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How do you like to feel at the end of a film-going experience: afraid, titillated or fired up? Or would you rather feel inspired, or reeling from a journey that brought you to edge of sadness and back again? However you want to feel when end credits roll, the 29th edition of the (Aug. 10-20) has something for you.
It鈥檚 difficult to make a wrong choice at VQFF, but if you need some suggestions, we鈥檝e got you covered:
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B&B
(Joe Ahearne, United Kingdom)
In this queer spin on the British murder mystery genre, newly married husbands return to a bed-and-breakfast in a rural town after a court battle with the establishment鈥檚 homophobic owner and end up entangled in a whodunit. Aug. 11
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Signature Move
(Jennifer Reeder, USA)
A stand-out comedy at this year's SXSW, Signature Move stars co-writer Fawzia Mirza as Zaynab, a queer (and semi-closeted) second generation Pakistani woman in Chicago. When Zaynab meets Alma, an out Chicana woman, Zaynab must literally grapple with her choices in life and love - and a few tough women wrestlers, too. Aug. 12
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Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall
(Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA)
Cameras roll as wildly talented YouTube and Broadway star Todrick Hall launches his most ambitious project yet: the full-scale original musical Straight Outta Oz. Part tour chronicle and part biography, director Fairfax delivers a moving coming-of-age story at the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality. Aug. 12 & 13
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Small Talk (Ri Chang Dui Hua)
(Hui-chen Huang, Taiwan)
Winner of Best Documentary at the 2017 Berlinale, Small Talk follows the director as she attempts to understand her mother (who divorced her violent husband, brought up her daughters alone, became a Taoist priestess, and had many relationships with women) through a series of gripping conversations. Aug. 13
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FREE CeCe!
(Jac Gares, USA)
In June 2011, Chrishaun Ree 鈥淐eCe鈥� McDonald was brutally attacked. While defending her life, her attacker was killed, and CeCe was incarcerated in a Minnesota men鈥檚 prison. An international campaign to free CeCe garnered support from media and trans activists, including Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox, who subsequently executive produced this film about CeCe鈥檚 trial and life as an activist and educator. Aug. 16 & 18
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Taxi Stories
(Doris Yeung, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Netherlands)
Billed as one of the most ambitious and nuanced films in the fest (largely due to the fact that it was filmed in three different countries), Taxi Stories tells the stories of a closeted cab driver in Beijing, a trophy wife and her Indonesian maid in Hong Kong, and a young pedi-cab driver in Jakarta. Aug. 17
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The Coast is Queer
This packed program of locally produced short films is an annual highlight of VQFF, with its can鈥檛-miss selection of documentary and narrative shorts that provide some insight into issues of interest for 麻豆传媒映画filmmakers. This year鈥檚 Coast is Queer includes Jason Karman鈥檚 hockey-themed drama, Lions in Waiting; health researcher Britney Dennison鈥檚 healing-centered documentary, Still Here; Do I Have Boobs Now? from Joella Cabalu and Milena Salazar; Limina from Joshua M Ferguson and Florian Halbedi; and more. Aug. 18
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195 Lewis
(Chanelle Aponte Pearson, USA)
Race, queerness, and polyamory are investigated with honesty and affection in this award-winning web series turned film festival hit from Chanelle Aponte Pearson, who set out to represent Bed-Stuy as she sees it: Black, queer, and home to the activists and artists that make the Brooklyn neighbourhood vibrant and unique. Aug. 19
鈥� Full schedule at听.
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