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…
We are very excited to announce that on February 9th, Queer Cinema Club will be teaming up with our friends at Photon Films to host the Toronto premiere of *the* queer film of the new year: Harry Lighton’s Pillion!
Essentially the gay BDSM rom com (dom com?) of our dreams, Pillion follows a timid man (Harry Melling) who is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker (Alexander Skarsgård) takes him on as his submissive. Funny and sexy and surprisingly tender, we are so excited to offer you the opportunity to be the first public audience in this city to see this incredibly special film.
So save the date: Monday, February 9th, with the screening starting at 6pm sharp (doors open at 5:30 and try to arrive by 5:45 please). QCC curator Peter Knegt will be hosting the festivities, and tickets are available here. They will likely go fast, but if you miss out or aren’t in Toronto (or want to see it a second time, which you will!), don’t worry: Photon Films will be releasing the film in Canadian cinemas on February 13th.
And then…
🔪❤️🔥 Mark your calendars: Queer Cinema Club After Dark returns for a second edition on February 12th with a screening of Yann Gonzalez’s Knife+Heart.
Set in the gay porn scene of late-70s Paris, Knife+Heartfollows producer Anne (Vanessa Paradis), heartbroken after being left by her girlfriend, who finds herself at the centre of a mysterious murder spree when a masked maniac begins killing off her performers one by one – with an extremely on-theme weapon. Horny, violent, and tragic in equal measure, Knife+Heart is a deliciously queer spin on the giallo subgenre.
One night only at @paradiseonbloor, Feb 12 at 9pm, with an introduction by series curator Kevin Greenspan (who also made the poster!). Tickets available here.
And then…
It really doesn’t get better than The Birdcage, and we’ve been saving it for a time when it felt like we realllly needed the boundless joy it has on offer. And the middle of this doomy winter of 2026 feels like it might be that time? So let us pierce that toast together a month from tomorrow when we finally show Mike Nichols’ ridiculously entertaining ode to coming as you are!
Released 30 years ago this winter (on March 8, 1996, to be exact), The Birdcage, stars one of the greatest casts ever assembled (Robin! Nathan! Dianne! Gene! Hank! Christine! Calista?) and marks the very first cinematic collaboration between director Nichols and screenwriter Elaine May, who were a legendary comedy duo in the 50s and 60s.
All of this added up to absolute gay Miami magic, and audiences agreed: it grossed a stunning $185 million, making it by far the highest grossing LGBTQ-themed movie of all-time (a record it held for over 20 years… until a great tragedy occurred and it was beat by Bohemian Rhapsody 🤮).
One of the most quotable, re-watchable and all-around delightful movies we’ve ever been gifted, we are truly so, so excited to screen it at @paradiseonbloor this February 18th. And we’re just as excited to both have Polterguy offer up a Birdcage drag tribute before the show, and for Tim Singleton to have designed this gorgeous poster that will be for sale in the lobby before the show. Get your tickets! 🦩🦩🦩