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DARE TO SPEAK Now in its 28th year, The Vancouver Queer Film Festival — the largest queer arts event in Western Canada and the city’s second largest cinematic celebration — recently wrapped. Steered by festival programmer Shana Myra and newly appointed executive director Stephanie Goodwin, the gathering screened 68 films from more than 20 countries over 11 days, illuminating the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and two-spirited people.
In the festival’s early years, creating a cultural celebration around queer film was a bold act of love. This year’s festival paid tribute to those pioneers and activists, screening films noted for pushing the envelope and gay culture into the mainstream. One such film screened 25 years ago was Madonna’s Truth or Dare, a controversial documentary chronicling the Material Girl’s relationship with her seven talented, self-assured, mainly gay dancers on her Blonde Ambition tour; a junket which scandalized the world with its heady displays of sex and religion.
The six surviving dancers from that tour open up in a new documentary Strike A Pose, a film that revisits the voguing peacocks a quarter-century later. Two of the dancers, Jose (Xtravaganza) Gutierez and Kevin Stea, were on hand for the Vancouver premiere, part of the festival’s Centrepiece Gala at the Vancouver Playhouse. Despite the ‘Express Yourself’ mantra of its time — onstage and in Truth or Dare — it seems more than half the squad was living in fear and silence. Directed by
Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, Strike a Pose finally gives these bruised men their voice.
TOP TABLE Award-winning executive chef James Walt had his no-rain record at his Araxi Longtable Dinner end as severe winds and a popup shower washed away tents, tablecloths and placecards. Undeterred, the party continued as Walt, along with restaurant director Neil Henderson, wine director Samantha Rahn and a crew of 70, soldiered on to cater the biggest dinner to date and the single largest longtable in B.C. history. Making their way up the Sea to Sky corridor for the celebration of local flavours, 400 guests — shelling out $160 per ticket — patiently waited out the storm to enjoy the farm-to-table feast staged at Jordan Sturdy’s picturesque North Arm Farm in Pemberton.
Attendees were rewarded handsomely. First was a spectacular multi-course, family-style dinner showcasing the best of the season, with many of the ingredients harvested on-site as well as from nearby fields, pastures, and waters. Secondly, to the delight of foodies, Walt debuted his latest cookbook Araxi: Roots to Shoots, Farm Fresh Recipes. The much-anticipated follow up to his James Beard-nominated first book, the 232-page offering printed by Figure 1 Publishing features many favourite longtable recipes, including Walt’s signature assorted tomato salad, crispy squash blossoms and grilled beef tenderloin, as well as Araxi classics. Right: Australian food and wine scribe Sarah Berry, left, and Tourism Whistler’s Tania Sear raise a glass to the celebration of local flavours at the largest longtable dinner in B.C. history.
LIFE AFTER GAMES Olympians such as Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and Simone Biles — as well as our own Canadian heroes like Andre De Grasse, Penny Oleksiak and Christine Sinclair — will most certainly have bright and lucrative futures following their impressive results at the Rio Games; a life that will definitely include more endorsements, appearances and tributes. For others — the majority of athletes — the transition from the spotlight and competitive sport to the real world away from the limelight can be a difficult and often challenging one. After years of training for that Olympic moment — that podium finish or personal best — what’s next?
An unfamiliar name to most, Port Moody’s Krista Guloien addresses that very question in her new book Beyond the Finish: What Happens When the Endorphins Fade. An elite rower Guloien participated in two Olympics, reaching the podium in 2012, earning a silver medal in the Canadian women’s eights crew. Guloien’s debut book chronicles her personal journey, unmasking the challenges that ensued. From finding a new passion and career post-sport to opening up about body image issues, her candid tell-all offers an insight into the mind of a professional athlete’s sometime difficult transition to a life post-Games.
Joined by fellow Olympians Richard Hortness, Darcy Marquardt and Brent Hayden, Guloien recently launched her book at a reception in Yaletown. From left, Olympians Brent Hayden, Darcy Marquardt and Richard Hortness are on hand for Krista Guloien’s book launch at Brix & Mortar in Yaletown.