Vancouver Queer Film Festival Announces Entire Program for 2025 & Attendee's For The Festival

{This post is from two press releases from Pender PR, so there may be more than one mention of artists attending, etc.}

Vancouver, BC– The Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF) has announced the entire lineup for their 37th annual edition, which will take place in person September 11-21, 2025, and online September 22-28, 2025. The program features 100 films from 25 countries centering 2SLGBTQIA+ creators and stories, including 12 world premieres, 6 international premieres, 7 North American premieres, and 21 Canadian premieres across 26 features and 74 short films. The Festival will also feature parties, performances, post-screening Q&A's with filmmakers and special guests, and an exciting new slate of industry events. 

Mary Galloway

Led by new Artistic Director Mary Galloway, the Festival will kick off with the Opening Presentation: Then. Now. Forever, an electrifying collection of 7 short films from across 2SLGBTQIA+ communities that celebrate queer past, present, and futures.

“Stories are medicine,” says Galloway. “This year’s program honours our past and makes space for the queer and trans voices rising now. It’s about who we are, how we got here, and where we are going.”

This year signals a pivotal shift in leadership with Galloway, a Cowichan filmmaker, at the helm as the festival’s first Indigenous and Indigiqueer Artistic Director. Under Galloway’s direction, VQFF shifts to an Indigenized vision that highlights Two Spirit and Indigiqueer stories and artists. The 2025 Festival artwork is designed by Vancouver-based Cowichan artist Charlene Johnny, blending traditional Coast Salish art with contemporary queer and Indigenous symbolism. Galloway introduces the new Matriarch of the Year Award (MOTY Award) honouring an Indigiqueer or Two Spirit (2S) Matriarchal leader in the film and television industry across Turtle Island who has made a significant impact on Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ storytelling with a $5,000 cash prize. VQFF also proudly presents the hometown premiere of the Indigenous feature-length musical drama STARWALKER directed by Corey Payette, about an Indigiqueer Two Spirit call boy finding family and identity through drag. VQFF’s commitments to uplifting and championing Indigenous stories and voices are woven throughout the festival experience, which takes place on the unceded, ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

Still from Just Kids

This year’s Centrepiece Presentation: JUST KIDS is a timely and powerful documentary about three families living in states that have banned gender-affirming care. Directed by documentarian and journalist Gianna Toboni and featuring Jacklyn Toboni (The L Word: Generation Q), JUST KIDS exposes the inhumane politicization of trans healthcare and its devastating impacts on trans youth and their families.

still from A Place Where I Belong

This year’s program includes 4 feature film world premieres: local documentary A PLACE WHERE I BELONG about a group of people fighting for queer disabled rights directed by Rheanna Toy; queer Muslim filmmaker and actor Pantah Mosleh’s (Eternity) deeply personal documentary PRIDE & PRAYER; sapphic French drama AMANTES directed by Caroline Fournier; and of LA filmmaker Maritza Navarro’s ANOTHER TAKE which exposes a broken film industry. Eight short films will also world premiere, including two films in annual local shorts program The Coast is Queer: Lauren Marsden’s THE PALACE and Ana AJ Jimenez’s JEEZ LOUISE. 

still from Four Mothers

The Festival’s Closing Presentation: FOUR MOTHERS from Darren Thornton, is a heartwarming and moving Irish comedy and the Winner of the Audience Award at the BFI London Film Festival, about a gay novelist who is saddled with the care of his friends’ eccentric, strong-willed mothers over Pride weekend.

Vico Ortiz

Actor and activist Vico Ortiz (Our Flag Means Death, The Sex Lives of College Girls) will be in attendance throughout the festival, moderating several post-screening Q&A's with filmmakers and special guests, as well as performing as their drag king persona. Other familiar faces in this year’s programme include Elliot Page and Laverne Cox in documentary HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY about trans civil rights attorney Chase Strangio’s fight for gender-affirming care at the Supreme Court; Lea DeLaria (Orange Is the New Black) in feature drama OUTERLANDS and the short OLD DYKES; Asia Kate Dillon (Billions, Orange Is the New Black) in OUTERLANDS; comedians Murray Hill, James Tom, Roz Hernandez and others in WE ARE PAT; comedian Vic Michaelis (Dropout TV) in the opening narrative short DANDELION; and beloved local stars including artist Phranc and business owner Burcu in their respective short documentaries PHRANC: THE BUTCH CLOSET and BURCU’S ANGELS.

This year’s Festival boasts an array of exciting new Industry programs and initiatives, including the inaugural VQFF Pitch Competition, which is accepting applicants now until August 17, 2025. Special guests from the hit sapphic horror show Yellowjackets will feature in the panel “Eat You(r Heart) Out: Queer Horror with Yellowjackets”. VQFF will also offer 1:1 Industry Speed-Dating; panels with major Canadian film funding bodies (“Funding Your Project”) and Canada’s largest networks, broadcasters, and streaming platforms (“Selling Your Project”); and several industry networking socials. VQFF is once again offering a limited number of free all-access industry passes to equity-deserving and emerging 2SLGBTQIA+ filmmakers and students, as well as free ticketing for self-identified Indigenous folks.

VQFF has once again partnered with the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (September 4-14, 2025) to co-present a queer Latine shorts program (“Through Our Kaleidoscope”) and the Opening Weekend Party: Fuego Fogo on September 13, 2025. VQFF is also bringing back The Future is Queer: Youth Programs co-presented by our sibling program Out In Schools and The Cinematheque, which includes two days of FREE youth programs and school-group screenings aimed at increasing young people’s access to transformative 2SLGBTQIA+ stories.

The 2025 Festival programme was curated by Artistic Director Mary Galloway; programmers Cole Forrest, Kathleen Mullen, Layla Cameron, and Syriah Bailey; VQFF Program Coordinator Maiya Dexel. The Future is Queer: Youth Programs at VQFF was curated with additional support from outgoing Education Director Gavin K Somers, Out In Schools Program Manager Danny Lybbert, and Chelsea Birk (Learning and Outreach Director at The Cinematheque).

Browse the full programme: www.queerfilmfestival.ca & full program guide with all films here. 

All individual tickets are sliding scale from $7-$21.

Passes and tickets are on sale now. Festival Pass is available at $100 (accessible pricing) or $195 (regular price). Select films will be available to stream online within BC.

Digital Pass is $100

                        ==================================================================================

Filmmakers and Special Guests in Attendance:

Actor and multi-disciplinary artist Vico Ortiz (Our Flag Means Death, Sex Lives of College Girls) will be in attendance throughout as the Festival’s “Hosting Hottie Festival Darling”, hosting, moderating Q&As, and performing in their drag king persona. Other notable names in attendance include actor Lea Delaria (Orange is the New Black) for the world premiere of the short film OLD DYKES, alongside director-writer Ezra Rose; and actor Johnny Wu (Joy Ride) with director Jason Sakaki for the BC Premiere of short RAMEN BOYS.

Local directors in attendance with feature films include: director-writer Panta Mosleh (Eternity, TIFF 2025) with the world premiere of PRIDE & PRAYER, a deeply personal documentary on Mosleh’s queerness and Muslim faith; filmmaker Rheanna Toy with the world premiere of documentary A PLACE WHERE I BELONG that follows people with intellectual disabilities connecting with each other and the broader queer community; and Anishnaabe filmmaker and theatre artist Corey Payette with the hometown premiere of musical-drama STARWALKER.

Additional local directors in attendance with world premiere short films include: director and winner of the 2023 Gerry Brunet Memorial Award for Best BC Short, Lauren Marsden (THE PALACE); Ana AJ Jimenez (JEEZ LOUISE); Eva Grant (FOREST ECHOES); also screening are local filmmakers King Louie Palomo (QUEEN MOTHER (INANG REYNA); Rosie Choo Pidcock (SORRY FOR YOUR COST); Charlene R Moore (CONFLUENCE); Jess McLeod (DTF?); and Jackie Hoffart (The Reveal).

International artists in attendance include: Emmy-award-winning American producer Samantha Wender and documentary editor Sasha Perry of this year’s Centrepiece Presentation: JUST KIDS; German directors Isis Rampf and Juan Bermudez (WHERE YOU FIND ME (OBEN OHNE)); American documentary filmmaker Courtney Hermann (OUTLIERS AND OUTLAWS); Emmy-nominated filmmaker Jota Mun (BETWEEN GOODBYES). Special guest Debra K Madsen will be in attendance for the screening and Q&A of ROW OF LIFE about her late wife, Paralympian medalist Angela Madsen’s fatal attempt to row unassisted from Los Angeles to Hawai’i.

Awards Jurors:

The jurors for the Narrative Change Award are actor and model Rain Dove and Toronto-based festival programmer Lu Linares (Inside Out Film Festival). This award comes with a $5,000 cash prize and honours a Canadian or International feature film that uses the power of cultural strategy to overturn outdated narratives, inspire change, and expand the audience’s perception of 2SLGBTQIA+ identities.

The jurors for the Gerry Brunet Memorial Award for Best British Columbia Short are three celebrated, award-winning local queer filmmakers: Jason Karman (Golden Delicious), Kent Donguines (This Ink Runs Deep,  Kalinga (Care)), and Brianne Nord-Stewart (The Dangers of Online Dating).

The newly introduced Matriarch of the Year (MOTY) Award will be selected from nominations by a committee of Indigiqueer filmmakers, including Artistic Director Mary Galloway, Tristin Greyeyes, and Olivia Brooks.

These three juried awards will be announced and presented at the Opening Presentation: Then. Now. Forever. on the evening of September 11, 2025, and are generously supported by Pender PR, Directors Guild of Canada - BC, Keslow Camera, and Cinelease. Additional Audience Choice Awards will be selected by audience vote and announced after the Festival.

Industry Panelists & Pitch Competition Finalists:

Funding Your Project panelists include representatives from major Canadian funding bodies: Mathew Parry (Creative BC), Shirley Vercruysse (National Film Board), Janine Steele (Canada Media Fund), Meghna Haldar (Telefilm), Christina Willings (Telus Storyhive), and Georgina Chaplin (Telus Storyhive). Selling Your Project panelists include the co-founders of queer streaming platform Revry TV: CEO and producer Damian Pelliccione and Chief Content Officer Christopher J. Rodriguez; and Cole Vandale, Métis filmmaker and executive of Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN).

The five finalist projects for the inaugural VQFF Pitch Competition are as follows. Each team will pitch their projects to a live audience and the judges, which include award-winning Indigenous (Cree-Métis) director and screenwriter Asia Youngman, and Co-founder & Chief Content Officer for Revry TV Christopher J. Rodriguez. The winning project and team will receive a prize package supported by Lark Productions, K & K Casting, Crack Compass Media, as well as mentorship opportunities and a public screening as an official selection of a future VQFF.

Pretty Boy$ (Peihwen J. Tai, Hannah Yang, Ronald Lee) - short film

Logline: In the glittering but suffocating world of a K-pop-inspired boy band, two closeted idols in their late 20s struggle between desire and survival when they fall for each other, forcing them to confront the exploitative machinery of the industry and their need for freedom.

Astronomical Bodies (Melanie Jones, Kristyn Stilling) - short film

Logline: Nonbinary passenger Petra is adrift in an escape pod with no propulsion capabilities. As time passes and ship rations start to run out, Petra must convince the onboard AI to ignore its programming in order to die peacefully.

Orpheus (Helen Shen, Xintong Hong) - short film

Logline: Orpheus is an experimental sci-fi surrounding a young physicist in a future world, embarking on a journey to bring her late wife back from death through cross-dimensional travel.

Vigil (Lora Campbell) - proof of concept for a feature film

Logline: Vigil is an intimate, naturalistic short film exploring grief, chosen family, and the painful transition into orphanhood as a transgender child estranged from bio fam.

Aking Parol (My Lantern) (King Louie Palomo, Paean "Yap" Sabangan) - short film

Logline: In 1994, in a close-knit Filipino-Canadian community, a young boy's painstakingly crafted Christmas parol transforms from a beacon of welcome into a ritual of release when the father he awaits fails, once again, to return home.

Performers:

Two Indigenous ensembles, the Indigenous women musical ensemble M’Girl and the award-winning all-Indigenous burlesque troupe Virago Nation Burlesque, will kick off the Opening night program with live performances at the Vancouver Playhouse on Thursday, September 11th.

Canada’s Drag Race S4 star and legendary local Two-Spirit drag queen Jaylene Tyme will perform alongside fellow drag artists Whore-ia Estefan and Amanda Peters at the world premiere of A PLACE WHERE I BELONG on Sunday, September 14th, the latter–who goes by Peter out of drag–is also a subject of the film.

The Opening Weekend Party: FUEGO/FOGO at The Birdhouse on Saturday, September 13th, co-presented with the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival will feature performances from Vico Ortiz, Salseo Queer Dance, additional drag and vogueing performances, and DJ sets from DJ Millie Wissar and DJ Sopresa. The Closing Weekend Party at the Birdhouse on Saturday, September 20th will feature a live music performance from Tahltan and Tlingit musician Edzi’u, drag performances from Velvet Ryder and Vico Ortiz, and DJ sets from DJ O Show and Binky. Ortiz will also be hosting.\

-