All posts filed under: Film

Moonlight: Why Intersectional Representation Matters

If you’re late to the party, Moonlight is a talented film directed by Barry Jenkins based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. It has received a lot of buzz since its release in late 2016, and even more so since it won Best Motion Picture at the 74th Golden Globe Awards recently, the first all black cast, queer film to do so. The soundtrack is orchestral, not something most would expect if they’re about to watch a film set in a ghetto of poverty, violence, and an inescapable drug culture. The film was shot in a unique way with a very shallow depth of field making it feel unnerving, vulnerable, and personal. This is because director Barry Jenkins is taking you on an extremely tender and genuine coming-of-age queer journey, portrayed through the main character Chiron. This film doesn’t cheapen itself by following a predictable narrative. The queer characters did not die in the film because they were queer. They were not used as a prop for the dangers of STIs or …

Movie Review – Deep Water: The Real Story

Deep Water: The Real Story is a documentary film about the gay hate crimes that plagued Sydney in the 1980s and 1990s. The hatred towards gay people and the incompetency of the NSW Police Force in this time is more than uncovered in what is an eye opening documentation of the high level of homophobia that existed in Sydney less than 30 years ago.   It’s not often that the suffering of LGBTI people takes the forefront of Australian media. However, this documentary and the crime series drama of the same name are currently making sure it does. For the first time ever, the unsolved deaths from 30 potential gay hate crimes (of 80 total, as well as thousands of assaults) are being re-examined and exposed, each in more detail than the NSW Police Force ever committed to. The NSW Police Force have admitted they may have made serious mistakes while re-examining these cases, though unfortunately never made an appearance in the documentary, not through lack of trying from the filmmakers. To set some context; …

Jodie Foster's Golden Globe Speech

Jodie Foster’s sexuality is a trending topic after her recent Golden Globe coming out speech. Her sexuality has been assumed for years, though on Sunday January 13 when accepting her Cecil B. De Mille Award at the 70th Golden Globe Awards, it was confirmed. “So while I’m here being all confessional and I guess I just have a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never really been able to air in public, so a declaration that I’m a little nervous about,” said Foster “I’m just going to put it out there, right? Loud and proud, right? So I’m going to need your support on this. I am single. I hope that you’re not disappointed that there won’t be a big coming out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family, co workers and then gradually, proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met.” She …

Wednesday’s ‘Where Are They Now’ Post – Brett Barsky

Brett Barsky is an actor most well known for his role as Trevor in the 1994 short film ‘Trevor’. The film follows this young, closeted boy who dreams of nothing more than to be fabulous in a time when being ‘out and proud’ was not the reality it is today for a lot of people. If the title of this film rings a bell to you then here is probably why. The movie inspired what we now know today as the Trevor Project; a suicide prevention hotline for at risk LGBTQ youths in the United States. The creators of the film were astounded that when preparing to air the movie, there were no suicide prevention hotlines available to youths who might have been facing similar suicidal feelings as Trevor. And so, in 1998, The Trevor Project was born. Barsky has been in some productions since his break including ‘The Jurer’ (1996), Boys Life 2 (1997) and ‘Daria: Is it College Yet’ (2000). However there’s no doubt that his role as Trevor back in 1994 was …

Jason Leaver Talks Out With Dad

By Stephanie Lane Though I’ve never met Toronto Director Jason Leaver, he was more than happy to talk with me about his web series ‘Out With Dad’. In his words it’s a quirky drama about a teenage girl and her single father, at a time when Rose is coming of age and coming out of the closet. Sound interesting? Well I thought it did, which explains why I’ve watched both seasons two or three times over already. Here Leaver talks about how the show came about, his busy schedule and the importance of LGBTQ media on the web. Check it Out. You’re a corporate video producer, you have a number of personal projects past and present and a number of awards. How do you fit the time in to do all the work you do? What’s your schedule like, it must be pretty crazy by the sounds of it? Life gets pretty crazy! I do my absolute best to juggle it all. However, it’s getting more and more challenging all the time. Last fall, for instance, I got …

Bully – A Documentary with an R Rating

I think it’s safe to say everyone has experienced bullying in one way or another. Whether you were being bullied, you were the bully or you were someone on the sidelines.  In the past and even in present times we’ve seen this being attributed to maturity, child’s play or that ‘boys will be boys’ sentiment, but why? Is it really ok for a kid/s to taunt, tease and bully another kid simply because of their age or their maturity level? And what about the effects of bullying? Does the name Tyler Clementi sound familiar to you? What about Seth Walsh or Rafael Morelos? The list could go on and on, and it’s a list of teens who have committed suicide because of bullying. The idea that bullying is just a part of life has to be stopped. It shouldn’t be the deaths of our youths that work as a wake up to us all. We should all be doing something before it gets to this stage. I was watching a clip from the Ellen Degeneres …