Vancouver Queer Film Festival

The Vancouver Queer Film Festival celebrates the best in independent queer cinema and facilitates a unique community space through a variety of performances, panels and workshops, running August 15 to 25, 2019.

The 11-day festival is the largest queer arts event in Western Canada and the second-largest film festival in Vancouver, with more than 100 films from 27 countries!

Vancouver Queer Film Festival

• When: August 15 to 25, 2019
• Where: Various venues: Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas, SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, the York Theatre, VIFF Vancity Theatre, and the Vancouver Playhouse
• Tickets: Available online

Out On Screen is excited to host the Opening Gala of the Vancouver Queer Film Festival on Thursday, August 15. One of the most sought after invitations of the Summer, the Opening Gala film at the Vancouver Playhouse will be followed by a party outdoors on the šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn (Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza) on the corner of Georgia and Hamilton Street.

“The biggest highlight in the Queer calendar is our Opening Gala’s A Night At The Opera,” said Out On Screen Executive Director, Stephanie Goodwin. “Dress in your opera best for a stunningly beautiful film and then party the night away with 500 of your best friends.”

There will be several international and local artists, performers, and filmmakers attending the VQFF, such as: Phillip Pike, director of Our Dance of Revolution (Canada), a remarkable chronicle and celebration of Toronto’s Black queer community history; and director Flavio Alves and lead actressCarlie Guevara for the feature film, The Garden Left Behind (USA), which follows Tina, a young Mexican trans woman living in New York, as she navigates an upcoming medical transition while struggling to survive as undocumented immigrant.  

There are also many free events to enjoy at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival: The archival film Toni, Randi and Marie (Canada), directed by Ron Hallis, and a unique cinéma-vérité trilogy about the everyday lives of the eponymous female impersonator cabaret star, trans hustler, and female sex worker; in the Queer the CBC Workshop, the VQFF and CBC will host a discussion panel on the role of a national broadcaster in the creation and dissemination of LGBT2Q+ content–learn how to get your content noticed by a major television network. A full list of all free events can be found on the Queer Film Festival website.

Out On Screen is a charitable organization that illuminates, celebrates and advances queer lives through film, education and dialogue. The Vancouver Queer Film Festival creates a dynamic platform for queer cinema that reflects a diversity of experiences while connecting and strengthening our communities. The award-winning Out In Schools anti-bullying program brings age-appropriate queer cinema into secondary school classrooms to combat homophobia and transphobia.

For more information follow the Vancouver Queer Film Festival on Twitter and Facebook.