Surrey, BC—City of Surrey Cultural Services have a number of programs taking place during June for Pride Month. These free online performances and initiatives are to help people staying home to connect with the arts and commemorate Pride month.
JUNE 2020–Through its Cultural Services programs, the City of Surrey is pleased to present a number of initiatives for Pride Month.
Heritage Surrey is celebrating Pride Month on social media by highlighting recent Surrey LGBTQ+ additions to its archival and artifact collections. Watch for a new post each week that shares stories of Surrey’s LGBTQ+ community.
The June edition of Selections from Collections at Museum of Surrey has a Pride focus as well. The monthly exhibit, spotlighting unique objects in Surrey’s Heritage Collection, currently features a pin, commissioned by the Surrey Pride
Society, to celebrate 50 years since certain same-sex acts were decriminalized in Canada. More on Surrey’s Pride can be found at the Museum’s online Weekly Feature as part of their #MuseumFromHome initiative during the temporary closure.
Standing on the Line Movie Poster
On June 26, at 8pm, tune in for Surrey Civic Theatres first Pride Movie Night. This event is part of SCT’s newly launched Digital Stage, a recent initiative to support local and Canadian performances that audiences can enjoy from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
This free online event will feature two movie shorts, Beauty and I Am Skylar as well as the feature film, Standing on the Line, all of which are produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Written and directed by Nova Scotian filmmaker, Paul Émile d’Entremont,
Standing on the Line tackles the stigma of being gay in sports. Through a series of touching personal stories, the documentary explores the difficulty and impact of coming out in this competitive world whether it’s in the context of elite sports or among student athletes. Specifically, the documentary showcases the lives of student athletes at L’Odyssée, a school in Moncton, New Brunswick, that promotes diversity and inclusion.
The movie also features candid interviews with Canadian professional athletes who identify as gay, lesbian, or queer, including Olympic speed skater Anastasia Bucsis, who first came out to her family and friends after the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. When she headed to Sochi 2014 in Russia, Bucsis came out publicly, making her the only openly gay North American Olympian at the time.
The movie has been shown at several film festivals across Canada, included being selected for Vancouver’s 2019 Doxa Festival. He is thrilled that Standing on the Line is a part of Surrey Civic Theatres’ Online Pride Movie Night.
“I’m honoured Surrey Civic Theatres has chosen my documentary as the feature film, particularly as I am a new resident of the province, so to have my film presented like this, I’m so happy, because it makes me feel a part of things, and I’ve found the people of BC to be so welcoming. I love living here.”
All three films are presented with the kind permission of the National Film Board of Canada and can be seen on June 26 at 8pm on the Pride Movie Night Event Page
Follow @HeritageSurrey and @MuseumOfSurrey on Facebook or Instagram to learn more about the important objects featured.
Follow @SurreyCivicTheatres On Facebook or @SurreyArtsCtre on Twitter to learn more about the upcoming Pride Movie Night.
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