Desire Lines directed by Jules Rosskam is the winner of the RBC Narrative Change Award at the 2024 Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF). The Gerry Brunet Memorial Award: Best British Columbia Short prize went to directors David Ng and Jen Sungshine for Drag Is For Everyone.
Jules Rosskam’s “Desire Lines” is a liberating exploration of transmasculine sexuality that blends narrative and documentary forms.
The jurors said in a statement: “In the face of cultural and industrial pressures to tell expansive and marketable stories, queer and trans audiences are worthy of films that affirm and celebrate the intricacies of our intersectional identities, we deserve the films that reveal the multiple layers and revel in the prismatic light that defines our queerness. For its fearless ethics of and commitment to risk-taking – aesthetically, formally, thematically, and culturally – and for the depths of trans and queer sexuality that it artfully explores, we present Desire Lines from director Jules Rosskam with the RBC Narrative Change Award.”
This year’s VQFF’s annual prize for the Festival’s best BC short film, the Gerry Brunet Memorial Award: Best British Columbia Short, was determined by audience vote and went to Drag is for Everyone by Ng and Sungshine who previously won the Gerry Brunet Memorial Award in 2019 for Yellow Peril: Queer Destiny.
The 2024 People’s Choice Awards winners are:
The Canadian Feature winner is A Mother Apart directed by Laurie Townshend.
“What an honor it is to be the “People’s Choice”. A Mother Apart is as much a film about one inspirational mother figure as it is about all those who mother or have been mothered. It’s a film about all of us—and our capacity for grace and for healing in the face of wounding.” – Laurie Townshend, Director
The Canadian Short winner is Janelle Niles: Inconvenient directed by Kelly Zemnickis and Cass Gardiner.
“I am absolutely thrilled and so honored that our film was selected for the Best Canadian Short! My hope with sharing Janelle’s story was simply that I wanted even more people to know about the incredible work she’s doing and all that Janelle has done since she first took the mic. That it’s been embraced by the VQFF audience like this is icing on the cake!!” – Kelly Zemnickis, co-director
The International Feature winner is Vera And The Pleasure Of Others (Vera y el placer de los otros) (Argentina) directed by Romina Tamburello, Federico Actis.
“Thank you for this wonderful award. It is wonderful for us to see how this story touches and identifies people of all ages and countries. This film was made possible by the great friendship and trust of those who make it. We believe that pleasure is not only a right but a search that we should never lose. Thank you for sharing this wish with us.” – The Vera and the Pleasure of Others (Vera y el placer de los otros) team
The International Short winner is Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr (USA) directed by Kimberly Reed.
Out In Schools, VQFF’s sibling program acquired seven films that screened at VQFF 2024 to add to the Film Catalogue. These films are available online to educators now and will be screened as a part of Out In Schools presentations in schools and communities across BC in the 2024-2025 school year and beyond.
Dyeing for a Pocket (UK) Dir. By Mairi Eyres
The Little Piratemaid (USA) Dir. By Luke Beatrice
To All the We Are (USA) Dir. By Kris Cahatol
Bay Creek Tennis Camp (USA) Dir. By Michele Meek
Forza, Rea (Switzerland) Dir. By Isabel Pahud, Isabel Clerici, Laura Zimmermann, Polina Tyrsa
The Prince’s Dilemma (USA) Dir. By Devin Rowe
Dirt Pride (USA) Dir. By Christina Rosetti
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