Gender Equity in Media Festival

The 20th annual international Gender Equity in Media film festival will take place

March 5-9, 2025.

GEMS Vancouver's signature event, GEMFest, is the only film festival dedicated to women and gender-diverse people in Western Canada, and one of just three international film festivals for women and gender-diverse people in Canada.

Now in its 20th year, GEMFest continues to provide a platform for challenging gender inequity and the lack of diversity in the screen-based media industry through a combination of film screenings, discussions, professional development and networking opportunities.

 

 

 

Program

Opening Night
One Must Wash Eyes

Sepideh Yadegar I Canada I 2023 I 1:28:23 I English and Persian with English Subtitles

Sahar, an Iranian international student in Vancouver, embodies the courage and resilience of a generation. Torn between her academic dreams and her yearning for justice, she secretly writes feminist blogs exposing Iran’s oppressive laws. When Mahsa Amini’s death sparks global outrage, Sahar joins a Women, Life, Freedom protest, igniting a chain of events that upends her life.

One Must Wash Eyes is a powerful testament to the universal fight for freedom, justice, and identity; a reminder that even in the darkest moments, courage can inspire change and hope for a brighter future.

NiiMisSak: Sisters in Film

Jules A. Koostachin I Canada I 2024 I 1:10:16 I English

NiiMisSak weaves shared truths with the raw personal experiences of being an IsKweWak storyteller in the film/documentary industry, specifically in British Columbia. Now is the time to share these important stories of resiliency and power because we are experiencing a revolutionary shift in Indigenous cinema in Canada. Iskwewak (Indigenous women) are taking control of their own STORIES, more so than in any other time in film herstory.

Village Keeper

Karen Chapman I Canada I 2024 I 01:21:38 I English

Village Keeper follows a family grappling with secrets that uphold domestic abuse and unresolved rage. After life's precarious scale tips her fortune back into poverty, Jean relocates her children with their grandmother to the community housing project where she grew up. Jean lives in constant fear of everything that could go wrong, going to great lengths to shelter her children, so when a spree of violence comes to her doorstep, she secretly cleans an abandoned crime scene, which unknowingly leads her on a path that exposes generational chains of silence, self-discovery and finally putting herself first.

Singing Back the Buffalo

Tasha Hubbard I Canada I 2024 I 01:38:30 I English

In a time of immense environmental degradation and global uncertainty, the buffalo can lead us to a better tomorrow. After a dark recent history, the buffalo herds of North America are awaiting their return, aided by dedicated Indigenous activists, leaders and communities, including award-winning Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard (nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up). Together with Blackfoot Elder Leroy Little Bear, Hubbard weaves an intimate story of humanity’s connections to buffalo and eloquently reveals how their return to the Great Plains can indeed usher in a new era of sustainability and balance. On her journey, Hubbard explores the challenges faced by buffalo allies and shares the positive steps already taken towards the ultimate - but uncertain - goal of buffalo rematriation. Richly visualised and deeply uplifting, Singing Back the Buffalo is an epic reimagining of North America through the lens of buffalo consciousness and a potent dream of what is within our grasp.

Closing Night
Seeds

Kaniehtiio Horn I Canada I 2024 I 01:23:57 I English & Kanien’kéha

Ziggy receives her first internet influencer job offer to promote the seed and fertilizer company Nature's Oath. When her cousin calls her back to the reservation, she is compelled to fight to preserve the history of her people and discovers her strength in the process.

GEMS gratefully acknowledges the support of