For more information on RE:Focus Fund grants and programs, please email Jenna Dufton at jenna [at] inside out dot com.
Congratulations to the 2021 recipients of RE:Focus Fund Post-Production Grants…
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Lucky Fish (USA)
Emily May Jampel
Two Asian-American teenagers meet in the bathroom of a Chinese restaurant while having dinner with their families.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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Valentine (USA)
Chris McNabb, Beck Kitsis
With gender and identity in flux, Corey and Mia struggle to redefine their relationship.
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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.
Established in 2018, Inside Out’s RE:Focus Fund aims to address industry inequities through providing direct financial support to women, non-binary, and / or trans filmmakers telling 2SLGBTQ+ stories. Founded through a lead gift from Martha McCain, the fund has distributed more than $150,000 in festival travel grants and professional development programs for filmmakers since its creation.
In 2019, Inside Out expanded the fund with the launch of the RE:Focus Fund Post-Production Grants to support post-production and promotion of short and feature films. In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our industry, Inside Out is launched an emergency relief arm of the fund.
For more information on donating to the RE:Focus Fund, and how you can support 2SLGBTQ+ women and non-binary filmmakers through Inside Out, contact:
Lauren Howes
Executive Director
lauren[at]insideout.ca
