The 37th Vancouver Queer Film Festival has announced the winners of 2025 Audience Awards with the top honors going to Really Happy Someday directed by J Stevens for Canadian Feature and Between Goodbyes directed by Jota Mun winning for International Feature.
Set in Toronto’s vibrant theatre scene, Really Happy Someday follows Z, a trans-masculine performer navigating the shifting terrain of his identity, voice, and artistic passions.
Between Goodbyes is an intimate and insightful documentary centerd around Mieke, a queer Korean adoptee raised in the Netherlands, and her birth mother Okgyun who was forced to give her up under South Korea’s harsh one-child policy and the pressures of social stigma and financial hardship.
The Canadian Short winner is Organza’s Revenge (USA) directed by Walter Scott, and the International Short winner is Die Bully Die (Australia) directed by Nathan Lacey and Nick Lacey.
Also, on opening night of the Festival, the inaugural Matriarch of the Year Award was presented to Winnipeg-based filmmaker and speaker Sonya Ballantyne; and the Gerry Brunet Memorial Award for Best BC Short was presented to Vancouver-based actor and filmmaker Jess McLeod for DTF? a comedy short about a struggling writer who ends up on a date with his former English professor.
The Narrative Change Award was presented to Rheanna Toy for the documentary feature A Place Where I Belong, a local documentary spotlighting the challenges of queer and trans individuals with intellectual disabilities. The jury also recognized Between Goodbyes with an honorable mention in this category.
“It is a true honor to recognize such incredibly powerful voices within the queer community. Sonya Ballantyne is a true Matriarch lighting the path for Indigenous stories and storytellers, advocating for our voices to be heard through every genre and inspiring our youth. Sonya represents why we created the Matriarch of the Year Award,” says VQFF Artistic Director Mary Galloway.
“Comedy is no easy feat, but Jess McLeod’s DTF?, balances wit and heart while not shying away from an honest, playful depiction of intimacy. Rheanna Toy’s feature documentary A Place Where I Belong takes us on an incredibly honest, tender, and eye-opening journey that shines an essential light on the unique struggles at the intersection of disability and 2SLGBTQIA+ justice. A heartfelt congratulations to all three winners at this year’s 37th annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival!”
The winning team of the inaugural VQFF Pitch Competition are Peihwen J. Tai, Hannah Yang, and Ronald Lee for their short film pitch PRETTY BOY$ about a K-pop inspired boy band with two closeted members who fall for each other, forcing them to confront the exploitative machinery of the industry and their need for freedom.
Out In Schools, VQFF’s award-winning sibling education program, has acquired six films that screened at VQFF 2025 to add to their Film Catalogue.
Loud and Cleo (Cléo se fait des films) (Belgium) dir. by Tallulah Farquhar
Embers of Queer Joy (Canada) dir. By Mary Galloway
With Love, Lottie (Australia) dir. by Lily Drummond
Immature (Taiwan, Netherlands) dir. by Eddy Wu
Becoming Ruby (Canada) dir. by Quan Luong
Wait, Wait, Now! (New Zealand) dir. by Ramon Te Wake
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