New documentary explores iconic Edmonton dance club Flashback [Video]

Everybody who lived in Edmonton in the 1980s knew it was famous for two things: the mall and the Oilers.

What filmmaker and journalist Peter Hays explores in his documentary Flashback, which screens Saturday as part of the Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) is a third thing, namely a dance club that was a safe haven for queer people and their friends.

“We (Edmonton) had the world’s largest shopping mall,” said Hays, in an interview with CTV News. “We had the world’s best hockey team – and we had Flashback.

“And I would put them on the same level – and I know there’s some hockey fans who won’t be happy to hear that but the truth is – and I’m a hockey fan too – but the truth is, it changed the culture of Edmonton.”

The inspiration for Flashbackwas Hays’ younger brother Matthew, a journalist and author who teaches film in Montreal …