All in the family

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This article was published 24/09/2024 (678 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In 1979, the American vocal group Sister Sledge released the smash disco hit We Are Family. The song became a gay anthem, a celebration of chosen family.

Fittingly, We Are Family is the theme of the 2024 Reel Pride International Film Festival, which kicks off tonight and runs through Sept. 28.

“The idea of family transcending biological connections — found family, invented family — isn’t a uniquely gay concept but it’s something that queer people really struggle with and work with throughout our lives,” says Greg Klassen, the festival’s marketing director. “We surround ourselves with people who feel like family and were in many cases rejected by our biological families so we have to find new family.

“Sometimes those relationships that we have with people who aren’t our literal family really do help us become who we’re supposed to be.”

This year’s slate of feature films — nine in total, from all over the world — tell a wide cross-section of stories, from a nine-year-old boy who dreams of becoming Miss France in Miss to an old couple struggling with a new chapter in their 35-year relationship in Turtles. (The festival also has a short-film program Wednesday night.)

Arguably, no film captures the festival’s theme better than All Shall Be Well, an affecting feature from Hong Kong director Ray Yeung.

Angie and Pat are a well-off lesbian couple in their mid-60s who have lived together for three decades. But when Pat unexpectedly dies and her biological family starts arguing with Angie about Pat’s final wishes, Angie must turn to her chosen family.

“This film needs to be seen by more people than just queer people, because it really is a tangible way to see what gay people go through,” Klassen says.

The inclusion of multi-generational perspectives in the festival’s lineup is important, he says.

“Let’s face it, queer culture, more than almost any, is obsessed with youth, and one of the things I like about this festival is that we’ve tried to broaden the range of voices. I think there’s a real power in telling stories to everybody from a senior perspective, from an older perspective, because these lives have been lived and people have learned things.”

Now in its 39th year, Reel Pride is Canada’s oldest LGBTTQ+ film festival in Canada. The fact that it’s still around is a testament to the fact that it still needs to be around, Klassen says.

It’s vital that queer stories and perspectives are shared on the big screen, especially in today’s political climate when the LGBTTQ+ community has increasingly been the target of hate, violence and discrimination campaigns.

“I think the festival specifically is attempting to build community and to create a safe space for interchange of ideas and emotions and all the things that film brings to the surface,” Klassen says.

While the advent of streaming has made it easier to access queer indie films, the community-building piece comes from being part of an audience.

“Yes, we’re sitting in a dark room watching a film together, but I think we experience the emotions through other people because of that, and we feel closer to the group that we’re sitting with,” Klassen says.

“And I think it’s just incredibly important for us to feel like we belong to something larger than ourselves.”

jen.zoratti@winnipegfreepress.com