September’s edition will celebrate the 25th anniversary of In & Out, which was really the last gay rom com released by a Hollywood studio until this year’s dual comeback of Fire Island and Bros. It’s also the only movie to be (loosely) based on an Oscar speech… and more over went on to get an Oscar nomination itself (for queen Joan Cusack). It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 25 years to the day of this screening, so we figured this was the ideal time to revisit it (especially since Bros will be premiering at TIFF a few days before).

Written by wildly talented queer Paul Rudnick (who also wrote Sister Act, Jeffrey, and the true classic that is Addams Family Values in addition to a ton of plays and musicals) and directed by Frank Oz (who is straight, but he also directed Little Shop of Horrors and The Muppets Take Manhattan, so he gets a pass), In & Out is essentially inspired by Tom Hanks’s Oscar speech for Philadelphia. Or at least, by the mythology behind that speech. It was alleged that Hanks outed his high school drama teacher when he accepted his Oscar for playing a gay man dying from AIDS. This led to a New York Post headline that screamed "OUTED AT THE OSCARS!" But Hanks had actually contacted his teacher, Rawley Farnsworth, asking permission to disclose his sexuality. Farnworth agreed.

In & Out pretends Farnsworth did not agree, and follows high school English teacher Howard (Kevin Kline) who is outed by former student Cameron Drake (Matt Dillion) when he says Howard is gay while accepting an Oscar (for playing a gay soldier To Serve and Protect lol). Howard’s life unravels as a result, particularly with respect to his relationship to his fiance Emily (Cusack, giving us everything). Along for this ride is a truly iconic supporting cast, including Tom Selleck (as a budding male love interest for Howard), Bob Newhart, Debbie Reynolds, Wilford Brimley, Lauren Ambrose, June Squibb, Selma Blair, Debra Monk, J. Smith-Cameron and both Glenn Close and Whoopi Goldberg as themselves.

Is In & Out perfect? No, it is not. But it’s a well-intentioned, incredibly entertaining relic of a time in the mid-1990s when Hollywood decided it was ready to come out of the closet with a few big gay comedic films (this, The Birdcage, To Wong Foo), only to… go back in it for two and a half decades.

The event's incredible poster -- which will be available for sale at the screening - was created by artist Tim Singleton.

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