Vancouver-based charity and queer arts organization Out On Screen and the Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF) have selected Eva Grant, Romi Kim and Jasmine Monton for the inaugural VQFF Programming Disruptor Fellowship.

Led by Out On Screen’s artistic director Charlie Hidalgo, Grant (pictured left) Kim (pictured middle) Monton (pictured right) will enter a program that is designed to train and mentor emerging BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ film programmers in order to diversify and induce “transformative” change in the Canadian film industry, according to a news release.

The 2023 Disruptor Fellows were selected from a pool of 54 applicants, with Grant, Kim and Monton set to receive at least $10,000 apiece throughout the fellowship, which will run from February to August. Spanning five phases, the fellowship will include masterclasses, workshops and hands-on experience as well as speakers such as Emmy, Peabody and Critics Choice Award-nominated film producer Alex Schmider (Changing the Game, DISCLOSURE, Framing Agnes) and LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization GLAAD, according to a news release.

Grant, founder of Tooth & Nail Pictures and creator of the dark comedy web series Degrees of Separation, is a bilingual filmmaker who operates at the “intersection of queer and BIPOC storytelling,” said the release.  Her creative influences include fantasy, futurism, mythology, death, love, and her mixed St’at’imc Indigenous, South and West Asian and European heritage. Grant is also guest director on Couleurs du Nord and in pre-production on a short film as an imagineNATIVE Screenwriting Shorts fellow.

Kim, also known as SKIM in drag, is a genderfluid, second-generation Korean lesbian with a background in video, performance, installation and photography.  They have performed internationally and had their work exhibited in various countries. As SKIM, they are also a coproducer of the drag show Magic Dykes.

Monton, who also goes by the stage name Audder, is a a self-defined “gate-reaper” intent on combating industry gatekeeping and growing healthy arts leadership, said the release. Valuing storytelling that brings dignity, depth, and wonder to the queer community, they are coproducer of the Filipino Fridays podcast and have experience in community outreach, youth mentorship, event co-ordination and music.

The fellowship will culminate in the 35th annual  VQFF, an 11-day event taking place in-person and online Aug. 10 to 20, with Sarah-Tai Black joining the festival and industry programming team. At VQFF, fellows will be credited as festival programmers for their contributions in curating films and events.

“This program is designed to provide participants with a practical toolkit and robust ethical framework that will enable them to approach their curatorial practice in a restorative and impactful way, centering accountability, integrity and community care,” said Hidalgo, in a statement. “Over the coming years, we hope the graduates of this program become a force of transformative change in the Canadian film industry.”

Pictured (L-R): Eva Grant (credit: Berkley Vopnfjord), Romi Kim (credit: Peter Chu) and Jasmine Monton (credit: Jason Cheh)