A showcase of the best LGBTQ+ films from around the world today.
AUDIENCE AWARDS:
Best Short Film: Stimulants & Empathogens
Best Trans Films: Iss Taraf
Best Micro-Short: pink marker
Best Animation: Lossnord
Best Performances: Promises, Promises
Best Coming of Age Film: Stealing Ash
Best Romance Film: Stalling
Best Story: Loss
Best Cinematography: Differently Water
Best Direction: Telling
Lossnord, 3min., Norway
Directed by Madelen Schønningsen
A fallen viking warrior is saved from despair by a Nordic healer. Through recovery they grow closer, but the
warrior is distracted, haunted by her violent past.
https://www.instagram.com/mandeldraws/
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/lossnord-short-film-reactions-lgbtq-festival
pink marker, 4min., USA
Directed by Bianca M Persicketti
a reflection of my first, strongest relationship–my queer discovery– and it’s ending. simple as that. my way of shutting the book.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-pink-marker
Promises, Promises, 15min., USA
Directed by KC Simmons
When a closeted Brooke meanders into a 1980’s underground party and meets wild-card Rio, the duo finds themselves in a week-long whirlwind relationship.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-promises-promises
Stealing Ash, 13min., USA
Directed by Frances Capel
After their best friend dies, four best friends plan a heist to steal their ashes and take them on a final joyride for the send off they deserve.
https://instagram.com/campyatc
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-stealing-ash
Stalling, 12min., USA
Directed by Jasia Ka
An unlikely queer love story unfolds when two women bond over a shared cheating ex, and they connect year after year in the same bar bathroom.
https://www.instagram.com/stallingshortfilm/
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-stalling
LOSS, 14min., Israel
Directed by Sivan Levy Zakin
Nine-year-old Goni has always run faster than the boys, always scored more goals. Until the day they decide she’s gotten too good at winning. The beating that follows is methodical, almost ceremonial – childhood cracking along lines that were always there.
https://www.instagram.com/c.vaan/
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-loss
Differently Water, 8min., Italy
Directed by Daniele Catini
Two Arab women meet underwater to express their love. The sea becomes an accomplice to a secret in which their eyes reveal that desire hidden from a world that cannot understand
https://www.instagram.com/daniele_catini21?igsh=andtdjNhMTFodTNw
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-differently-water
Stimulants & Empathogens, 25min., Poland
Directed by Mateusz Pacewicz
Antek (18), a a closeted teenage gay from a wealthy family, invites a drug dealer – Kuba (18) – he has a hopeless crush on – to his villa under the pretext of another drug transaction. However, he does not know that Kuba has a mission that he received from his superiors – his Father and his Brother. The dealer’s family suspects that Antek resells their mephedrone at a profit at his school, so Kuba is supposed to investigate the situation. The story begins as a romantic comedy of errors, turns into a social satire to end, after various adventures, with an emotional plot twist.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-stimulants
TELLING, 16min., USA
Directed by Sean Dugan
A previously estranged father and son spend a rare, unexpectedly fun weekend reconnecting — until something unspoken becomes spoken. Can their fragile bond survive the truth? And whose truth is it?
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-telling
ISS TARAF, 9min., India
Directed by Shrey Leena Shah
Iss Taraf offers a glimpse into the quiet struggles and momentary victories of a trans man living in a cisnormative world, navigating the journey of acceptance in daily life.
https://www.instagram.com/nazariya_hai_sab_kuchh?igsh=MTQ3czl4MWtwZjdrcw==
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-iss-taraf
LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival 