2SLGBTQ Filmmakers In The North Its Your Time To Shine
Northern Ontario's 2SLGBTQ+ film festival Queer North is set to embark on its landmark 10th anniversary June 18-21. In the works are a series of community oriented programmers showcasing how far the festival has come. The first of these to be announced is an exciting opportunity for queer filmmakers across Northern Ontario.
In collaboration with RT Collective, an arts non-profit, the festival is organizing and hosting a short film and video contest. The programmers will see winning filmmakers take home a cash prize.
“One of our long-time partners, RT Collective, pitched us this incredible idea and we had to jump at it.” Said festival director Simone Widdifield. “We want to use our festival and cinema to platform Northern Ontario's queer filmmakers. And it also made a ton of sense to theme this program around one of our founding values.”
The Call for Submission seeks films exploring Queer Space/Queering Space. “We’re asking filmmakers to look both inward and outward: What feelings do they associate with Queer spaces? What shape do these spaces take? What relationships or conflicts foster here?” Says Widdifield.
Each work selected for the program will receive a prize of $150 and will be screened as part of a program at the Queer North Film Festival. A grand prize of $300 will be selected by a jury of accomplished Queer filmmakers from the North.
“It's open to professional, amateur, and student artists. Works can be created with smartphones, webcams, iPads, or professional grade cameras. We want to encourage anyone and everyone to submit!” Said RT Collective's Chris Dupuis.
Preference will be given to artists based in Northern Ontario. Works should aim to be 4 minutes or less and are not limited by genre: video diary, dance film, narrative (comedy or drama), animated, or experimental, all will be accepted. Submissions are open to both existing works (created after 2024) and new works created specifically for the program. With preference will be given to works which have not screened publicly before.
Full program details can be found here: https://sudburyindiecinema.com/qnff2026/
Submissions must be sent to:
https://forms.gle/BKubLe1EBDRq9dHL9
Before: June 1, 2026 11:59pm EST.
