Toronto, December 20, 2023 – outACTRAto, ACTRA Toronto’s 2SLGBTQIA+ committee, proudly announces the winner of the fifth Queer Your Stories Short Film Competition. The competition is a partnership with the Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival, Canada’s largest 2SLGBTQ+ film festival and the single largest promoter and exhibitor of 2SLGBTQ+ content in Canada.
The competition was open to 2SLGBTQIA+ ACTRA Toronto members interested in producing a short film. Submissions were reviewed by a jury of outACTRAto members and two senior programming staff from Inside Out. The winner receives financial and in-kind production support and the film will play at the Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival 2024.
The 2024 winning project is Something’s Phishy by Chase Lo and Bessie Cheng, directed by Chase Lo and co-produced by Lo, Cheng, and Alice Wang. The cast includes Cheng as one of the lead characters.
Something’s Phishy is a romantic comedy about friendship and the desire to be accepted and loved for who you are. It is a lighthearted story that features the specific experiences of Queer/Trans/Nonbinary Asians navigating romantic/intimate encounters. Something’s Phishy asks: What are we willing to do to attract the person we want? What parts of ourselves do we intentionally show or hide?
Something’s Phishy reminds us that Queer/Trans/Nonbinary Asians can be funny, messy, romantic, quirky, charming, and badass!
“We are so delighted to be selected as the winner of the 2024 Queer Your Stories Short Film Competition!”, said Director/Co-Writer, Chase Lo. “This selection is deeply affirming, offering a significant opportunity for Queer/Trans/Nonbinary Asian artists to contribute their talents both behind and in front of the camera. We are super pumped to begin working on this fun story and to share it with an audience at the Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival.”
The Queer Your Stories Short Film Competition is sponsored by AFBS, Grandé Camera (Toronto), Hamilton Film Studios and the Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival.
About outACTRAto:
ACTRA Toronto’s outACTRAto Committee is dedicated to raising awareness about queer performers, our stories and our place in the industry and society. We value diversity and equality, and we aim to be recognized, supported and valued as queer performers. We aspire to educate and inform our industry about realistic queer representation on screen as we seek a more accurate and balanced reflection of our rich and multifaceted community. We denounce and will work to end harassment and stereotyping of any kind. We will work to achieve true-to-life queer onscreen visibility of our culture and our stories and to realize change in our industry.
About ACTRA Toronto:
ACTRA Toronto is the largest organization within ACTRA, representing more than 15,000 of Canada’s 27,000 professional performers working in recorded media in Canada. An advocate for Canadian culture since 1943, ACTRA is a member-driven union that continues to secure rights and respect for the work of professional performers.
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Media contact: Jennifer McGibbon, Public Relations Officer, ACTRA Toronto jmcgibbon@actratoronto.com, 416-937-1437
outACTRAto contact: lgbtq@actratoronto.com
outACTRAto social: outACTRAto Twitter; outACTRAto Instagram