RE:Focus Fund

• Grants are given only to projects in the post-production stage. Applicants are required to submit a rough cut when applying. Projects will be automatically disqualified if a rough cut is not provided.
• Projects in development, script development, pre-production, or production will NOT be considered.
• Films must be written AND directed by women, non-binary, and/or trans creators and feature 2SLGBTQ+ content. Projects that show a commitment to centering QTBIPOC stories and inclusion in the hiring of their cast and crew will be given priority.
• Grants will be given to narrative, documentary, and experimental films of any length or genre.
• Canadian and International films are eligible; however, please be aware that funds will be dispersed in Canadian dollars.
• Selected films are required to include the RE:Focus logo in the credits.
• All completed films should be submitted for consideration for the 2025 Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival.

Submit a rough cut of your project and a written application in a PDF document outlining the following:

• Synopsis (250 words max)
• Filmmaker Statement (250 words max)
• Link to Rough Cut (Vimeo or other streaming link only)
• Key Cast and Crew
• Budget, including Post-Production (Top Sheet only)
• Funding Request ($500-$1,500 CAD for short films, $500-$2,500 CAD for feature films)

Please submit your rough cut and written application via our FilmFreeway page (See above for written application requirements).

Additionally, email the written application with all required information to programming@insideout.ca. Be sure to add the FilmFreeway Tracking Number in the subject line and within the application.

Yes, we welcome and encourage international applicants. However, the proposal must be submitted in English. Please note that as a Canadian festival, our funds are in Canadian dollars.

Films with a runtime of 59 minutes or less will be eligible for up to $1,500 CAD. Films with a runtime of 60 minutes or more will be eligible for up to $2,500 CAD.

Unfortunately, due to the high volume of submissions, Inside Out does not provide feedback.

We do not recommend re-submitting the same film for consideration unless significant changes to the project have been made.

All The Words But The One (U.S.)

Narrative Short | Director: Nava Mau
Maya and Santiago haven’t seen each other since their explosive relationship ended years ago, so neither is expecting to be sitting across from each other at a professional dinner with their new partners.

Chimera (Chile)

Documentary Short | Director: Gael Jara, Martín André

A non-binary person watches the handover of the first non-binary ID in the history of Chile. As they try to do the paperwork, they will face the bureaucracy of the legal proceedings.

Gender Reveal (Canada)

Narrative Short | Director: Mo Matton

Rhys, a non-binary transmasculine queer, attends their boss’s gender reveal party with their two trans partners. They soon realize that they might not have to get involved at all to instigate the chaos they were dreaming of.

Grace (U.S.)

Narrative Short | Director: Natalie Jasmine Harris

Sixteen-year-old Grace prepares for her baptism in the rural 1950s South. When she learns she must repent before the ritual, she begins to question the budding romantic feelings she has towards her best friend Louise.

IG Story (Canada)

Narrative Short | Director: Emilie Azevedo

Candance and Sierra bond over their shared love of plants until an Instagram Story threatens their connection.

Love Bound: A Queer Chinese Story (UK)

Documentary Feature | Director: Shanshan Chen

Qiuyan Chen, a prominent Chinese queer activist and feminist who moved to London after

facing increasing scrutiny in China, tries to continue her activism in the UK despite racism while fighting the bureaucracy to reunite with her long-distance girlfriend.

Really Good Driver (U.S.)

Narrative Short | Director: Alex Song-Xia

Really Good Driver is a comedic short about an Asian American mom teaching her Asian American adult child how to drive, forcing both to confront parts of the car, and themselves, they never have before.

Reflexion (Sweden)

Documentary Feature | Director: MyNa Do, Farah Yusuf

Two lifelong friends fight an anti-racist battle in Sweden with art as a boundless force.

Tens Across The Borders (Singapore)

Documentary Feature | Director: Sze-Wei Chan

This film follows the stories of three trailblazers of the underground ballroom scenes in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. We witness their journeys to hold on to their ballroom and birth families, their dreams of connection with ballroom’s source in New York City, and the growth of a flourishing community across Southeast Asia.

The First Women (Brazil)

Documentary Feature | Director: Adriana Yañez

The documentary presents the life of a group of women who live in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, are close to the 60s and share a common past: they were the base of the first women’s soccer team in Brazil.

Vollúpya (Brazil)

Narrative Short | Director: Éri Sarmet, Jocimar Dias Jr.

In a post-apocalyptic future where the Earth has long been uninhabited, an explorer from a distant galaxy lands on an abandoned museum in Brazil, searching for traces of long-lost queer ancestors.

Adore (Canada)

Narrative Short | Director: Beth Warrian

Luci, a queer Peruvian-Canadian woman, gives her beloved nephew the Christmas gift of his dreams: a beautiful sequined dress. But when he tries to show the rest of the family, Luci finds herself enacting the same restrictions and shaming she hoped to protect him from.

A Particular Friend (UK)

Narrative Short | Director: Eileen Tracey

When Father Matthew discovers an intimacy between two of the other priests at a remote conversion-therapy center in Northern Ireland, his attempt to do the right thing leads to a crisis of faith and feeling.

Eitr (Canada)

Narrative Short | Director: Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller

A closeted Arab wholesale perfume seller, attempting to mask his identity with excessive amounts of Polo-Sport-Adjacent cologne, is knocked off center when a charming customer sees through his act.

Honey & Milk (USA)

Narrative Short | Director: Dash Donato

Honey & Milk follows Alice & Grayson, two soulmates who have been in love for 13 years, as they share their final weekend as a couple at their quaint farmhouse in Austin, Texas.

Mal De Amores (Lovesick) (USA)

Episodic | Director: Fiorella Vescovi Garcia

Nat discovers that her ex-girlfriend is engaged and goes to her friends for support but they’ve had enough of her pity party. Reluctantly, she knows exactly what will help: A recovery meeting for other love-addicts like her.

Lost Kid Wanderer (Malta)

Experimental Short | Director: Chelsea Muscat

A lone wanderer must decide her future whilst life is coming to an end.

Sisters (Canada)

Narrative Feature | Director: Susie Yankou

Best friends Lou and Esther are each other’s “chosen sisters”. But when Lou discovers she has a long-lost actual sister, it threatens to drive a wedge between them.

To Dance Again (Chile)

Experimental Short | Directors: Maria Jose Mariscal, Pamela Simeone

After breaking up due to long distance, Camila calls Javiera for her birthday with the intentions to see if they can restart their relationship.

Afro Algorithms (USA)

Anatola Araba

In a distant future, an artificial intelligence named Aero is inaugurated as the world’s first AI leader. However, she soon finds that important worldviews are missing from her databank, including the stories of the historically marginalized and oppressed.

Casa Nostra (Italy/USA)

Francesca de Fusco

Life for Fede, a high school student living in Nun-run housing in Italy, is reliably routine until a new visitor arrives, inspiring her to go out of her way to make a connection.

Chaac and Yum (USA)

Roberto Fatal, XAV S-F

Inspired by the sacred and ancient relationship between Chaac, the Mayan deity of Rain, and Yum, the Mayan deity of corn, this short erotic drama tells a story about two queer, Mayan-descended Two Spirits who meet at a queer San Francisco bar.

Child of Polycritus (United Kingdom)

Lauren John Joseph

A humorous, effervescent historiography in which a mythological baby, a nail salon, and cinematic portraits combine to show both timely and atemporal tales of gender nonconformity.

Dear Friend: The Sarah Hegazi Documentary (Lebanon/USA)

Director: Nicole Teeny

Sarah Hegazi was an Egyptian-Canadian LGBTQ, feminist, and political activist. At a Cairo concert in 2017 she was among the first ever to publicly raise the rainbow flag in Egypt but the act cost her imprisonment, torture, exile, and ultimately her life. Dear Friend is a documentary told through animation, interviews, archival news, video and photos, and Sarah’s journal entries in prison through death in exile.

Fresh Meat (Canada)

Lu Asfaha

A young writer is excited to start a staff writing job at a cutthroat media company until she discovers their terrifying secret to success: they’re eating people.

I Was A Ghost Myself (Turkey)

Müge Yildiz

I was a ghost myself is a film following a ghost’s footsteps, psychogeographically trailing through a city where the ancient intertwines with the modern.

Lucky Fish (USA)

Emily May Jampel

Two Asian-American teenagers meet in the bathroom of a Chinese restaurant while having dinner with their families.

Right Here (Australia)

Claudia Bailey

After coming out as non-binary to their parents, Grace materialises at their future selves’ birthday party and realises everything they want to be is inside of them, right here.

Ripples (Canada)

Dylan Mitro

Four friends are reunited to have a picnic on the beach, a break from the chaos of the city. The plan to have a day at Hanlan’s Point, a gay nude beach on Toronto Island, has each character addressing their own personal complicated relationship to the beach and to the party culture that surrounds it.

Simón Was Born (Puerto Rico/USA)

Pati Cruz

Lis is a single mother of two during the day and drag king Simón at night. When the COVID-19 pandemic eliminates every possibility of having drag shows, we are left with the question, where does Simón exist during the quarantine?

Valentine (USA)

Chris McNabb, Beck Kitsis

With gender and identity in flux, Corey and Mia struggle to redefine their relationship.

Work (USA)

April Maxey

Unable to move on from a breakup, Gabi, a queer Latina editor, impulsively drops into an old job at an underground lap dance party, where she unexpectedly runs into a friend from her past.