Gloria Mercer is an award-winning director from East Vancouver, BC, on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She is a proud alumna of the Simon Fraser University film program and Women in the Director’s Chair.
Gloria’s feature film debut, A Safe Distance, which she directed and produced, will have its world premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival. A Safe Distance is based on the short film of the same, which screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2021. The feature received support from the Canada Council for the Arts and Creative BC, and is being distributed in Canada by Vortex Media.
Gloria’s award-winning short films have screened at festivals around the world. In 2016, Gloria directed Bombing, which won best student film at the Whistler Film Festival. In 2020, Gloria directed Hekademia, which was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Film Board of Canada. Hekademia went on to win Best Sci-Fi at the Oscar-Qualifying Hollyshorts Film Festival. It screened on CBC as part of the Canadian Reflections program and was released on CBC Gem.
In 2021, Gloria was one of three filmmakers selected for the prestigious Harold Greenberg Shorts to Features grant for her film Smoke Eater. Smoke Eater screened at the Whistler Film Festival and the San Luis Obispo Film Festival and was later released on Crave Canada. Gloria has pitched at the 2023 MPPIA Short Film Pitch at Whistler Film Festival and the Film London Production Finance Market.
Gloria is passionate about featuring complex women on screen and challenging the idea of a “strong female character”.