By John Corrado

The 2023 edition of the Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival starts tonight, and runs until June 4th, with a mix of in-person screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto and some online viewing options. I will be publishing reviews throughout the festival, and below is a preview of some films I’m looking forward to, as well as a few highlights of ones I’ve already seen at other festivals.

The festival kicks off this evening with the Opening Night Gala screening of romantic drama Passages (dir. Ira Sachs), which is making its Canadian premiere after debuting at Sundance in January, and stars Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw and Adèle Exarchopoulos in a love triangle of sorts. I’m pretty excited for it. The Closing Gala on June 4th is the world premiere of musical Glitter & Doom (dir. Tom Gustafson), with the Toronto documentary Supporting Our Selves (dir. Lulu Wei) premiering as the festival’s Centrepiece Gala on May 30th.

The Canadian flick I Used to Be Funny (dir. Ally Pankiw), which stars Shiva Baby’s Rachel Sennott, is also having its hometown premiere after playing at SXSW in March. Some other highlights from the programme include AIDS documentary Commitment to Life (dir. Jeffrey Schwarz); the Spanish coming of age drama 20,000 Species of Bees (dir. Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren), which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival; the New York drama Mutt (dir. Vuk Lungulov-Klotz), which drew positive reactions out of Sundance; and the UK period piece Blue Jean (dir. Georgia Oakley), which premiered at Venice last year.

Inside Out is also screening a few favourites from other Toronto festivals, including the empowering documentary Is There Anybody Out There? (dir. Ella Glendining), which is fresh off a showing at Hot Docs where it was one of my favourites of the festival. It’s got a relaxed screening on Saturday, and I would highly recommend it. The very good Canadian drama Something You Said Last Night (dir. Luis De Filippis) is also playing again in the city after premiering at TIFF last year.

The schedule also includes a 20th anniversary screening of Richard Linklater’s childhood favourite School of Rock on June 2nd, with special guest Rivkah Reyes (who played Katie) in attendance, which should be a fun night.

More information on tickets and showtimes can be found on the festival’s website right here.