Festival 2025
7:00 PM
Assembly
USA
A thrillingly visual and sonic celebration of BIPOC identity, Assembly is a documentary co-directed by dynamic duo Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons. Assembly chronicles Newsome’s daring transformation of New York City’s militaristic Armory into a Utopian space where Black queer joy, ancestral memory, and anti-colonial futures squash the negative. Central to the film is “Being”, a 30-foot Afro-futurist AI diva that channels workshops rooted in the philosophies of bell hooks and Audre Lorde. A powerful testament to Black queer creativity with legendary performances.
“A rich, extraordinary documentary that takes its lead from Newsome’s expansive, inspiring and invigorating process as an artist.” —The Queer Review
Wednesday, September 17 – SHARED JOURNEYS
Gas Station Theatre, 445 River Ave, Winnipeg
9:00 PM
Close to You
Canada
A House Is Not a Disco documents a year-in-the-life in the world's most iconic "homo-normative" community: Fire Island Pines. Situated fifty miles from New York City, this storied queer beach town finds itself in the midst of a renaissance as a new generation of Millennial homeowners reimagine The Pines for a new, more inclusive era. A large cast of unforgettable eccentrics, activists, drifters and first-timers reflect on the legacy of The Pines while preparing their beloved village for the biggest challenge it has faced since the AIDS crisis: rising seas caused by climate change.
19 h 00
Misericordia
France
Le séduisant et ténébreux Jérémie retourne dans son village natal pour assister aux funérailles de son ancien amant, le boulanger du village. Apparemment bisexuel, il prolonge son séjour auprès de la veuve, au grand désarroi du fils jaloux. Attirant mais mystérieux, la présence sensuelle de Jérémie devient rapidement et progressivement déstabilisante pour tous ceux qui l’entourent. À l’image du Théorème de Pasolini, sa visite déclenche une disparition mystérieuse, l’hostilité d’un voisin menaçant et les avances d’un prêtre aux intentions perverses. Ce séjour dans un village montagnard et humide se révèle être un mélange envoûtant de macabre et de mysticisme pastoral érotique.
« Pour moi, la miséricorde dépasse la question du pardon. Elle relève de l’empathie, de la compréhension des autres au-delà de toute morale », déclare le réalisateur Alain Guiraudie (L’Inconnu du lac). Guiraudie s’écarte du récit moral traditionnel pour se concentrer sur les mystères du désir.
Une parabole insaisissable et changeante sur un coucou particulièrement amoral cherchant à se construire un nouveau nid. – Variety
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Sexy brooding Jérémie returns to his rural hometown for the funeral of his former lover, the village’s master baker. Apparently bisexual, he prolongs his stay with the widow much to the consternation of her jealous son. Appealing yet mysterious, Jérémie’s sensual presence is immediately and progressively destabilizing to all around him. Like Pasolini’s Theorema, his visit triggers a mysterious disappearance, a threatening neighbour and a priest with perverse intentions. Jérémie’s sojourn in this dewy, mountainous village is a thrilling mix of the macabre and erotic pastoral mysticism.
“For me, mercy exceeds the question of forgiveness. It has to do with empathy, with understanding others beyond any morality,” says creator Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake). Guiraudie sets aside the traditional morality tale, instead focusing on the mysteries of desire.
A slippery, changeable parable about a particularly amoral cuckoo looking to feather a new nest. – Variety
Thursday, September 18 – SOIRÉE CINEMA
Présenté par le Collectif
Gas Station Theatre, 445 River Ave, Winnipeg
21 h 00
Drone
France
Une jeune Parisienne, admise dans un prestigieux programme d’architecture, travaille la nuit comme cam-girl (montrant son corps à des clients payants en ligne) pour joindre les deux bouts. Un soir, un mystérieux drone voyeur vrombit en vol stationnaire à la fenêtre de l’appartement d’Émilie. D’abord protecteur en apparence, il devient vite inquiétant. Chaque fois qu’Émilie est seule, le drone réapparaît et la suit.
Elle tente de découvrir qui en est l’opérateur : un client technophile ? Un harceleur misogyne de l’université ? Un inconnu total ? Bien plus qu’un simple thriller haletant, Drone est une enquête captivante sur les dangers du regard masculin dans une société de plus en plus surveillée par la technologie.
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A young Parisian woman who has been accepted into an elite architecture program in Paris works as a cam-girl (showing her body on screen to paying clients) at night to make ends meet. One evening, a mysterious peeping drone vibrates in mid air outside Émilie’s apartment window. At first the drone seems to be a protector, but soon things turn sinister. Whenever Émilie is alone, the drone appears and follows her.
Émilie attempts to unveil the operator behind the drone — a tech-savvy sex work client? An incel stalker from the university? A total stranger? More than a taut thriller, Drone is a riveting investigation of the dangers of the male gaze in a society increasingly monitored by technology.
7:00 PM
Odd Fish
Iceland
Childhood BFF’s Hjalti and Björn run a seafood restaurant in their hometown in the picturesque Icelandic Westfjords during the summer. They dream of keeping the restaurant open year-round when Björn reveals to Hjalti that she is a transgender woman and will be known as Birna from now on. These changes test their friendship, and both must face life with a new perspective to preserve what matters most.
It's refreshing to see a movie that gives queerness space to exist in the joy and not just the sadness. – RUV
9:00 PM
Some Nights I Feel Like Walking
The Philippines
In the heart of Manila’s neon underbelly, a young group of sexy boy hustlers make a life for themselves around a seedy bus stop, turning tricks to make ends meet. One night when a member of the gang dies from a drug overdose, the survivors band together to honour their friend’s last wish: to return his body to the rustic rural village he came from. Runaway Zion, a novice with a murky past, insists on tagging along, against the reluctance of street-smart boy thug Uno. But as the kids traverse the open roads of the Philippines, their bonds tighten and they find themselves on an unforgettable journey.
Of his beautiful rumination on the significance of chosen family in the queer community, Filipino filmmaker Peterson Vargas says, What I want is to offer proof that there is a sliver of light that exists in the darkness of Manila nighttime. I want to offer another version of our reality by showing the kind of human connection I know exists and still persists.
Friday, September 19 – JOURNEYS OF HOPE AND COURAGE
Gas Station Theatre, 445 River Ave, Winnipeg
Saturday, September 20 - BOLD HEARTS
Gas Station Theatre, 445 River Ave, Winnipeg
1:00 PM
Short Films
22nd Canadian Short Film Celebration
Canada’s longest running 2SLGBTQ+ Short Films Competition received more than one hundred submissions from various locations across Canada in 2025. Filmmaker’s shorts most often reveal stories that mirror the life of the Canadian 2SLGBTQI+ culture and their friendships, personal growth, dynamic relationships, and their personal struggles for societal understanding. Awards (chosen by jury) include Best Short. Best Manitoba Short, Emerging Shorts Filmmaker, and 2SLGBTQI+ Community Reflection. As well, the audiences vote for the Audience Choice Award.
The evening features the
Festival’s Reception,
held between the films,
sponsored and hosted by RBC.
7:00 PM
BULLETPROOF
A Lesbian’s Guide to Surviving the Plot
Canada
A witty, personal, and uproarious exploration of lesbian and queer women’s representation on mainstream TV. Filmmaker Regan Latimer combines her own experiences with archival clips – from retro shows like The Facts of Life through to The Walking Dead and Jane the Virgin – interweaving personal anecdotes, animated segments, and cultural critique. Upbeat, funny and engaging, Bullet Proof will take you on an asphyxiatingly funny journey to examine how media shapes identity, belonging, and resilience.
9:00 PM
In From the Side
United Kingdom
Following a drunken encounter, two “gay-married” men from a cash strapped and fractured homo rugby club sleepwalk into a steamy adulterous affair but must conceal their growing feelings or risk destroying the club they love. Mark, a relatively new player, who is in an unfulfilling relationship begins an intense affair with Warren, a star player. As their passion deepens, secrecy, betrayal and emotional conflict begin to threaten the team’s cohesion. Praised for its sporty take on gay representation and premiered at BFI Flare, London’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival.
A poignant drama about a gay London rugby team…bruisingly authentic – The Guardian
1:00 PM
Canadian Museum for Human Rights, 85 Israel Asper Way, Winnipeg
Pride vs Prejudice
The Delwin Vriend Story
Canada
Delwin Vriend never wanted to be a human rights activist. Then he was fired as a teacher in a born-again Christian college for being gay. This moving documentary explores his 1998 landmark case that led to the Supreme Court taking up the issue of sexual orientation as a human right.
“The (Alberta provincial) government kept paying lawyers to push this thing forward even though they knew that they would lose,” says the film’s director Darrin Hagen. They used our money to fight our rights. I’m a taxpayer, right? It’s my money, and they are using my money to fund a battle to withhold me from full participation in Alberta society.
In challenging his firing for being gay, Vriend set in motion a chain of events that resulted in the ground-breaking Canadian Supreme Court ruling that impacted the lives of LGBTQ+ people —not just in Alberta, not just in Canada, but around the globe.
Produced by the Edmonton Community Foundation and the Edmonton Queer History Project, Pride vs. Prejudice is a story of resilience, human rights and social change.
Sunday, September 21 - COURAGE AND PRIDE
Canadian Museum for Human Rights, 85 Israel Asper Way, Winnipeg
