People’s Choice Awards & Gerry Brunet Memorial Award: Short Films

Watch all the award-winning shorts from VQFF 2023, including:

Winner of the 2023 Gerry Brunet Memorial Award for Best British Columbia Short
TABANCA

Winner of the 2023 People’s Choice Award for Canadian Short
Scaring Women At Night

Winner of the 2023 People’s Choice Award for International Short
Foreign Uncle

Runner-up for the 2023 People’s Choice Award for Canadian Short
Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie

Runner-ups for the 2023 People’s Choice Award for International Short
AC Unit
DIVR

The People’s Choice Awards are determined by audience ballots, and every film screened at the Festival is eligible for one of the four following awards. Winners are determined by the highest proportion of votes, ensuring all films have the opportunity to be recognized regardless of the size of the theatre they are screened in. To vote, complete your ballot on tablets provided by our staff and volunteers as you leave the theatre or submit a rating for each film you watch on our digital watch platform until August 19.

TABANCA

Lauren Marsden / Canada / 2022 / 12 min / English with captions

Set in a gloomy Vancouver winter, genderqueer Marlinn misses Carnival season back home in Trinidad—until they discover the power of masquerade within.

Scaring Women at Night

Karimah Zakia Issa / Canada / 2022 / 11 min / English with captions

Two scared strangers try to escape one another while walking home. Their worlds collide at an intersection, forcing them to question who they’re afraid of and why.

Watch the trailer.

Foreign Uncle

Sining Xiang / China, United States / 2021 / 20 min / Chinese and English with English subtitles

Featuring re-enactments from his own family, director Sining Xiang relives the experience of introducing his white American boyfriend to his Chinese family, who are oblivious to their gay relationship.

Content warning: Homophobia.

Watch the trailer.

AC Unit

Grace Godvin / United States / 2023 / 13 min / English with captions

Hilton and Drew are two best friends living in Brooklyn during the height of a heatwave. One day, when installing an AC unit, disaster turns their world on its head, and the future becomes incredibly unclear.

Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie

Nicole Bazuin / Canada / 2022 / 9 min / English with captions

A bold, imaginative, and supersaturated peek into the world of Kitoko, a Black nonbinary disabled artist and former sex worker diagnosed with a dissociative identity disorder.

Watch the trailer.

DIVR

Zoey Martinson / United States / 2022 / 16 min / English with captions

When three college friends create a casual-sex app by and for queer women of colour, it succeeds their wildest expectations. However, secrets emerge that could destroy both business and friendships.