Reel Pride Winnipeg

2025 films... 

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.

 

Close to You

Canada

Close To You follows Sam (Elliot Page), a trans man returning to his dusty Canadian hometown for the first time since transitioning. Prompted by his father’s birthday, the trip is a tired family gathering he can’t avoid. Sam unexpectedly runs into Katherine, his former best friend and high school top secret love. A deeply personal, intimate story about facing one’s past, navigating toxic family dynamics, and revisiting unresolved feelings.

 

Miséricorde

France

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

 

Drône

France

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.

 

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.

 

Odd Fish

Iceland
Rating: PG : Theme or content may not be suitable for all children

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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. 

 

The Delwin Vriend Story

Canada

Rated: 14A: Theme or content may not be suitable for all children

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. 

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Short Films… 

Anita Louise and the Wild Women 

Arena, Filmmaker/Producer

Anita Louise Martinez photographed Nova Scotia's queer and trans community in an exploration of the Wild Women Don't Get the Blues on lesbian camping weekends.

 

Becoming Ruby

Quan Luong, Filmmaker/Producer

Becoming Ruby follows Ruby Chopstix (Alex Nguyen), the Asian Pop Princess of Winnipeg and Canada’s first drag artist-in-residence at Rainbow Resource Centre, as they navigate the complexity of being an underrepresented drag performer while creating a special showcase to create space for other queer BIPOC performers.

 

Comphet

Evan Richard, Filmmaker/Producer

Using found footage from her wedding and exploring the complicated emotions, Gin tells the story of how she realized she might be attracted to girls. 

 

Cruising in Gomorrah

Coby Friesen, Filmmaker/Producer

Childhood friends Chris and Alex reunite on a camping trip at a haunted creek as Chris’ deep Christian faith clashes with Alex’s worldly desires when a dark gay presence awakens their unconscious desires and forces them to reckon their sexualities.

 

First Shave

Ande Brown, Filmmaker/Producer

Anticipation and apprehension abound as a trans man prepares for his first hot towel, straight razor shave.

 

Oh My Doctor

Robert Macklin, Filmmaker/Producer

A young man (JAKE) goes for a physical to find the attending doctor (GORDY) is someone he already has a romantic interest. 

 

Private Flowers

HAUI, Filmmaker/Producer

Private Flowers captures male love with poetic intimacy and reclaims a hidden chapter of queer heritage going back to 1832 when Private Flowers, a Canadian Infantryman was hanged for making love with another man. 

 

Ramen Boys

Jason Sakaki, Filmmaker/Producer

Kevin finally takes a chance to connect with James, the lifeguard he's admired from afar, leading to an extremely expected first kiss and a summer of love and laughter in a gay Asian rom-com.

 

Remembering the Struggle for the Legitimacy of Same-sex Desire in the 1970s

Clark Nikolai, Filmmaker/Producer

Don Hann was involved in Gay activism in Vancouver in the 1970s as he remembers those times when he celebrates his birthday at Vancouver’s clothing optional Wreck Beach.

 

The Reveal

Jackie Hoffart, Filmmaker/Producer

Stevie struggles to support their sister’s gender reveal party, while harbouring a gender update of their own as this charming comedy centers on joy, connection and acceptance while shining a whimsical light on the stumbling, imperfect, yet loving ways families show up for one another.

 

Trigger

Alen Xhafa, Filmmaker/Producer

After a gruelling one-on-one session with an established film director casting for his next leading man, the aspiring actor Drake gets the opportunity to audition for the executive producer the very next day.

 

Wing Story,

Clara Eleanor Fielding, Filmmaker/Producer

An atmospheric story about a woman who grows wings and loves them, only to have her new sense of self shattered by the reactions, and perceived reactions, of those around her. 

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