QUEER CINEMA CLUB
Animation by Paul Twa
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 the Paradise Theatre, curator and host Peter Knegt will be offering queers (and anyone who loves them) a classic queer film, 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 (which will be available for purchase the night of the event).
Up next…
It’s almost that time again! The night of nights, the show of shows, the film lover’s Super Bowl… and once again, we are celebrating them in style at the Paradise. Yes, the Academy Awards are back for their 98th edition, and we know exactly where you should watch them.
On the evening of March 15th, Paradise Theatre is going to be throwing our fourth annual Oscar viewing party – and you are cordially invited to join us. Hosted by Peter Knegt, this Oscar party is going to have everything: drinks, food, incredible prizes, a best dressed contest, a good old fashioned Oscar prediction pool, and of course, a live screening of the awards themselves up on the big screen where they belong.
The Oscars start at 7 PM, but the doors to the Paradise will open at 5 PM. Come early and fill our your predictions ballot, get yourself a few small beers, watch the red carpet and show off your own look.
The best dressed contest will be judged at 6:15pm, and the category once again is: your fashion interpretation of the nominated films. This beautiful poster by Paul Twa might give you some ideas, whether it’s serving us Marty Supreme or One Battle After Another or Sinners or Weapons or even Sentimental Value (last year we had several people come in incredibly inventive costumes based on The Brutalist, so creativity is key!). We invite you to take this as literally or non-literally as you’d like. Just have fun with it… though also please avoid offensive cultural appropriation!
Tickets on sale now at paradiseonbloor.com. Get em quick because all 3 of our previous Oscar nights have completely sold out, and with good reason: it’s the best time! (NOTE: It is currently sold out, but tickets may become available! Follow our Instagram stories for updates).
And then…
Get your cha cha heels ready! Because we are finally showing the absolute mayhem that is John Waters’s Female Trouble!! And the occasion couldn’t be more apt: not only is April 22nd the 4th anniversary of Queer Cinema Club and our 69th (!) screening, but it’s also John’s 80th birthday!!
So join us at the Paradise to celebrate the Pope of Trash himself with a screening of what is arguably his magnum opus. Starring Waters muse Divine as the iconic Dawn Davenport (in what John has called the very best showcase of Divine’s talents), Female Trouble is a hilariously sordid pseudomelodrama that skewers everything from fame and beauty standards to abortion and capital punishment.
Made in 1974 for just $25,000, we cannot think of a better way for us to both turn 4 years old and raise a glass to John turning 80 than showing this masterstroke of trash. And by inviting the wild talents of Allysin Chaynes on stage to give us all a little John Waters drag tribute before the movie. There also will be a John Waters lookalike contest with some really perfect prizes judged before the show (although we are sorry: none of those prizes are cha cha heels). So save that date!
Thank you so much Keight MacLean for this gorgeous poster, which will be available for purchase at Paradise before and after the movie. Tickets now available here.