Documenting and Archiving

This event is all about queer histories, past and present. It explores a range of approaches to documentation and archiving.

The programme alternates between shorts of around 5min and ‘longer shorts’ of 10+ minutes. The first films are about American and English histories of the 80s-90s. The next couple document millennial queer experiences surrounding advancements in technological communication. And the latter films tell of QTIBPOC resistance, love and solidarity.

This screening will conclude with a panel discussion hosting River Seager of I Am a Cyborg: Conversations About Queerness and Anime, and Campbell X of Still We Thrive, on the importance of documenting queer experiences.

Curated by Nat Lall.

Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of FREE, £2, £4, £6, £8, or £10. To book, click here or call the CCA Box Office on 0141 352 4900.

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Pride TM (2019, Dir. Hogan Seidel): An observational film about the changing environment surrounding pride festivals. This piece specifically looks at my current city of residence, Boston’s Pride Parade. 

Stonewall Postal Action Network (2023, Dir. Sarah Elizabeth Drummond): Stonewall Postal Action Network (SPAN), is a short documentary, telling the story of Austin’s activism, his letter writing campaign and the packing up of his life work for an archive as he contemplates his legacy from his new home in rural Wales.

Digital Natives (2022, Dir. Jo Reid): Made as part of the BBC100 Make Film History project, Digital Natives is a personal exploration of a childhood on the internet. Using the computer desktop like a diary, Digital Natives reflects on posting as performance.

I Am a Cyborg: Conversations About Queerness and Anime (2023, Dir. River Seager): Composed of interviews with LGBT+ individuals, this is a documentary that discusses the popularity of anime in Queer communities. The visual style is heavily influenced by mid-2000s fandom aesthetics, and the discussions rotate around androgyny in anime, television censorship, identity formation, and fandom as a site of expression.

Still We Thrive (2022, Dir. Campbell X): Archive footage of Black history from the Caribbean, United Kingdom, United States and the African continent is interwoven with Black actors speaking direct to camera. Performers are Black – trans / non-binary, and cis including Martina Laird, Michelle Tiwo, Kim Tatum and Don Warrington. Included are poems A Negro Dreams of Rivers by Langston Hughes and Yemoja by Olive Senior. Still We Thrive is a balm to Black people’s mental health now being assailed by images of violence and trauma.

Aangan ‘a blooming space’ (2023, Dir. Shiv Priya): In the world of insensitivity and insecurity, some plants of the new generation of LGBTQI+ community members especially transgenders are flourishing in the courtyard of their Maai(Mother). 

ACCESSIBLITY 

Content Warnings:

• Discussion of transphobia, homophobia, violence, jail, Section 28, bullying, colonisation, racism, slavery, physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse, violence, abduction, sex work.

This screening has an age recommendation of N/C 18+.

85 minutes long with a Q&A after the screening.

English and Hindi audio with English language captions. BSL-English interpretation and live captioning provided for the intro and panel discussion.

We have an Audience Access Fund for travel. If you would like to take this up, please visit the access desk at the entrance of the CCA, or contact [email protected].

You can find out more information about accessibility at SQIFF 2023 here. If you have any questions about accessibility at SQIFF 2023, please get in touch with us at [email protected] or by phone on 07873 331 036.

We ask that you wear a mask if possible and please don’t attend the screening if you have any symptoms of Covid-19 or have been in recent contact with a confirmed case. FFP2 masks will be available for free around the building.

Image: from Still We Thrive (2022, Campbell X)