OPENING NIGHT GALA

THURSDAY MAY 14 8:00PM | BLOOR CINEMA

Patrik, Age 1.5

Patrik, Age 1.5 deftly balances humour and drama in a heartwarming story that shines as brightly as the midnight sun of endless Scandinavian summers. Goran and Sven are a happily married couple who have traded in their chic lifestyle in the city for a more family-friendly house in the picturesque suburbs of Stockholm. Some of their village neighbours are downright hostile, others just do their best to ignore them. But the happy couple barely notice. They are too focused on the one thing that will make their domestic bliss complete - a baby.

The pair finally manages to traverse the endless bureaucratic roadblocks in their dream of adopting a child but a tiny typo produces tremendous consequences. A decimal point is misplaced in the agency's records and, instead of one-and-a half-year-old Patrik, Goran and Sven end up with fifteen-year-old Patrik, a homophobe with a criminal past. Patrik drives a wedge between the happy couple. Sven doesn't want the little delinquent in their house and grows increasingly distant, fearing that Patrik's homophobia could turn violent. Goran, on other hand, rises to the challenge, agreeing to take Patrik in until the agency finds an acceptable home for the teen. This proves too much for Sven and he leaves Goran.

Over time, Patrik's demeanour softens as he starts working in Goran's garden, and he demonstrates a natural talent that attracts the attention of the neighbours on the street. Goran revels in the newfound closeness with his teenage ward, but Sven's absence leaves a hole in his life.

Full of witty perceptions on suburban life, Director Ella Lemhagen handles the material with an immaculate eye for detail and a sly visual humour. The result is a thought-provoking film that wisely toys with audience's assumptions and revels in finding humour in unexpected situations and humanity everywhere, even in the most unlikely people.

Swedish with English subtitles

Preceded by:

The Island

Trevor Anderson
Canada 2008 Video 6 min

The filmmaker considers, with the help of animation, a piece of fan mail he received.

This program is rated pg

Join us for the Opening Gala Party at the beautiful Bata Shoe Museum.

CENTREPIECE GALA

TUESDAY MAY 19 9:30PM | ISABEL BADER THEATRE

Baby Love (Comme les autres)

After smashing box office records in France, Baby Love (Comme les autres) crosses the ocean to delight Toronto audiences. This first fiction feature by documentary filmmaker Vincent Garenq is a comedy of manners that doesn't shy away from hard-hitting drama. Manu (Lambert Wilson), a paediatrician in his forties, and Philippe (Pascal Elbé), a lawyer, are a picture-perfect couple except for one tiny detail: Emmanuel desperately wants a child but Philippe is against it. Manu tries to adopt behind Philippe's back but the scheme backfires when social services discover that he's not heterosexual. Enter Fina (Pila López de Ayala), a South American beauty in whose face Emmanuel can see the child he so desperately wants. She agrees to be his baby's surrogate mother in exchange for a marriage of convenience but, of course, such arrangements are rarely simple. A lively and stirring portrait of one man's relentless quest to become a dad against all odds, this smash hit romantic comedy-drama is a moving exploration of today's France where gay adoptions remain illegal while same-sex unions are readily sanctioned. Featuring a stellar cast that includes a radiant Lambert Wilson, this is a crowd-pleaser from start to finish.

French with English Subtitles
Toronto Premiere

Join us at the Centerpiece Gala pre-screening reception when you purchase a screening and reception ticket.

WOMEN'S SPOTLIGHT

FRIDAY MAY 22 9:45PM | ISABEL BADER THEATRE

The Baby Formula

Athena (Angela Vint) and Lilith (Megan Fahlenbock) are two lesbians who just want to have a kid...their own biological kid. It sounds impossible, but their dream becomes a reality when the lab where Angela works discovers a way to create sperm using a woman's stem cells.

Athena becomes pregnant using Lilith's sperm, but Lilith also wants to have a child, so she has the lab whip up a batch of Angela's sperm and impregnates herself. Suddenly, two moody pregnant dykes have to somehow tell their crazy families that they're both expecting-and that no penises were harmed during the making of their babies.

The supporting cast is uniformly strong, providing an emotional punch and many laughs, especially veteran actress Rosemary Dunsmore, who recently won an ACTRA Toronto Award for her portrayal of Athena's religious, homophobic mother, Wanda.

The Baby Formula is based on stunt coordinator-turned-director Alison Reid's short film Succubus (Inside Out, 2006). Reid capitalized on the pregnancies of her lead actors and started production early. As a result this smart, sometimes outrageous mockumentary benefits from the stars' real-life conditions. In fact, Vint went into labour while rehearsing the scene in which her character, Athena, goes into labour.

Toronto Premiere
Director in attendance

Preceded by:

Benni Has 2 Mothers

The story unfolds as the South African Civil Union Act, allowing same-sex couples to marry, is passed into law. Benni must contend with his schoolmates' reaction to the news of his mothers' impending marriage.

This program is rated 14a

CLOSING GALA

SUNDAY MAY 24 7:30PM | BLOOR CINEMA

The Fish Child (El niño pez)

One year after Lucía Puenzo closed Inside Out with her breathtaking first film XXY, she proves that her directorial debut was no fluke. The Fish Child balances nail-biting thrills and steamy lesbian romance with visually stunning, dream-like cinematography.

Puenzo introduces us to Lala (XXY's Ines Efron in another riveting performance), a teenager from the most exclusive suburban neighborhood in Argentina. Lala is in love with Ailin (Mariela Vitale), her family's twenty-year-old Paraguayan maid. The couple dream of running away together to live on the shores of Lake Ypoá, where Ailin grew up, so they rob every purse and wallet in the house and hide the money in a shoebox.

Ailin, however, is a seductive force to everyone, including Lala's father, a controversial judge whose affairs are mixed up with a corrupt police chief. Things go horribly wrong when the judge dies suddenly, just at the moment when Lala and Ailin are ready to make their getaway. Lala escapes to Paraguay, while Ailin is accused of killing the judge and sent to prison.

Puenzo's tale, based on her novel, follows Lala as she discovers some harrowing truths about Ailin's youth and determines to free her lover so they can fulfill their dream. Revenge, risk, sex and violence weave a plot that finds the women running away from a world they condemn but from which they cannot escape.

Spanish with English Subtitles
Canadian Premiere

Join us for the Closing Gala party with a special Inside Out edition of Funkasia at Revival.