Inside Out Film and Video Festival

The Inside Out Film and Video Festival (formerly, Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival), also known as the Inside Out LGBT or LGBTQ Film Festival, is an annual Canadian film festival, which presents a program of LGBT-related film. The festival is staged in both Toronto and Ottawa. Founded in 1991, the festival is now the largest of its kind in Canada. Deadline dubbed it "Canada’s foremost LGBTQ film festival."

The organization also presents a series of film screenings throughout the year outside of the dedicated festival, as well as a touring program of short film screenings in smaller towns and cities within Southern Ontario. The organization's current executive director is Lauren Howes, who succeeded Andria Wilson in 2021.

Toronto LGBT Film Festival
First held at Toronto's Euclid Theatre in 1991, Inside Out celebrated its festival with a small community of people who yearned to see film and video created by and about lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people. The festival was briefly the subject of controversy in 1993, when Metro Toronto council refused an arts grant to support the 1994 festival on the grounds of "community standards", even though the council had given grants to the festival in both 1991 and 1992 without issue. The festival was able to make up the lost funding that year when numerous arts organizations in the city, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Toronto International Film Festival, the National Ballet School, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, and the Danny Grossman Dance Company made donations to the festival.

The festival has since expanded to incorporate a variety of programs related to the promotion and development of LGBT films and filmmakers in Canada. Currently the largest event of its kind in Canada, Deadline dubbed it "Canada’s foremost LGBTQ film festival." Previously staged at a variety of venues in Toronto, the festival is now staged at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Since 2009, RBC Royal Bank has served as the presenting sponsor of the Toronto Festival. The festival bills itself as "a not-for-profit registered charity that exists to challenge attitudes and change lives through the promotion, production and exhibition of film made by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people of all ages, races and abilities."

In 2016, a number of local activists launched the Toronto Queer Film Festival, an alternative intended for filmmakers and audiences who perceive Inside Out's current programming as too commercialized and mainstream.

In March 2020, the festival organizers announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the 2020 festival, normally scheduled for May, would be postponed to October. In July, they announced that the Toronto and Ottawa events would be combined into a single digital event. Due to the unique online nature of the event, the winners of the juried awards were announced at the beginning of the festival, as a tool to help publicize the winners during the festival, although audience-voted awards were still announced after the festival's conclusion.

The 2021 festival returned to the event's traditional scheduling in late May, although it was still staged online. The event was available to viewers throughout Ontario; the films in the Spotlight on Canada program were screened for free through a sponsorship agreement with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The online platform that was used for both the 2020 and 2021 festivals is also planned to remain in permanent operation, both as a year-round distribution platform for LGBTQ films and as an additional accessibility option once the festival is able to return to traditional physical screenings.

Ottawa LGBT Film Festival
In 2007, the Inside Out festival expanded to Ottawa, soon after the demise of the city's earlier Making Scenes Film and Video Festival. Originally presented at the ByTowne Cinema, since 2016 the event has been staged at the National Gallery of Canada.

In 2009, the festival faced controversy when the Canada Border Services Agency impounded prints of the films Patrik, Age 1.5, I Can't Think Straight, and Clapham Junction that were en route to the festival, even though all three films had previously been screened elsewhere in Canada without incident.

Other programs
In addition to the annual film festival events, the Inside Out organization also offers a number of dedicated training and funding programs to foster the creation of LGBT-themed film in Canada.

In 1998, with the support of Charles Street Video, Inside Out initiated the Queer Video Mentorship Project to provide opportunities for youth to learn video production in a supportive atmosphere. Queer youth under the age of 25 are mentored through the process of making their first videos, from storyboarding and shooting to post-production and editing. In celebration of the festival's 20th anniversary in 2010, Inside Out expanded this into a multi-generational program bringing together LGBT youth and seniors over the age of 55. To date, close to 100 new artists have created work through the project. The works are screened at the festival and many go on to play at festivals around the globe. Each year, the works are compiled and distributed free to schools and community organizations.

In 2001, Inside Out launched the inaugural John Bailey Film and Video Completion Fund. Named in recognition of the contribution of a longtime Inside Out supporter and advisory board member, the fund awards grants ranging from $500 to $2,000 to Canadian filmmakers with work in the final stages of production.

Inaugurated in 2002, the Mark S. Bonham Scholarship for Queer Studies in Film and Video awards a $5,000 cash scholarship to a Canadian student who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, to pursue post-secondary studies in the field of film or video. The first scholarship was awarded in September 2002 to Adam Garnet Jones from Vancouver. Subsequent recipients were Mary Fogarty, Christopher Sanchez, Jung Kim, Cam Matamoros, Jo Simalaya Alcampo, Rachel Smyth, and Jordan Tannahill.

In 2018, the festival launched the Focus Fund to support work by LGBTQ female and non-binary filmmakers. It also organizes an annual Finance Forum, providing an opportunity for emerging filmmakers to pitch LGBT-related projects in development to potential production funders.

In 2019, the festival partnered with streaming service Crave as a branding partner on the service's new portal for LGBTQ film and television content, as well as launching a partnership with Netflix to support the development and funding of new LGBTQ-oriented film and television content in Canada.

In 2020, through the Focus Fund, the festival launched a special emergency relief fund, offering grants of up to $2,500 to projects impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival was also one of the key partners, alongside Outfest Los Angeles, the Frameline Film Festival, and the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, in launching the North American Queer Festival Alliance, an initiative to further publicize and promote LGBT film.

Inside Out Arts Endowment Fund
The Inside Out Arts Endowment Fund was established in December 2001 through the Ontario Arts Foundation to provide a stable base of funding for Inside Out in the future. The fund was created thanks to a generous founding gift from Mark Bonham of $200,000, and it is currently valued at close to $300,000. Supporters of Inside Out can make tax-deductible donations specifically to the Endowment Fund.

Audience Award for Best Feature Film

 * 1998 - Everything Will Be Fine (Alles wird gut), Angelina Maccarone
 * 1999 - Better Than Chocolate, Anne Wheeler
 * 2000 - The Adventures of Felix (Drôle de Félix), Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau
 * 2001 - Big Eden, Thomas Bezucha
 * 2002 - Gypsy 83, Todd Stephens
 * 2003 - Madame Satã, Karim Aïnouz
 * 2004 - Latter Days, C. Jay Cox
 * 2005 - Saving Face, Alice Wu
 * 2006 - A Love to Hide, Christian Faure
 * 2007 - The Bubble, Eytan Fox
 * 2008 - Were the World Mine, Tom Gustafson
 * 2009 - The Baby Formula, Alison Reid
 * 2010 - The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, James Kent
 * 2011 - Weekend, Andrew Haigh
 * 2012 - Margarita, Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert
 * 2013 - Reaching for the Moon, Bruno Barreto
 * 2014 - Tru Love, Kate Johnston and Shauna MacDonald
 * 2015 - 4th Man Out, Andrew Nackman
 * 2016 - Angry Indian Goddesses, Pan Nalin
 * 2017 - Sisterhood, Tracy Choi
 * 2018 - White Rabbit, Daryl Wein
 * 2019 - Billie and Emma, Samantha Lee
 * 2020 - Gossamer Folds, Lisa Donato
 * 2021 - Love, Spells and All That, Ümit Ünal
 * 2022 - We Will Never Belong, Amelia Eloisa
 * 2023 - I Used to Be Funny, Ally Pankiw
 * 2024 - Sisters, Susie Yankou

Audience Award for Best Short Film

 * 1998 - Jangri, Safiya Randera and My Cunt, Deb Strutt and Liz Baulch
 * 1999 - Below the Belt, Laurie Colbert and Dominique Cardona; Pom, Joanna Ingalls and Mocha Jean Herrup
 * 2000 - Crush, Phillip Bartell
 * 2001 - Interviews with My Next Girlfriend, Cassandra Nicolaou
 * 2002 - Dildo Diaries, Laura Barton, Judy Wilder and Carol Cunningham
 * 2003 - I Am Good Inside, Jo Si Malaya
 * 2004 - Listen, Susan Justin
 * 2005 - Irene Williams: Queen of Lincoln Road, Eric Smith
 * 2006 - Latch Key, Garth Bardsley and In Search of My Chinese Girlfriend, Lisa Wong
 * 2007 - Hello, My Name Is Herman, Karine Silverwoman
 * 2008 - Pariah, Dee Rees
 * 2009 - Get Happy: A Coming of Age Musical Extravaganza, Mark Payne
 * 2010 - The Armoire, Jamie Travis
 * 2011 - Change, Melissa Osborne and Jeff McCutcheon
 * 2012 - N/A
 * 2013 - Stop Calling Me Honey Bunny, Gabrielle Zilkha
 * 2014 - Living in the Overlap, Cindy Hill and Mary Dalton
 * 2015 - In the Hollow, Austin Lee Bunn
 * 2016 - Oh-Be-Joyful, Susan Jacobson
 * 2017 - Picture This, Jari Osborne
 * 2018 - Pop Rox, Nate Trinrud
 * 2019 - Thrive, Jamie Dispirito
 * 2020 - The Butterfly, Shiho Fukada
 * 2021 - Noor & Layla, Fawzia Mirza
 * 2022 - How Not to Date While Trans, Nyala Moon
 * 2023 - Apayauq, Zeppelin Zeerip
 * 2024 - The History of the Carabiner, Gianna Mazzeo

Best Canadian Film

 * 1998 - The Grace of God, John L'Ecuyer
 * 1999 - Laugh in the Dark, Justine Pimlott
 * 2000 - Johnny Greyeyes, Jorge Manzano
 * 2001 - Hey, Happy!, Noam Gonick; My Left Breast, Gerry Rogers
 * 2002 - Miss 501: A Portrait of Luck, Clint Alberta
 * 2003 - Saved by the Belles, Ziad Touma
 * 2004 - Sugar, John Palmer
 * 2005 - Everyone, Bill Marchant
 * 2006 - Amnesia: The James Brighton Enigma, Denis Langlois; 533 Statements, Tori Foster
 * 2007 - The Chinese Botanist's Daughters, Dai Sijie
 * 2008 - Be Like Others, Tanaz Eshaghian
 * 2009 - Fig Trees, John Greyson
 * 2010 - Mark, Mike Hoolboom
 * 2011 - Home of the Buffalo, Rémy Huberdeau
 * 2012 - She Said Boom: The Story of Fifth Column, Kevin Hegge
 * 2013 - For Dorian, Rodrigo Barriuso
 * 2014 - Tom at the Farm, Xavier Dolan
 * 2015 - What We Have (Ce qu'on a), Maxime Desmons
 * 2016 - Closet Monster, Stephen Dunn
 * 2017 - Rebels on Pointe, Bobbi Jo Hart
 * 2018 - Love, Scott, Laura Marie Wayne
 * 2019 - Drag Kids, Megan Wennberg
 * 2020 - No Ordinary Man, Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt
 * 2021 - Fanny: The Right to Rock, Bobbi Jo Hart
 * 2022 - Out in the Ring, Ry Levey
 * 2023 - Supporting Our Selves, Lulu Wei
 * 2024 - A Mother Apart, Laurie Townshend

Best First Feature Film (Bill Sherwood Award)

 * 2009 - To Each Her Own, Heather Tobin
 * 2010 - Plan B, Marco Berger
 * 2011 - Black Field, Vardis Marinakis
 * 2012 - N/A
 * 2013 - Animals, Marçal Forés
 * 2014 - 52 Tuesdays, Sophie Hyde
 * 2015 - How to Win at Checkers (Every Time), Josh Kim
 * 2016 - Spa Night, Andrew Ahn
 * 2017 - God's Own Country, Francis Lee
 * 2018 - Retablo, Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio
 * 2019 - A Dog Barking at the Moon, Xiang Zi
 * 2020 - No Hard Feelings (Futur Drei), Faraz Shariat
 * 2021 - Sweetheart, Marley Morrison
 * 2022 - Homebody, Joseph Sackett
 * 2023 - Almamula, Juan Sebastian Torales
 * 2024 - A Mother Apart, Laurie Townshend

Best Documentary

 * 1998 - The Brandon Teena Story, Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir
 * 1999 - I Know a Place, Roy Mitchell
 * 2000 - Living with Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100, Yvonne Welbon
 * 2001 - Queen of the Whole Wide World, Roger Hyde
 * 2002 - Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House, Deborah Dickson
 * 2003 - Children of the Crocodile, Marsha Emerman
 * 2004 - Superstar in a Housedress, Craig B. Highberger
 * 2005 - Fag Hags: Women Who Love Gay Men, Justine Pimlott
 * 2006 - The End of Second Class, Nancy Nicol
 * 2007 - Red Without Blue, Benita Sills, Todd Sills and Brooke Sebold
 * 2008 - She's a Boy I Knew, Gwen Haworth
 * 2009 - Ferron: Girl on a Road, Gerry Rogers
 * 2010 - The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, Leanne Pooley
 * 2011 - We Were Here, David Weissman
 * 2012 - N/A
 * 2013 - Bridegroom, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
 * 2014 - Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, Michele Josue
 * 2015 - Game Face, Michiel Thomas
 * 2016 - Major!, Annalise Ophelian
 * 2017 - Chavela, Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi
 * 2018 - Call Her Ganda, PJ Raval
 * 2019 - We Are the Radical Monarchs, Linda Goldstein Knowlton
 * 2020 - Little Girl (La petite fille), Sébastien Lifshitz
 * 2021 - A Sexplanation, Alexander Liu
 * 2022 - Gateways Grind, Jacquie Lawrence
 * 2023 - Leilani's Fortune, Loveleen Kaur
 * 2024 - A Mother Apart, Laurie Townshend

Best Canadian Short Film

 * 1998 - Why I Hate Bees, Sarah Abbott
 * 1999 - Swerve, Andrea Dorfman
 * 2000 - Helpless Maiden Makes an I Statement, Thirza Cuthand; Unmapping Desire, Sheila James; Quiver, Scott Beveridge
 * 2001 - Rainmakers Zimbabwe, Robbie Hart; Sea in the Blood, Richard Fung; Viens Dehors! (Come Out!), Éric Tessier
 * 2002 - Play, She Said, Lex Vaughn; The Salivation Army, Scott Treleaven
 * 2003 - This Boy, Amy Burt; Audition Tape, Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay
 * 2004 - Listen, Susan Justin; A Moth and a Butterfly, Gilbert Kwong
 * 2005 - Girl on Girl, Miss Nomer Collective
 * 2006 - Jean Genet in Chicago, Frederic Moffat; Sweater People, Nicole Chung
 * 2007 - The Saddest Boy in the World, Jamie Travis; Black Men and Me, Michèle Pearson Clarke
 * 2008 - For a Relationship, Jim Verburg
 * 2009 - The Golden Pin, Cuong Ngo
 * 2010 - Rex vs. Singh, Richard Fung, John Greyson and Ali Kazimi
 * 2011 - Dance to Miss Chief, Kent Monkman
 * 2012 - Narcissus, Coral Short
 * 2013 - Stop Calling Me Honey Bunny, Gabrielle Zilkha
 * 2014 - Waack Revolt: A Dance Film, Sonia Hong
 * 2015 - Hole, Martin Edralin
 * 2016 - Never Steady, Never Still, Kathleen Hepburn
 * 2017 - Picture This, Jari Osborne
 * 2018 - The Things You Think I'm Thinking, Sherren Lee
 * 2019 - Soft Spot, Justine Stevens
 * 2020 - Swimmers, Chris Ross
 * 2021 - You Will Still Be Here Tomorrow, Michael Hanley
 * 2022 - Thot or Not, Dylan Glynn
 * 2023 - Adore, Beth Warrian
 * 2024 - Friend of a Friend (Ami d'ami), Simon Gualtieri

Emerging Canadian Artist

 * 2011 - Swim, Jordan Tannahill
 * 2012 - Akin, Chase Joynt
 * 2013 - Happy Birthday Chad!, Jason Sharman
 * 2014 - Tru Love, Kate Johnston and Shauna MacDonald; 100 Crushes, Chapter 6: They, Elisha Lim
 * 2015 - Beat, Tricia Hagoriles
 * 2016 - Pyotr495, Blake Mawson
 * 2017 - Faggot (Tapette), Olivier Perrier
 * 2018 - For Nonna Anna, Luis De Filippis
 * 2019 - Skies Are Not Just Blue, Lysandre Cosse-Tremblay
 * 2020 - Body So Fluorescent, David Di Giovanni
 * 2021 - Pitoc e icinakosian, Jos-Onimskiw Ottawa-Dubé and Gerry Ottawa
 * 2022 - Save the Date, Bria McLaughlin
 * 2023 - Scaring Women at Night, Karimah Zakia Issa
 * 2924 - I'll Tell You When I'm Ready, Hayley Morin

Outstanding Performance

 * 2024 - Lou Goossens, Young Hearts

Pitch, Please!

 * 2024 - I'm Gonna Kill You, Andrew Chappelle