Vancouver Queer Film Festival Announces Lineup for 34th Event

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the Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF) has released its full lineup for the 11-day online and in-person film festival taking place August 11-21.

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Highlighting queer cinema from local and international artists, the festival features a program of 97 films from 20 countries.

East 34th film festivalpresented by the charity off-screenincludes in-person celebrations with local artists, post-screening Q&As with filmmakers, and industry and community workshops.

“In the early days of off-screenthe fact that 2SLGBTQIA+ people unapologetically took over the physical space and put our films on the big screen was revolutionary,” said CEO Brandon Yan.

“This year’s theme Make It Yours is not only an echo of the DIY spirit this festival was founded on, but also a roar for our collective future. Our shared experiences and collective dreams return to our screens, big and small, again in this year’s wonderful show. I hope you find something you need in these beautiful movies.”

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Kicking off the festival at the Opening Gala is the local premiere of Vancouver filmmaker Dave Rodden-Shortt’s documentary feature film, The Empress of Vancouver.

Described by VQFF organizers as “an ode to local drag icon Oliv Howe,” the opening film features Howe, who was crowned the 10th Empress of the Vancouver Dogwood Monarchist Society in 1981.

“In the ’80s, Oliv’s punk rock energy, gender-bending performances, and DIY glam aesthetic spoke of a political and artistic shift in Vancouver’s drag community. This proudly local documentary brings to light queer artistic histories and legacies that have never been seen before,” VQFF said in a statement.

The film will be available exclusively in person on opening night followed by a queer royalty themed party.

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The Coast Is Queer shorts show returns for its 25th anniversary and will be available in person and online. Other returning short film programs include: Obidian: Black Queer Cinema, subtitled AS I AM, and Two Spirit and Indigiqueer Cinema, which has expanded to two short film programs this year, A Brave and Tender Lineage and Sovereign Bodies.

This Festival will also feature the Canadian premiere of French coming-of-age drama Besties (Les Meilleures).

Other featured feature films include local documentary Emergence: Out of the Shadows about navigating queer identity in South Asian families; the groundbreaking Filipino drama Metamorphosis about intersex identity; the absurd and bizarre body-swapping comedy Homebody; the Youth Gala film Being Thunder about a Two Spirit teenager from the Narragansett tribe; the Afrofuturistic sci-fi musical Neptune Frost; and the Lebanese documentary Sirens about the first and only all-female Middle Eastern thrash metal band.

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VQFF’s closing feature is Dramarama, a comedy about a group of theater kids who graduate in 1994 and spend one last sleepover together.

In addition to in-person and video-on-demand screenings, VQFF will host its first in-person celebrations in three years, The Coast is Queer Opening Night Party and 25th Anniversary Celebration, and three workshops on the practice and queer arts community. -construction: Queer Collective: VQFF Programmers Talk; We Are Here We Are Queer, Let’s Activate; and Out in Schools: Beyond SOGI.

For details on ticket sales and the full Festival schedule, along with screening dates and times, visit queerfilmfestival.ca.