Canada's Oldest LGBT Film Fest Celebrates "Share Your Stories"

Montreal, QC - image+nation, the oldest LGBT film festival in Canada, is proud to celebrate its spirit of openness with this year's theme: "share your stories with the ones you love."

For its 24th edition, taking place this year from October 26 to November 6, the Festival encourages the LGBT community to bring along their loved ones; whether they be family, friends, work colleagues or fellow cinephiles. In this way, image+nation reminds us that the independent cinema that they have showcased for close to a quarter century offers up an enriching experience for everyone.

Also, in keeping with its tagline, this year's line-up will contain a vast display of films "to be shared". Here is a mouth-watering tease of the surprises to come!

Queer cinema proves to be a source of innovative films, and this year image+nation has once again drawn the works of many stellar Canadian filmmakers into its selection.

Underlining Canada's own cinematographic vitality, this year it's essential not to miss CLOUDBURST, the latest tour de force from director Thom Fitzgerald (THE HANGING GARDEN, 1997), starring the wonderful Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker as a mature lesbian couple on a Nova Scotia-bound road trip to get married; Tracy's D. Smith first feature film, EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE, a beautifully told story of love, laughter, loss, and everything in between set in B.C.; and closer to home, LA FILLE DE MONTR�AL by Jeanne Cr�peau, which shares with us the everyday life of a 50-year-old lesbian forced to leave the apartment she has been living in the past twenty years.

Faithful to its tradition, image+nation also takes us around the world with a wide range of international award-winning works. Among the stopovers to share with your loved ones this year, the not-to-be-missed TOMBOY, by French director C�line Sciamma (WATER LILIES, 2007), a magnificent chronicle of childhood, identity and gender; THE GUIDE (O XENAGOS), by Greek director Zacharias Mavroeidis, drawing the progress of a young adult towards self-acceptance; FOUR MORE YEARS, by Swedish filmmaker Tova Magnusson-Norling, an intelligent, complex and very funny reflection on gay issues in the political world; as well as CIRCUMSTANCE, by Iranian director Maryam Keshavarz, a 2011 Sundance hit dealing with the subject of freedom of expression and homosexuality in an intolerant society.

From the UK, two cinematographic adaptations of classics of gay literature will also offer a chance to travel to the past. Based on the fourth novel by Sarah Waters, THE NIGHT WATCH, directed by Richard Laxton, brings us back in London, in the 40s, where the lives of gays and lesbians cross through the harsh experiences of war.

Inspired by the tragic autobiography of Christopher Isherwood (THE BERLIN STORIES, CABARET) on fascism, decadence and despair in the Weimar Republic, CHRISTOPHER AND HIS KIND, by Geoffrey Sax, takes us through the tribulations of a writer in a turbulent time.

Any edition of image+nation would be incomplete without a series of documentaries and the 24th edition includes a compelling collection of works that report the current state of the world. Among the titles which will certainly arouse a lot of interest, American director Stu Maddox's GEN SILENT will open our eyes on the problems and challenges of the elderly LGBT; I AM, by Sonali Gulati, an inspiring reflection on the challenges and victories of gays and the lesbians in contemporary India; WISH ME AWAY, by Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf, a powerful yet touching portrait of Chely Wright, the first country music star to come out in the less than tolerant Nashville scene with it's cultural and religious stereotypes; and Logan Mucha's EAST BLOC LOVE that tracks LGBT activists from Romania to Poland, Latvia to Estonia and their fights for equality and visibility in the hostile Eastern Bloc.

In addition to a full roster of contemporary titles, image + nation this year pays tribute to a gay icon who passed away in 2011. CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958) and REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE (1967) will be projected on the big screen in honour of the prolific Hollywood star, Elizabeth Taylor.

Finally, to its loyal audience that never miss an edition, image+nation once again promises many unforgettable images and remarkable cinematic discoveries.

And by the time the festivities start, everyone is invited to share the details of its programming with others. It is your life, share it! �

The 24th edition will take place from October 26 to November 6, 2011
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