Queer Cinema Club
Queer Cinema Club is more than a film series: it’s a mission to bring Toronto’s LGBTQ folks together in celebration of some of the best queer cinema ever made. Every month at Paradise, curator and host Peter Knegt offers queers (and anyone who loves them) a queer film classic (or future classic), special guests and performers, and some good old fashioned drinks and conversation in the Paradise’s lobby bar. Each film is paired with a different local queer artist, who designs an original poster for the screening.
In addition to running Queer Cinema Club, Peter Knegt makes (mostly queer) content for the CBC, including hosting the Canadian Screen Award-winning talk series Here & Queer. He got his start as a writer and editor for the film magazine Indiewire, and has also made half a dozen short films and written the book About Canada: Queer Rights.
Dog Day Afternoon: 50th Anniversary!
- Wed, Oct 15
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: Sidney Lumet Run Time: 125 min. Format: DCP Release Year: 1975
Starring: Al Pacino, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, James Broderick, John Cazale
Anything can happen during the dog days of summer. On August 22nd, 1972, everything did.
Cruising: 45th Anniversary!
- Wed, Oct 29
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: William Friedkin Run Time: 102 min. Format: DCP Release Year: 1980
Starring: Al Pacino, Don Scardino, Karen Allen, Paul Sorvino, Richard Cox
Al Pacino is Cruising for a killer.
Hellbent
- Thu, Oct 30
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: Paul Etheredge Run Time: 85 min. Release Year: 2005
Starring: Andrew Levitas, Bryan Kirkwood, Dylan Fergus, Hank Harris, Matt Phillips
When the night belongs to the Devil, the party goes to hell.
Desert Hearts: 40th Anniversary!
- Mon, Nov 10
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: Donna Deitch Run Time: 91 min. Format: DCP Release Year: 1985
Starring: Andra Akers, Audra Lindley, Gwen Welles, Helen Shaver, Patricia Charbonneau
In 1959, Vivian Bell came to Reno, Nevada for a quick divorce. Of all the people she met there, the one who surprised her the most was herself.
Safe: 30th Anniversary!
- Wed, Nov 19
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: Todd Haynes Run Time: 119 min. Release Year: 1995
Starring: Dean Norris, Julianne Moore, Julie Burgess, Ronnie Farer, Xander Berkeley
In the 21st century nobody will be… Safe.
Billy Elliot
- Wed, Dec 10
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: Stephen Daldry Run Time: 110 min. Release Year: 2000
Starring: Gary Lewis, Jamie Bell, Jamie Draven, Jean Heywood, Julie Walters
Inside every one of us is a special talent waiting to come out. The trick is finding it.