Vancouver Queer Film Festival Announces 2017 Lineup

The Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF) released today its complete lineup for the 11-day celebration, taking place August 10-20. Curated by Artistic Directors Amber Dawn and Anoushka Ratnarajah, more than 50 films will be featured at the 29th annual Festival, along with 7 visiting filmmakers/directors, 19 local directors, and numerous local performing artists and free events, in addition to parties and talkback sessions. Tickets go on sale this Thursday, July 13.

VQFF opens at the Vancouver Playhouse with the 2017 Sundance Award-winning film, I Dream in Another Language (Sueño en Otro Idioma). Following this screening is the Festival's Opening Gala Party, which will take place under the stars at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza and celebrate the many ways our fabulous and diverse communities love and resist.

"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."

This year's Festival will feature an in-person talkback with New York-based filmmaker Jac Gares, who directed this year's Centrepiece Gala Film, FREE CeCe!. Co-produced with Laverne Cox, FREE CeCe! boldly confronts the epidemic of violence against trans women of colour, and uplifts the story of CeCe McDonald, who survived a racist, transphobic attack in Minneapolis in 2011.

"Our Festival lineup has something for everyone this year," said Executive Director Stephanie Goodwin. "Whether you want to follow a gay cruise liner for a week, fall in love in the German countryside, or celebrate those at Stonewall, expect to be entertained and provoked by the best in queer film from around the world."

The Vancouver Queer Film Festival is also thrilled to host Doris Yeung, writer, director and executive producer of Taxi Stories, the most ambitious film of the Festival, filmed in three countries and featuring a mostly non-actor cast. In addition, VQFF audience members will be joined by Philippines filmmaker Samantha Lee, whose film, Maybe Tomorrow (Baka Bukas), won the Audience Choice Award 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 Word.

Visiting Canadian talent includes Pakistani-Canadian film and television actress, writer and producer, Fawzia Mirza, for the screening of Signature Move; emerging filmmaker Francis Luta, who will speak with audiences after his film Project Gelb; and award-winning writer, playwright, performer and filmmaker, Steen Starr, whose short documentary Older than What? tells the story of twelve queer and trans elders responding to ten questions about aging, visibility, and social change.

Festival favourite The Coast is Queer, an evening dedicated to local talent, will screen on Friday, August 18 at the York Theatre. Featuring nine stellar short films from some of BC's most standout emerging and established filmmakers, our annual local programming covers documentaries, romance, fantasy, and drama.

Finally, the Festival's Artist in Residence for 2017 is the prolific and multi-talented Vivek Shraya. The filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and author will spend the Festival's opening weekend with audiences at events featuring a breadth of work from her diverse portfolio.

Festival program guides are now available at Festival venues as well as Little Sister's Book & Art Emporium and Black Dog Video. The complete Festival lineup can also be viewed online at www.queerfilmfestival.ca.

Full ticketing details can be found at www.queerfilmfestival.ca/tickets.

The Vancouver Queer Film Festival is hosted at the Vancouver Playhouse, Cineplex Odeon International Village, SFU's Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, VIFF's Vancity Theatre and a new Festival venue, the York Theatre on Commercial Drive.

For more information on the 2017 Vancouver Queer Film Festival, please visit the following platforms:

Website: www.queerfilmfestival.ca

Facebook: www.facebook.com/VancouverQFF

Twitter: www.twitter.com/queerfilmfest (#VQFF2017)

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. Out On Screen is proud to be among the leaders in Canada working to create an equitable society where sexual and gender diversity are embraced. www.outonscreen.com

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