Lights, Camera, Pride

Special guests, Orange Is the New Black star and transgender advocate Laverne Cox

TIFF and the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival celebrate World Pride with their joint summer program Bent Lens: Pride on Screen.

As lesbians, it’s been said that it’s in our nature to want to cuddle, oftentimes while watching a movie, and this year, two fantastic organizations are partnering up to bring you a LGBT film festival to rival them all. So turn out the lights, scoot close to your sweetheart, and get comfortable, the show’s about to begin.

It’s the summer of 2014, and it’s the LGBTQ community’s time to shine. Events are kicking off all over the U.S. and countries around the world; we lesbians can take our pick of the numerous locations and fantastic Pride events. Yet there’s one scene you really won’t want to miss this summer. On May 13th, TIFF and the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival announced their joint summer program Bent Lens: Pride on Screen, a Major Partner Event of WorldPride 2014.

TIFF is a charitable cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world through film. An international leader in film culture, TIFF projects include the annual Toronto International Film Festival in September. While Inside Out presents the annual Toronto LGBT Film Festival, with financial support from Presenting Sponsor, RBC Royal Bank. It is the largest event of its kind in Canada and entertains cinema buffs of all stripes, showcasing the best and most diverse films by, for and of interest to LGBT communities. The two organizations make a perfect team that is best suited for showcasing some of the LGBTQ community’s finest screen work.

Bent Lens: Pride on Screen explores the diversity of Canadian and international LGBTQ stories through the past, present and future of cinema.The program will include Queer Outlaw Cinema, a free gallery exhibition at TIFF Bell Lightbox, a number of retrospectives, series, special events, and free outdoor screenings, as well as an international roster of special guests—including Orange Is the New Black star and transgender advocate Laverne Cox, writer-director-performer John Cameron Mitchell and award-winning filmmaker Lee Daniels—all kicking-off on June 12.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of the first WorldPride celebration in North America, taking place right here in Toronto,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF.“As an organization with a long history of championing queer filmmakers, we are proud to take part in this international celebration of both the local and global LGBTQ communities, and the Inside Out LGBT Film

Festival is the perfect partner with which to do so.”

Inside Out is excited to partner with TIFF to highlight even more great LGBT film with Bent Lens: Pride on Screen, just three weeks after our annual Toronto LGBT Film Festival,” stated Inside Out Executive Director, Scott Ferguson. “Inside Out has a long and rewarding relationship with TIFF and we are proud to work with the preeminent cultural leader in the exhibition of film to present a diverse, informative and entertaining program of events.”

Bent Lens is an exceptional way to celebrate your pride while witnessing the growth and development of LGBTQ cinema. We’ve come a long way, and there’s still further to go, so why not take a trip to Toronto this year, make a sweet pit stop, and party like a movie star.

Tickets for the film programs and special eventsare on sale May 21 for TIFF and Inside Out members and May 28 for non-members. Admission to the exhibition is free.

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