Vancouver's first BIPOC horror film festival is in the making.
The "Horror in Seconds" festival aims to decolonize the horror genre by re-centring Black and Indigenous narratives and spotlighting the city's emerging BIPOC filmmakers and artists.
The force behind this initiative is Doaa Magdy, an interdisciplinary artist and educator living in Vancouver who developed a passion for the horror genre at five years old.
"As a Black child, I always identified with aliens and ghosts because, like me, they represent the 'other' that society fears," shares Magdy.
The artist aims to launch the film festival in November this year with help from the local community and a fundraiser.
"'Horror in Seconds' will revolutionize, reshape and decolonize the concept of film festivals by granting the opportunity for viewers to witness the magic these underrepresented artists are capable of when given the opportunity to unleash their creativity," reads the fundraiser webpage. "This is an initiative to reclaim the predominantly white horror space as a praxis of decolonization."
While the film festival's debut is months away, the first step is to raise enough funds to guarantee venue bookings. As of March 3, the fundraiser has gathered $340 toward its $18,500 goal.
Money donated will go towards venue rentals, festival programming such as workshops and talks, graphic design, video and photography, equipment, an honorarium for Indigenous consultation, and more.
