meet the folks involved
PROTAGONISTS
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Vaibhav
He/Him | Hindu | Gay | Lives in Toronto | Grew up in India | Dancer + Vocalist
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Ari
They/He | Genderfluid | Lives in Toronto | Drag and Ballroom performer | Orthodox Christian
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Juliana
She/Her | Bisexual | Lives in Kingston | Raised Baptist Christian | Teacher | Poet
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Summeiya
They/Them | Genderfluid | Lives in Toronto | Founder of Queer Muslim Network Toronto | Raised Sunni Muslim
FEATURED ARTISTS
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PHOENIX INANA
Drag & Ballroom Performer
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kunst kids
Drag Collective
specifically featured in the film:
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aura nova
Visual Artist
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Ronnie Riley
Author
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Grace Dixon & Dylan Lodge
Musicans
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mitchell keys
Visual Artist
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Ciara Hayishya
Tattoo Artist
who are we and why did we make this?
Produced and Directed by:
Michal Heuston and Ari Conrad Birch
directors’ statement
As self-described chosen siblings, and hopeful forever collaborators, we first and foremost made this film for each other. In the 2020 lockdowns, when there was little else to do besides sit on a couch with a friend and try to find new things to talk about, we began to explore our unique and complicated relationships with religion. Both of us were raised evangelical Christian and neither of us practice those faiths today. Sharing our experiences of coming into our queerness within religious communities was healing for us, and we began to dream up ways we might be able to have similar conversations with other folks.
We weren’t trauma-mining, we knew based on our own histories that there was as much joy to be found in these stories as there was frustration. And we also knew that usually these stories get told for the benefit of religious audiences; films similar to ours often ask “how can religious communities become more accepting of queer people?”. So instead, we asked “what do we wish our fellow queers understood about their spiritual and religious community members?” and set about designing a film that would be as bright, manifold, and proud as the community we claim. We like to say that this is a movie without much conflict. Aren’t we all a little tired of stories like these being total bummers anyway? Instead, we invite the audience to experience the same beauty that we got to experience: to meet four incredible queers and fall in love with them all. By the end of the film we hope viewers find themselves inspired by the breadth of this community, and see how lucky we all are to share things in common with folks like these.
This film was brought to life thanks to the generous labour and talent of the following people: