Arts & Culture
Reel Pride International Film Festival celebrates 40th anniversary
Canada’s oldest 2SLGBTQ+ film festival is officially open for its 40th anniversary season in Winnipeg, and they are pulling out all the stops with nine feature-length presentations, a short film celebration, special screenings and more. Long before he was an organizer, Greg Klassen was attending the Reel Pride Film Festival in its early years and finding meaning and community in them as a gay man from a rural Manitoba. “There was no other place to access films that were about my life,” he elaborates, “and so, the theatres were packed and people were coming out because they wanted to see their lives represented.” .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Even though representation of 2SLGBTQ+ culture has made its way into the mainstream in the years since, Klassen notes that the festival still has an essential role to play. “I still think it’s really important that we gather because people obviously need safe spaces,” he says. “It’s a way to partake in community that doesn’t often happen in the queer community because we tend to congregate to bars or to other places to meet after dark. This is a place to say, ‘Hey, I want to talk to you. I want to know who you are.’” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Human Rights Hub (@hrhubwpg) Among the films being screened at this year’s festival is the latest Elliot Page film Close to You (the first the award-winning actor has created since his transition) to a film Klassen highly recommends called Some Nights I Feel Like Walking out of the Philippines. Klassen says these films are chosen by Reel Pride to represent a wide range of experiences and cultures, but also to capture the intergenerational dialogues across queer communities and perspectives. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Reel Pride Film Festival (@reelpridewpg) Klassen notes that gatherings like Reel Pride are more important than ever in a climate where 2SLGBTQ+ discrimination is on the rise both abroad and here in Manitoba, most recently in Steinbach where pride celebrations were cancelled due to threats of violence against participants. “I think it’s a safe space for queer people to come and gather and tell stories of hope and courage and tenderness and sometimes pain,” Klassen says, “but it’s the whole gamut of experience. And I think a lot of these films [would] never be seen in Winnipeg if it weren’t for this festival.” “I believe in storytelling. I believe in the power of storytelling to transcend and to make us be more empathetic to other people and to understand people’s experiences that aren’t our own.” The 40th Reel Pride International Film Festival runs until September 21 at venues across Winnipeg. A full lineup with screening times and venue locations can be found at the festival’s website. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Reel Pride Film Festival (@reelpridewpg)