Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF), returns to screens from August 10-20.
Presented by Out On Screen, the 2023 Festival features in-person and BC province-wide digital screenings, in addition to performances by 2SLGBTQIA+ local artists, post-screening Q&As with filmmakers, industry workshops, and encore screenings of the festival favourites on August 20.
This year, VQFF’s lineup exclusively showcases films by 2SLGBTQIA+ storytellers. “Our programming team used authentic and positive representation as our north star,” said Charlie Hidalgo, Artistic Director, Out On Screen. “The media we consume shapes the cultural narrative about our communities and profoundly influences our emotional, political, and social landscapes. We embraced stories celebrating our freedom, joy and expansiveness, and are proud to present an empowering lineup that is a testament to the extraordinary visions of 2SLGBTQIA+ creators.”
Embracing the essence of solidarity within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, in a festival first, VQFF’s Opening Presentation: Stronger Together will feature six remarkable short films celebrating the community’s rich and multifaceted experiences. Following the films, the Vancouver Playhouse will host the first party of the festival with DJs, performers, a dance floor and more – which will be FREE to attend with tickets to the Opening Presentation screening.
VQFF’s Closing Presentation will be the British Columbia Premiere of director Ian Gabriel’s RUNS IN THE FAMILY (South Africa). A love letter to trans and drag communities, the film is a real-life family collaboration by Ian Gabriel and his son Gabe, who wrote and stars in the film. The Closing Night Party will be hosted at the Vancouver Playhouse post-screening, FREE to those with tickets to the Closing Presentation.
“We are honoured and thrilled to have been invited to close VQFF this year. RUNS IN THE FAMILY is, first and foremost, a gift of hope, love, family support, and self-celebration for the queers, so closing a proudly queer festival far across the globe from where this story originates means the world to us. It proves that our family, our community, our reach is expansive, and we hope for our quirky, heartfelt father-trans son drag road trip story to wrap its arms around everyone who sees any part of themselves in it,” says Gabe Gabriel, writer/star, RUNS IN THE FAMILY.
The 2023 Centrepiece Presentation will be the Canadian Premiere of director Sharon “Rocky” Roggio’s astonishing documentary 1946: THE MISTRANSLATION THAT SHIFTED CULTURE (USA), which won the 2022 Audience Award at DOC NYC and quickly became the most-viewed film in the festival’s history.
Throughout the 10-day festival, audiences can catch 92 films from 27 countries, with 24 features, 68 shorts, 10 World Premieres, 10 North American/International Premieres and 31 Canadian Premieres among the selections.
The 2023 Festival programme has been curated by VQFF Artistic Director Charlie Hidalgo; Festival Programmers Sarah-Tai Black and Rico Johnson-Sinclair; 2023 VQFF Programming Disruptor Fellowship recipients Eva Grant, Jasmine “Audder” Monton, and Romi Kim, made possible through the generous support of Telefilm Canada, Warner Bros Discovery Access Canada and The British Columbia Arts Council; and Guest Programmer Simone Ling.
The Vancouver Queer Film Festival runs August 10-20, 2023 at various venues. For ticketing details, including sliding scale pricing beginning at just $5, the complete Festival lineup, screening dates and times, visit www.queerfilmfestival.ca.