There’s a particular kind of energy that shows up right before a festival starts. Excitement, nerves, anticipation…like everything is about to come together at once.
Ahead of this year’s Festival, we invited our Local Heroes filmmakers into something a little different: an aura reading, as a pre-screening moment to ground, connect, and ease into what’s ahead. Hosted by Evelyn at her studio, Rose Aura, the afternoon felt part creative check-in, part reset, part celebration of the artists behind one of our most loved programs year after year.
Across the readings, a few themes kept surfacing: strong creative energy, intuition, growth, and the reminder to slow down in the middle of festival chaos. Many filmmakers were met with messages about “new beginnings,” grounding, and emotional clarity — balancing big imaginative energy with a need to stay steady and take care of themselves. Others were encouraged to trust their instincts more deeply, to listen to their bodies, and to resist overthinking their process.
Again and again, the reminders came back to rest, breathe, play, and make room for joy alongside the work. And just as often, there was something about connection: to community, to creativity, and to something bigger than the individual.
More than anything, it offered a pause. The fest moves fast! This was a chance to slow down and arrive a little more intentionally.
Catch Shorts: Local Heroes on Thursday, May 28 at TIFF Lightbox 1, or stream it across Ontario starting May 29 in Inside Out’s digital screening room. Learn more about Aura Readings and get your reading done at roseaura.ca
About the program: From eye appointments to sex appointments, cheating boyfriends to dancing dogs, this collection of local shorts puts Toronto filmmakers in the spotlight in the way only Inside Out knows how to do. We are here, we are Queer, and we’ve brought you these incredible, strange, and unforgettable local stories.
Shorts: Local Heroes, May 28, 2026 6:45 PM
