Jury Announces Winners

Jury Award for Best Documentary

The documentary jury awards the Best Documentary award to Chase Joynt's Framing Agnes for its innovative filmmaking and superb craftsmanship. Joynt's employ of well-known trans creatives and performers to recreate and reframe an imperfect archival record shines a spotlight on a heretofore hidden part of Queer history. It's a story worth knowing and celebrating.

Screen ‘Framing Agnes’ on XERB

The jury would also like to give an Honorable Mention to Rita Bagdhadi's Sirens for its documentation of a subject we rarely see: Queer feminist women in a Lebanese metal band. In its specificity we see the universal: the messy interrelationship of personal and professional life, intergenerational tension, and what it means to be an intersectionally Queer outsider in a world not meant for you.

Chris Chin
James Nadeau
CJ Russo

Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature

The jury has chosen to honor two films this year with the Best Narrative award. Gustavo Vinagre's Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter and Bretten Hannam's Wildhood both resonated with the jury resulting in Wicked Queer's first tie result for Best Narrative film. Vinagre's story of three young queer people living their lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil amidst a pandemic took us on a refreshingly beautiful cinematic journey. Replete with touches of magical realism and an excellent cast, Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter reminded us of the power of queer storytelling.

Bretten Hannam's Wildhood presented characters and a world not often depicted on screen. Hannam's deft casting and sharp script elevates the film above its genre confines and gives us a Queer Indigenous story that feels true and real. Both of these films are truly visionary and show us the potential for innovative Queer storytelling.

Screen ‘Wildhood’ on XERB

We would also like to highlight Adrian Silvestre's My Emptiness and I for honorable mention. Silvestre's story of Raphaelle's journey as a transgender woman is raw, honest, and intensly intimate.

Screen ‘My Emptiness and I’ on XERB

Wendy Jo Carlton
Qwin Mbabazi
Kat Setzer

Audience Awards Coming Soon

We’ll announce our audience awards soon. Keep voting for your favorite shorts and features in the comments on XERB! Wicked Queer’s 38 Festival is on XERB.tv through April 30.

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