Two Straight Girls at a Queer Fest

A journey from Montréal, Quebec to Durham, North Carolina, with a borrowed Jeep and a pop-up trailer. The travelers are Marie-Hélène Panisset, a film director, and Judith Baribeau, an actor who frequently works for her. These two have known each other a long time, but as Marie-Hélène, or Em, notes towards the end of the film, they haven't known each other very well.

The object of the trip is to attend a film festival in Durham, put on by the local LGBQT+ community. A short film of theirs is being shown.

In the over 800 miles of the trip, the two women learn much about themselves and each other. Confidences are shared, hopes and expectations are expressed, strangers are kind (!), possible future plans are floated and discarded (at least within the context of the movie), and they get to the venue on time. I felt a sense that each was trying to grow and achieve on their own terms. Em and Jay are finding humor, meaning, and sustenance for the dreams they carry, even if they haven't completely worked out how they'll make them materialize.

Good music (was that a bit of Bill Frisell I heard at one point?) not too obtrusive - good sound mixing. I wished there were subtitles, especially for the times when characters were speaking in Quebecois.