Out on Screen artistic director Mary Galloway (she/they) has learned a great deal about leadership from the matriarchs in the Cowichan Nation. And the Comox-born Galloway, an award-winning, Indigiqueer, mixed-ancestry Cowichan filmmaker and actor, is putting these lessons to good use in her first year as the programming lead of the annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival. It runs from September 11 to 21.
“The women in my family are all such incredible leaders and have really inspired me to lead in this gentle and strong way,” Galloway tells Pancouver over Zoom. “It’s very much a Cowichan woman thing. We’re not very loud people. We generally speak pretty softly, but there is this great power in that softness.”
That softness also comes across in Galloway’s short film, “Embers of Queer Joy”. It will be part of a program called Shorts: True to Yourself, which will be at the Cinematheque at 10 a.m. on September 18. Shot in 16-millimetre film on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg, this four-minute piece captures moments of joy in queer lives at home, in a park, and strolling through a neighbourhood. Poet Elio Zarrillo delivers a spoken-word voice-over to music by Justin Delorme.
“Tough things are going on in the world,” Galloway says, “and I really just want there to be a moment of light and joy for people to watch. That’s the goal that I set out with ‘Embers of Joy’. It was just a labour of love and I’m happy to get to share it with the audience this year.”
Galloway wins Best Impact Award
Galloway was already an accomplished filmmaker before applying to become Out on Screen’s artistic director. She directed and wrote The Cowichan Sweater: Our Knitted Legacy, a 44-minute film about how these garments became a Coast Salish icon. It’s available on CBC Gem.
“Those sweaters will last you 100 years,” she says.
Her short film, “Better at Texting”, won the Best Impact Award at the 2023 CineFAM Film Festival. It explored how people who oppose one another in real life can suddenly click while texting.
“It’s just so interesting to me how we can appear differently through devices than we do in real life,” Galloway comments. “That’s just a little taste of that for me.”
Galloway’s web series, Querencia, was nominated for a Leo Award and a Canadian Screen Award in 2022. It was about two Indigiqueer women in Vancouver.
So why would an accomplished filmmaker and actor choose to become the artistic director of Out on Screen? Galloway replies that she felt a strong calling to apply when the position became available, even though she wasn’t looking for a full-time job.
“I was reading down the list of requirements and what the job entails, and I was like, ‘Wow, that sounds exactly like what I’m passionate about doing—representing and championing queer media and queer filmmakers, and advocating for our voices,’ ” Galloway says.
Amplifying Indigenous voices
In fact, she felt that she was already doing these things in her film career. As artistic director, she has made great strides in Indigenizing the space within the 37-year-old festival, which takes place on unceded traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples.
An example of this this is the festival’s decision to commission Quw’utsun’ artist Charlene Johnny to create this year’s poster. Meanwhile, Galloway and her team are showcasing as many Indigenous and Indigiqueer, Two-Spirit artists as possible.
This includes Mattagami First Nation member Corey Payette, whose Indigiqueer feature Starwalker will have its Vancouver premiere on Saturday (September 13).
“We have lots of great Indigenous performers at our events,” Galloway emphasizes. “And I’ve introduced a new initiative called the MOTY Award, which stands for Matriarch of the Year Award, which I’m really excited about.”
The 37th annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival runs from September 11 to 21 at various locations. Films are also available online from September 22 to 28. For more information, visit the festival website. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia and Bluesky @pancouver.bsky.social. Pancouver is also on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
