Inside Out is a not-for-profit registered charity that exists to challenge attitudes and change lives through the promotion, production and exhibition of film and video by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people of all ages, races and abilities. Our initiatives include:
In In 1991, Inside Out celebrated its first film and video festival with a small community of people who yearned to see film and video created by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people. Currently the largest event of its kind in Canada and in its 20th anniversary year, the Festival entertains film buffs of all stripes, showcasing the best and most diverse work that is of interest to LGBT communities. Over 11 days, the Festival draws crowds of 32,000 to screenings, artist talks, panel discussions, installations and parties that highlight more than 250 films and videos from Canada and around the world.
In 1998, with the support of Charles Street Video, Inside Out initiated the Queer Youth Digital Video Project to provide opportunities for youth to learn video production in a supportive atmosphere. Queer youth under the age of 25 are mentored through the process of making their first videos-from storyboarding and shooting to post-production and editing. The works are screened at the Festival and many go on to play at festivals around the globe. Each year, the videos are compiled on dvd and distributed free to schools and community organizations. To date, over 70 youths have created work through the Project. In 2008 after the Project celebrated its 10th anniversary, a special compilation of the Queer Youth Digital Video Project was presented in Barcelona, Spain.
Inaugurated in 2002, this annual $5,000 cash scholarship assists a Canadian student who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans who wishes to pursue post-secondary studies in the field of film or video. The first Scholarship was awarded in September 2002 to Adam Garnet Jones from Vancouver. Subsequent recipients include Mary Fogarty, Christopher Sanchez, Jung Kim, Cam Matamoros and Jo Simalaya Alcampo. Inside Out is pleased to announce Rachel Smyth as the 2008 recipient of this scholarship. Rachel is enrolled in the Motion Picture Production Diploma Program at Capilano University in North Vancouver, BC.
Gifts to the Inside Out Arts Endowment Fund are an investment in the future of Inside Out. To ensure that Inside Out maintains the highest standards of artistic excellence, a strong endowment provides stable financial support for generations to come.
The Inside Out Arts Endowment Fund was established in December 2001 through the Ontario Arts Foundation because of a generous founding gift of $200,000 from Mark Bonham, and is currently valued at close to $300,000.
The Inside Out funds are held in perpetuity with the interest derived from these investments providing guaranteed income to Inside Out year after year. With this sustainable funding, Inside Out will be consistently able to support emerging and young filmmakers while screening some of the best and most provocative LGBT work from Canada and around the world.
One of Inside Out's major goals is to complete an archive that will house copies of every film and video screened at the Festival over its rich nineteen-year history.
Financial support from the Trillium Foundation, the Pride and Remembrance Association, Canadian Heritage, Compass, and Mark S. Bonham have allowed Inside Out to organize our
current holdings and make our works available to curators, programmers, students and academics for in-house viewing.
Inside Out is continually acquiring missing work for the
collection, and has begun to make this important collection more readily accessible.