Festival Introduction

Recently, our group has attended the Reelout Film Festival in Kingston, Ontario. It is a Queer Film Festival, originally established in 1999 by Marney Mcdiarmid. The environment of this festival can be described in many words, but inclusive is the most prominent. During the screenings, there were people of all ages, gender, colour, sexuality, etc., which really emulated inclusivity. The group running Reelout Film Festival were all very friendly and seemed to be a very tight knit community. During ‘Zen in the Ice Rift’ the final movie screening in the festival, the leaders of the festival made a few speeches that really showed how much time and effort was put into this festival, some even cried. The amount of dedication put into creating this film festival was quite obvious by how smoothly it ran. Since this festival was held at an independent cinema theatre, the experience was much more personal and friendly, compared to attending a movie at a mainstream location. Feedback at the theatre was encouraged, which really showed that they wanted to know how the experience went for each individual, so they can work to make it better and more inclusive for all people. (Sarah)

It was a very comfortable space to be in everyone really felt accepted in the community. I was able to attend the festival with a couple of my buddies and they said things like “Wow this place is very diverse and is an extremely free and open environment” as well as “I wish the rest of the world was this inclusive, that way everyone would be getting along and have limited conflict” I can only say positive things about the festival because I didn’t have any negative experiences if I could have, I would have most defiantly gone again to see a different film. The film I saw was “Zen in the Ice Rift” which was a really great film that really encompassed everything the festival represented. It was a great experience! (Will)

The Reelout Film Festival provided a safe and diverse environment for students to watch and enjoy the multiple films that were playing. No matter which movie you viewed, the experience was a memorable one. The Festival was filled with nothing but love and positivity even through out the screening process. After screening “Zen in the Ice Rift”, leaders of the festival spoke to the audience which really demonstrated how dedicated everyone was to the Festival. While attending with friends, we got to dive deeper into and gain further knowledge of topics we haven’t always been familiar with. Overall, the Reelout Film Festival was a personal, diverse, and friendly experience that was very memorable for me. (Ashley)

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