As part of the Oakville Film Festival's fall screening series, OFFA hosted two real-life friends this week - an acclaimed cartoonist and film director - for a special advance screening of the new Canadian comedy film Paying for It.
The special event is one of four listed one-night-only screening at Film.Ca Cinemas, hosted on Wednesday nights over the autumn, beginning in October and concluding next month.
For 2024, the series has been focused on Canadian women and the directorial works on the big screen - making Paying for It an excellent programming choice.
Based on Chester Brown’s 2011 graphic novel (titled Paying For It, A Graphic Novel About Being a John) the movie tells the real(-ish) story of author Brown and director Lee's relationship in the late 90s, as they dated, became roommates, and friends as they both navigated dating with unexpected results.
The film had its world premiere at TIFF in September, and was notably the only Canadian film selected to compete for the prestigous Platform prize. (The prize was awarded during the festival to Spanish and Swiss co-production They Will Be Dust).
"I remember seeing Paying for It at TIFF, and I loved it's mix of humour and the way it talks about sex work in such a positive way," said OFFA director Wendy Donnan to Oakville News, who programmed the film. "As soon as it finished, I knew we had to bring this movie to Oakville."
The film is planned for release in early 2025, meaning Oakville audiences were one of the first in the world to see the movie before it comes out in theatres next year.
After the screening, both Lee and Brown held a half-hour Q&A with the audience, and stayed for a book signing where anyone who purchased the book got it autographed by them both - and even got custom cartoons drawn.
This is one of four events being held this season by OFFA; the closing event will be Wednesday, Dec. 11 at Film.Ca with TIFF'S 2024 Best Canadian Feature Film Award winning Shepherds, directed by Sophie Deraspe.
The Sheridan College sponsored fall series has been presented for several years in Oakville, ans typically features new films on the festival circuit ahead of the traditional awards seasons in winter each year.