50+ Films to be Featured
Vancouver Queer Film Festival takes place August 10-20. Curated by Artistic Directors Amber Dawn and Anoushka Ratnarajah, the VQFF will feature 7 National Premieres, 19 local directors, and local performing artists.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing audiences and artists together for once in a lifetime connections at our Festival,” said Artistic Directors Anoushka Ratnarajah and Amber Dawn. “The caliber of talent and diverse perspectives of our visiting and local filmmakers are sure to challenge and delight our highly intelligent and invested audiences. We look forward to the time we will share together.”
The VQFF opens with the 2017 Sundance Award-winning film, I Dream in Another Language. Following the screening is the Festival’s Opening Gala Party, which takes place under the stars at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza.
New York based filmmaker Jac Gares, who directed this year’s Centrepiece Gala Film, will hold an in-person talk-back. Free CeCE!, and was co-produced with Laverne Cox and confronts the epidemic of violence against trans women of colour, and uplifts the story of CeCe McDonald.
Meet the Filmmakers: Vancouver Queer Film Festival
The VQFF will be hosting a number of writers and directors including Doris Yeung, writer, director, and executive producer of Taxi Stories. Taxi Stories was filmed in three countries and features a mostly non-actor cast. Philippines filmmaker Samantha Lee, whose film, Maybe Tomorrow, won the Audience Choice Aware at the Cinema One Originals Festival in Manila, and New York City poet and author, t’ai freedom ford, whose work is featured in The Revival: Women and the World.
Canadian talent includes Pakistani-Canadian film and television actress, writer and producer Fawzia Mirza, for the screening of Signature Move. Francic Luta, post screening discussion for the film Project Gelb, and Steen Star, whose documentary Older than What?, tells the story of twelve queer and trans elders responding to ten questions about aging, visibility, and social change.
Friday August 18, The York Theatre will be the location for The Coast is Queer, and evening dedicated to local talent and will feature 9 short films from some of British Columbia’s emerging and established filmmakers.
Vivek Shraya, filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and author will spend time during opening weekend featuring a breath of work from her diverse portfolio.
Tickets and full details can be found at www.queerfilmfestival.ca/tickets.
