Four Canadian features and two series are among the 11 projects selected for this year’s Inside Out International Finance Forum (IFF).

The seventh edition of forum is taking place as a hybrid event on Nov. 17 and 18 in Toronto and, for the first time, includes episodic content in its lineup. It was originally set to take place during the 33rd edition of the Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ film festival in May, but was postponed due to WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

The IFF provides a platform to queer-led creative teams with 2SLGBTQ+ content, and an opportunity to pitch their projects directly to top Canadian and international executives and decision-makers. This year’s lineup of projects includes a total of eight narrative features, one feature documentary, and two series, all in various stages of development.

Both of the episodic series come from Canadians. Writer-director Julianna Notten’s That’s Just Super centres on a group of queer teens who gain superpowers when their biology project goes sideways. Bill Taylor and Michelle Mama are producers on the project.

Meanwhile, writer-director José Lourenço and James Lourenço’s The Confetti Show follows what happens after “a wildly gregarious queer younger brother allows his borderline agoraphobic older brother to move in with him.” Natalie Urquhart is attached as producer.

Among the Canadian film projects in the lineup is writer-director Gabe Gabriel’s Canada-South Africa copro Granny Lee, with Shant Joshi and Roelof Storm attached as producers. The film is set in Apartheid South Africa at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and is a story of deceit and revenge.

Writer-director Nick Citton’s Hal and Charlie 1963 is set in 1960s Vancouver and follows the story of two men who reunite 10 years after their brief affair near the end of the Korean War. Jason James is attached as producer on the project.

Lu Asfaha’s They Echo centres on a woman who returns to her childhood home to care for her dying mother, where she is confronted “by the ghosts of her family’s sins,” according to the release. Fonna Seidu is the producer.

Frieda Luk’s narrative feature debut Sacred Creatures is described as a “darkly comic exploration of faith and family.” The Canada-Italy copro is co-written by Luk and Chris Sanchez, who are also producers alongside Ines Eisses and Raha Shirazi.

Participants at this year’s IFF will have the opportunity to have one-on-one meetings in person and virtual meetings with executives from Bankside Films, Bell Media and Crave, Bleecker Street, CBC Films, CBC Gem, Feigco Entertainment, Elevation Pictures, Hot Sauce Productions, IFC Films, Killer Films, Mk2 Films, Neon, Photon Films, Protagonist, Studiocanal, Symbolic Exchange, and XYZ Films.

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