MASSIMADI: Montreal’s Afro LGBTQ+ film festival goes digital with free film screenings, stand-up comedy, speed dating, and much more

MASSIMADI, Montreal’s Afro LGBTQ+ film festival, is going entirely digital for its 13th edition, offering its full programming slate on-line for free to viewers across Canada from February 12 – March 12, 2021.

Via the festival’s new online platform, viewers can check out an international selection of 7 features, 23 short films, and a Web series, broken down by themes including  Africa in Love, Exquisite Tenderness, Dream of the Stage, Quest for Elsewhere, Activist Rhythm, Wellbeing and Thriving, Queerness Today, and more.

Film highlights include Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story, a documentary about the beloved electronic trans musician who became an unexpected cult favourite, and Kapana, the first Namibian film to feature a love story between two men. Alongside the 2021 programming, selections from previous editions of the festival will also be available to screen via the online platform.

In addition to the film screenings, MASSIMADI programming includes a stand-up comedy show streamed via social media, roundtable discussions with the public, art-therapy workshops, Zoom speed dating for Black queer women, and more.

MASSIMADI runs from February 12 – March 12, 2021. Check out a selection of trailers for this year’s lineup below. The complete program and the viewing platform are available via the official MASSIMADI site.

HIGHLIGHTS

Kapana (60 minutes) | Director: Philippe Talavera
Fiction | Namibia, 2020

In Namibia, where homosexual relationships are still stigmatized, two young men who seem to have nothing in common meet in a bar and fall in love.

Kapana is the first Namibian film to feature a love story between two men. It’s also one of the rare LGBTQ romantic comedies produced and filmed on the African continent.

Limelight (12 minutes) | Director: Claire Gostin
Fiction | USA, 2020

In the political chaos of the Republic of Congo, two young women find comfort in one another.

Your Mother’s Comfort (75 minutes) | Director: Adam Golub
Documentary | Brazil, 2019

In a Brazil where inequality and danger are only increasing for the LGBTQ community, the passionate transgender rights activist and trans politician Indianara Siqueira fights to save the Casa Nem, where many have found refuge.

One Life to Blossom (OLTB) (55 minutes) | Director: Alexandrina André
Documentary | USA, 2020

Black trans artist and activist Blossom C. Brown overcomes racial and gender prejudice to accomplish her dream and become the woman she knows herself to be.

Kelet (56 minutes) | Director: Susani Mahadura
Documentary | Finland, 2020

Kelet, a young Somali trans woman, dreams of being on the cover of Vogue magazine. Rejected by her family, she finds a new one in the ballroom community of Helsinki and her friend Lola. But will being both black and trans be too much for the Finnish modeling world?

Monsieur (23 minutes) | Director: Thomas Ducastel
Fiction | France, 2019

Georgie dreams of the stage, Stan dreams of the silver screen. When Georgie learns that his idol will be at the “Monsieur Pas-de-Calais” competition, he asks Stan, who will be filming the event, to help him get in. Underlying tensions between the two friends are finally brought to light.

Keyboard Fantasies : The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story (63 minutes) | Director: Posy Dixon
Documentary | GB, 2019

While living as a lesbian before his transition, Glenn self-produced his 1986 electronic album Keyboard Fantasies to little public attention. Nearly 30 years later, a Japanese collector picks it up and the album becomes a cult favourite. At the age of 74, Glenn kicks off his first international tour!

EXHIBITIONISTS
February 4 – March 27
Data Thieves: What Our Archives Tell Us
Exhibition presented by Massimadi and Nigra Iuventa at Never Apart
Artists: Yannis Davy Guibinga (4 Feb) et Syrus Marcus Ware (11 Feb)

ZOOM IN ON ROUND TABLES

Friday, February 19 at 7 p.m.
Model and TRANSmission: The Knowledge and Talents of Black Trans Women
Round table in collaboration with CLAQ – Célébrons les Afro-Québécois.e.s
Panelists: Barbara & Christopher Marlot from the Idiosyncratic Kiki House of Elle Barbara + Backxwash
Moderator: Alicia Kazobinka

Tuesday, March 9 at 5 p.m.
Music as a Participatory Tool in Creating Inclusive Urban Spaces for Afro Queer Women
In collaboration with the Festival Afro Urbain.
Panelists: G L O W Z I, Mélissa Laveaux and Wutangu
Moderator: Aisha Vertus

Saturday February 27 at 1:30 p.m.
Imagining a World Without Oppression for African People and People of African Descent
Round table co-presented by Nigra Iuventa, following the exhibition “Data Thieves: What Our Archives Tell Us”.
Panelists: Yannis Davy Guibinga, Syrus Marcus Ware, nènè myriam konaté
Moderator: Omayra Issa

IN LAUGHING COLOUR

Sunday February 21, 5-7 p.m., live on social media
Comedy show with Brandon Ash-Mohammed, Clif Knight, Tamara Shevon, Daphney Joseph, Tahnee. (Other comedians to be confirmed).
Hosted by Naila Rabel

AFTER THE LAUGHS… SPEED DATING

Sunday February 21, on Zoom
Hosted by Naila Rabel, aka “La Grosse qui fait des vidéos“ and Alicia Kazobinka
A first for the festival and exclusively reserved for Black queer women.

FINDING WORDS FOR WHERE IT HURTS

Throughout February
“Remembering Who We Are”: art therapy workshops for queer, trans and non-binary individuals of African descent.
Hosted by Katleen (Kat Louis), therapist