Gender Equity in Media Festival

Now Online From March 12-26, 2024

During our in-person 19th annual international film festival we proudly showcased a rich selection of talent from established and emerging women and gender-diverse filmmakers worldwide! GEMFest is now accessible virtually for an exceptional lineup of short and feature-length films spanning narrative, documentary, experimental, and animation genres. At GEMFest, we celebrate diversity, empower voices, and challenge norms. Thank you for joining us as we shine the spotlight on gender equity in film.

Film Program

Analogue Revolution
Marusya Bociurkiw
Documentary | English | Canada | 2023

Tracing the rise and fall of analogue feminist communications that preceded the MeToo era, Analogue Revolution is a about the labour, hurdles, and triumphs of Canadian feminist media history, between the 1970s-1990s. From Halifax to Vancouver, feminist storytellers of the 1970s to 90s took hold of cutting-edge media technology to document everything from violence towards women to how to insert a diaphragm.

The Tuba Thieves
Alison O'Daniel
Documentary| English | USA | 2023

From 2011 to 2013, tubas were stolen from Los Angeles high schools. This is not a story about thieves or missing tubas. Instead, it asks what it means to listen.

I Have Electric Dreams
Valentina Maurel
Narrative | Spanish | Belgium, France, Costa Rica | 2023

Eva, a 16-year-old girl, lives with her mother, her younger sister and their cat, but wants to move in with her estranged father. Clinging onto him, she tries to find a balance between the tenderness, vulnerability, and sensitivity of teenage life.

Blue ID
Burcu Melekoglu, Vuslat Karan
Documentary | Turkish | Turkey | 2022

Rüzgar Erkoçlar, a former famous actor, struggles with self-realisation and acceptance in Turkey under the media spotlight as a trans man.

 

Swing and Sway
Fernanda Pessoa, Chica Barbosa
Documentary | Spanish, English, Portuguese | Brazil | 2023

In response to a virtual and (dis)connected world, two girlfriends engage in a filmic provocation on their own terms. A conversation across borders—a swing and sway—that in ominous times becomes a dance of resistance.

Labour
Tove Pils
Narrative | Swedish | Sweden | 2023

Hanna leaves her family in Sweden behind to go to the city of her dreams, San Francisco. At a party, she meets the professional dominatrix Chloe and the escort Cyd and together they embark on a self-fulfilling journey. Over the span of a decade, these friends support and challenge each other to reflect on their lives, their bodies, the pleasure they find, and the work they undertake.

Tautuktavuk (What We See)
Lucy Tulugarjuk, Carol Kunnuk
Narrative | Inuktitut | Canada | 2023

Blurring the line between narrative and non-fiction, Tautuktavuk portrays Uyarak and her eldest sister Saqpinak, as they embark on a difficult healing journey.  This film explores issues of domestic violence and substance abuse from the perspective of two Inuit women, and centers the importance of community, culture, and family, in the journey of recovery.

The Love Stories of Liv S.
Anna Luif
Narrative | French | Switzerland | 2023

Liv Sandor, 38, following an argument with her boyfriend, sets off to wander the city, observing passers-by and reminiscing about her past loves. In all her relationships, there was always a turning point, when things started going downhill. On the streets of Zurich Liv faces her fears, joys and demons.

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Gender Equity in Media Society Vancouver (GEMS Vancouver) was formerly Women in Film and Television Vancouver (WIFTV)
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