Program

7pm - 9pm | Arts Court Theatre

Opening Night showcases a broad array of bold voices and diversely talented queer Ottawa-based artists with literary, musical, dance, drag, and theatrical performances.

These on-stage performances are interspersed with choice Canadian and acclaimed international short films. Invited guest directors and actors in attendance!

Programmed by Qu'ART - Ottawa Queer Arts Collective and supported by the National Arts Centre.

9:30pm - 10:15pm | ODD BOX | Ottawa Dance Directive

How far will we go to avoid being alone? A solo that's at times a duet and occasionally a trio, only child places courtship, reproduction, and romance on a pedestal and under a microscope.

Co-presented by MAX Ottawa with Ottawa Dance Directive

10:00pm - 2:00am | Club SAW

Get ready for chromaCAKE - a special edition of CAKE with DJs and performances to celebrate the first-ever night of ChromaQueer Film + Arts Festival.

Co-Presented with Be Proud Productions and supported by the National Arts Centre

12:00pm - 1:45pm | Arts Court Theatre

*Join us for a special post-screening onstage Q&A with lead actor Benjamin Turnbull!

“Giving voice to the types of people rarely given their own cinematic portrayals. ..the slight 73-minute Cherub, which was made for $10,000 but still looks better than many movies made for hundreds of times the budget. A small movie with a huge empathetic core.”

Director Devin Shear’s character study of Harvey - a straight, chubby, single man who decides to submit a photograph of himself to a gay magazine for 'big men and their admirers’.

12:00pm - 1:30pm | ODD BOX | Ottawa Dance Directive

Award winning spoken word artist and theatre creator Billie Nell invites writers of all levels to explore how vivid metaphor and striking imagery can unsettle dominant narratives and normative paradigms and create moments of deep connection across difference.

12:00pm - 1:30pm | Studio B | Ottawa Dance Directive

Using improvisational tasks, set phrasework, and games, we'll move through swing, suspension and release, support from our surroundings, and inspiration from each other.

1:45pm - 3:15pm | Black Box Studio

Join the Ottawa Transformative Justice Collective (and friends) for a discussion and double screening of Truxx and Gay Alien Shame Parade (GASP!), which illuminates the legal struggles and resistance of queer people, from the 1970’s Montreal gay bar scene to an animated imagined Pride parade of creative resistance and care.

3:30pm - 4:30pm | Arts Court Theatre

A queer artist talks openly on creativity & choosing paths

This session will explore the fluidity of an artist’s journey, and how destinations and goals change with artistic purpose. Welsh-born actor, playwright, filmmaker and Director,
Peter Darney will look at how all roles, both in and out of the industry, can cross-pollinate to strengthen your practice, and shares the joys of wearing many hats in an industry that wants to put you in a box.

3:30pm - 5:30pm | Studio B | Ottawa Dance Directive

A program of rarely- or never before-screened short videos by Canadian queer and trans sex worker activists, or interviews featuring them, from the 1970s-1990s.

4:30pm - 6:00pm | Arts Court Theatre

Featuring local drag community icon China Doll !

From Ottawa to Vancouver , a collection of 4 short films that showcase the creativity of chosen families and queer identities from the Asian diaspora across Canada

4:45 pm -6pm | Black Box Studio

A free screening of some locally-made shorts and docs,
From an early 1990’s Making Scenes Festival short, to creativity through the pandemic, to a full sound on final cut delivered just in time on opening day to debut at ChromaQueer 2025.
Look what can be done.

5:30pm - 7:00pm | Studio B | Ottawa Dance Directive

This program celebrates the San Francisco Bay Area as an epicenter of sexual liberation and erotic representation.

6:00pm - 7:30pm | Arts Court Theatre

A multi-genre selection of queer Welsh films! Following the screenings, there will be a talk back with Peter Darney, the programme's curator.

7:15pm - 7:50pm | Black Box Studio

Manifest is a compelling documentary that explores creativity, resilience, and the realities of pursuing artistic dreams.

An evening curated by
JAYEL LAMONT MusicByJayel

Documentary directed by Alexis Brown (USA/Toronto) - https://byaib.com/ 

Manifest captures the journey of dance director Marcus Isaiah ln his debut effort to produce his own show, leading up to an extraordinary performance hosted at the iconic Kennedy Center.

7:30pm - 8:15pm | ODD BOX | Ottawa Dance Directive

How far will we go to avoid being alone? A solo that's at times a duet and occasionally a trio, only child places courtship, reproduction, and romance on a pedestal and under a microscope.

8pm -10pm ‍ | Black Box Studio ‍

An evening curated by
JAYEL LAMONT MusicByJayel

2019 | Canada | English | Documentary | 102 min

Join this free screening and community chat before our Bumpah2Bumpah dance party!

Our Dance of Revolution tells the story of how Black queer folks in Toronto faced every adversity, from invisibility to police brutality, and rose up to become a vibrant, triple-snap-fierce community.

Our Dance of Revolution is a human-scale reckoning of how audacious individuals find themselves by finding others, and how they muster the courage, tenacity, and creativity to prevail against the forces of marginalization.

10pm - 1am ‍ | Black Box Studio

Ottawa’s showcase of Black Queer DJs!.

An evening curated by
JAYEL LAMONT
MusicByJayel

Let’s dance! Just as we saw in
Our Dance Of Revolution,
the Bumpah2Bumpah party shows us how Black Queer history is being written right before our very eyes here in Ottawa

11:00am - 1:00pm | ODD BOX | Ottawa Dance Directive

At this life drawing event led by Atelier Denu, nude models of diverse genders pose together in twos and in threes.

12:30pm - 1:30pm | Black Box Studio

Dive into the Transgender Media Portal and learn all about trans filmmaking through the ages! With Professor Laura Horak of Carleton University, we’ll have some computers you can use to browse through the 1000+ filmmakers and 1000+ media works in the Portal.

12:00pm - 1:30pm | Arts Court Theatre

Join Cirque de Soleil's Bouffon master Massimo Agostinelli & performance artist Mikiki for this special chat on how fun, sex and creativity can keep us keeping on, with a program of short films that centre the lives of HIV+ people.

2:00pm - 2:55pm | Black Box Studio

Meagan O’Shea directs five dancers moving through and from SHAME, FEAR, REPULSION to a collective healing of the damage done to femalia to find DESIRE, CURIOSITY and TRUST to (re)claim JOY.

PLUS, Kim Farris-Manning’s King of Chlorophyll, a drag arborist graphic audio chapbook.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | ODD BOX | Ottawa Dance Directive

Through this “trans-fabulous” rockumentary and two short films , meet trans musicians through the ages, off stage and on. From the smooth soul sounds of Jackie Shane in 1960s Toronto, to the mumble punk of Edmonton’s Jesse Jams, this screening explores the multi-dimensional lives of transgender and gender variant musicians.

3:00pm - 5:00pm | Arts Court Theatre

After a sixteen-year run that concluded in 2007, Wilde About Sappho—Lambda’s pioneering 2SLGBTQIA+ literary gala—returns for one special afternoon to mark Lambda Foundation’s 40th Anniversary as part of ChromaQueer, Ottawa’s new Queer Film + Arts Festival.

4:30pm - 6:00pm | ODD BOX | Ottawa Dance Directive

Key of T is an audience co-created music/theater performance featuring genderqueer/trans singer Ari Agha (they/them) and everyone who shows up! Key of T reminds us of our vocal range and genderful freedom. Join us to hear yourself anew and be a part of the choir!

7:30pm - 9:00pm | Black Box Studio

ChromaQueer's closing night event, in partnership with VERSeOttawa: Celebrated researcher and artist Michael V. Smith brings his new show ‘Soundtrack: a karaoke + poetry party", marrying a unique performance of karaoke songs with spoken word.