COURTESY OF EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALFESTIVAL BEAT
EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The Edmonton
International Film Festival
was where we were fortunate
enough to have the North
American premiere of “The
Gender Line,” a documentary
short about transgender rock
star Cidny Bullens. As soon as
we stepped off the elevator,
we were treated like royalty
by EIFF board members,
programmers, and staff. “We
love your film,” they toldus. “And we just know our
audiences will too!” EIFF is an
Oscar-qualifying film festival,
so I have to admit I was a
little nervous and intimidated.
On the first evening, we
were invited to a dinner with
the filmmakers of the Opening
Night film. It was such a warm
and wonderful dinner that we
didn’t want to leave. At the
afterparty we bonded with
many filmmakers from all overCanada and the world. Staff
and volunteers made it a point
to introduce filmmakers to
one another, and demonstrat-
ed their intimate knowledge of
our films in the process.
Our program was scheduled
the following afternoon, and I
know this sounds absurd, but
by the time our film screened,
it felt like we were in a large
theater with nothing but
family and friends. We were all64 SPRING 2020 MOVIEMAKER.COM
rooting for each other’s films.
“The Gender Line” was last
in our program and when the
lights came on, Cidny Bullens
was standing there with his
guitar and he sang a ballad to
the other moviemakers and the
wonderful team from EIFF. His
song was “Healing the Break,”
which spoke to the healing
power of personal narratives. I
believe the entire theater was
in tears. I know I was.