norms as, “Men are encouraged to be goal-oriented, inexpressive, dominant, competitive, analytical, and aggressive” (Wynn). Chris is a symbol of hate throughout the film, showcasing how dangerous toxic masculinity can be. I felt like the film did an excellent job using Chris as a symbol to show how damaging transphobia is. Another example of this is Tina’s boyfriend, Jason. Jason is ashamed of dating a transgender woman, as he is afraid of how the public will perceive him, which is an example of structural racism. Jason has no problem having sex with Tina, but when it comes to meeting his family and friends, he freezes up. I think Jason’s character was an excellent choice for the film as this is a reality many individuals face. Jason is too scared to follow what he wants because he is nervous about the general public’s reactions to him dating a transgender woman. Tina is seen throughout the movie wearing large clothes, as a way to hide from the world. She often wears dark-colored clothes to blend in. Tina does not get to express herself in clothes she likes because she is scared of getting harassed or worse by the public. Tina wants to be viewed as a woman, and therefore must ‘pass’ in public as one by cisgender individuals. I found that this film used intersectionality theory to show its audience to see how many social factors contribute to her discrimination. Tina is a transgender woman who is an immigrant, and this film examined how all of these factors negatively affected her daily life in a foreign country. Peter Kaufman breaks down the core concept of intersectionality by stating that, “Embracing an intersectional perspective requires that you be introspective and reflexive so that you are willing to see how your life is shaped by these various social factors” (Kaufman). Overall, I found The Garden Left Behind was a great film displaying many issues transgender individuals face that are generally not broadcast, as the media focuses on cisgendered ones instead.

Word Count: 923

                                           Works Cited

Kaufman, Peter. “Intersectionality for Beginners.” Everyday Sociology Blog, 2018, www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2018/04/intersectionality-for-beginners.html#more.

Wynn, Jonathan. “Masculinity So Fragile.” Everyday Sociology Blog, 2016, www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2016/03/masculinity-so-fragile.html.

Intro: How The Reelout Festival Reeled Us In.

The Reelout Film Festival, hosted at Kingston’s local independent theatre The Screening Room, exceeded all of our expectations and enlightened us in many ways. From the variety of films offered to the positive and inclusive atmosphere, this festival succeeded in raising awareness for queer representations. Not only were there excellent and diverse portrayals of queer individuals in the films, this same type of diversity was also reflected in the atmosphere of the festival itself.

This festival seemed less like a commercial endeavour and more like an appreciation of art and a celebration of sexual diversity. There were many aspects of the production that highlighted the independence of the theatre, such as acknowledging the land, thanking local sponsors, and having no trailers or advertisements before the film began. At a regular movie theatre, it feels as though it is a much less intimate setting. As soon as our tickets were checked, we were given colourful buttons and asked to give our feedback after the movie by voting with the buttons for different ratings. This allowed us to transcend our roles as mere audience members, and allowed our opinions to matter in a grander scheme.

We were surprised by how popular this independent festival was, as most of the films that we attended were sold out. The audience ranged from students our age to seniors, which showed how the themes and messages presented in these films are relevant to everyone. The staff members at the theatre and working for the festival greeted the guests with warmth and attentiveness, contributing to the overall engaging and inclusive atmosphere of the theatre space. It was made very clear throughout such aspects of our experience that the Reelout Festival is not put on with the sole intent to raise money. The profuse dedication put into creating a welcoming environment for all ages and genders emphasizes the festival’s amount of respect for their movie-goers. On top of this, it is very pleasing to see the themes of acceptance and understanding found within the festival’s movies being reciprocated in the theatre’s physical atmosphere and staff member behaviour.

“This film festival was an enlightening experience for me. I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did and I feel as though I learned a lot about international LGBTQ experiences.” - Katya

“Reelout was both a thoroughly enjoyable and profoundly eye-opening experience.” - Ella

“I enjoyed my experience at reelout, as it opened my eyes to various issues the LGBTQ community faces on the daily.” - Isabella

“The intimate setting of The Screening Room and the Reelout Festival surprised me in many ways as I felt like I was one with the audience. It was a new and different environment that really sold the experience for me.” - Makaila

- 462 words

Reelout. “Reelout 2020 Programming Announcement January 1, 2020.” Reelout, 11 Dec. 2019, www.reelout.com/2019/12/reelout-2020-programming-announcement-january-1-2020/.

Huot, Wendy. “Announcing the Fall 2015 Cinematica Classics Lineup: Lions, Italians and Orson Welles, Oh My!” SR_Header, 20 Oct. 2015, screeningroomkingston.com/cinematica/columns/cinema-news/announcing-the-fall-2015-cinematica-classics-lineup-lions-italians-and-orson-welles-oh-my/.

- Makaila 

OML. “Good Kisser - Trailer.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Oct. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=egKc-lfMAjU&feature=youtu.be.

“Resolutions, Black, Город.” pic2.Me, 27 Nov. 2018, pic2.me/wallpaper/239211.html.

Thompson. “Black Music Month: 36 Black Movie Soundtracks You Should Know.” Vibe, 12 Feb. 2020, www.vibe.com/photos/best-black-movie-soundtracks-list/love_basketball_soundtrack-1560735297.