Short & Queer, my love: let’s pay a visit to the boundless possibilities of the queer world. One film at a time, let’s rethink the world through these works grounded in intimacy, love and struggle. With unabashed gentleness and a natural feel that’s both disarming and endearing,

Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail? exposes the nuances and complexities of life after top surgery. In Muse, a passionate choreography between alter and ego liberates a dancer from romantic betrayal. Ça va finir par finir invites us into the world of designer Gabriel Drolet-Maguire, who faces his HIV diagnosis head-on. The film takes a contemporary and hopeful look at activism in Quebec, while celebrating friendship and love in families of choice. Healing from a breakup, the young rapper in I Want to Violently Crash into the Windshield of Love struggles to get her flow back and turns toward a shaman friend for some unconventional healing. In The Eating of an Orange, a woman discovers a colourful new sexuality that defies the bland strictures of conformity. In the explosive Gender Reveal, Rhyes arrives at her employer’s very straight party in a throuple, while the searing You can’t get what you want but you can get me celebrates T4T love in a torrid encounter between transgender artists Samira Elagoz & Z Walsh. Featuring boundless and thoroughly unfettered creativity, this competition is an opportunity for the festival to reaffirm the importance of these voices at a time when powerful forces are pushing back against everything we thought had been won.

Vote for your favorite short film from the Short and Queer program in the Focus competition by filling out this form