Rookie - SOLD OUT
2025-10-28 18:30 - 20:30 UTC | The Boardwalk, The Boardwalk, 105 Brunswick St, Glasgow, G1 1TF
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**Please note this event is now sold out – we may be able to release more tickets nearer the screening. We are operating a waiting list for sold out events on the platform Ticket Tailor, where we sell our tickets for SQIFF 2025 – please add your name to the waitlist and you’ll be notified by Ticket Tailor if any tickets become available!**

Ace is a tall, awkward teenager who moves to an all-girls Catholic high school in the Philippines. The volleyball coach spots Ace on her first day, and invites her to try out for the team. She is initially no good at the sport and socially ostracised, but things begin to change when she falls for the highly motivated team captain, Jana, who dislikes her because she sees her as a threat. But the girls and their teammates must nonetheless join forces: not only to successfully compete in competitions, but also to face up against a more disturbing, insidious threat. Powered by authentic performances, Samantha Lee’s heartfelt film captures the resilience of the young athlete as she struggles for acceptance, and the strength of female solidarity in a society rigged against women.
Curated by Queer East.

Click here to book your ticket for this event
Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of FREE, £4, £8, £12, £16, or £20, in order to make SQIFF more accessible to those on a low income. You can choose what you pay based on your circumstances – you won’t be asked for any proof/ID. We just ask that you are honest! Please find the ‘What Should I Pay?’ guidance here.

Accessibility
This programme has:

Philippines, English and Tagalog audio with English language Descriptive Subtitles
English-BSL interpretation for introduction. The interpreter for this event is Lou Hanson.
Live Captioning for introduction
Content notes: Depiction of sexual assault. Discussion of distressing themes.

This screening is 94 minutes long and has an age recommendation of N/C 15+.
If you require access seating please get in touch. Access seating includes: wheelchair spaces, bean bag seating, sitting in the front row / in the aisle / at the back. If you need any other provisions, please let us know by emailing info@sqiff.org with your name, ticket information and access request. If you are attending with companions and they need seating with you please also let us know. We will provide one free PA ticket for people who require any type of assistance (all tickets are pay what you can). We will do our best to work with you whilst also managing the capacity of each venue. Thank you for working with us on this.
You can find out more information about accessibility at SQIFF 2025 here. If you have any questions about accessibility at SQIFF 2025, please get in touch with us at info@sqiff.org or by phone on 07873 331 036.

Donate:
Donate to SQIFF via PayPal or sign up to one of our four Patreon tiers to support our work and show us you’re a big SQIFF fan 🌈✨

Supported by Screen Scotland, the BFI Audience Projects Fund and Film Hub Scotland (part of the BFI Film Audience Network), all awarding National Lottery funding.

Image Credit: Rookie, Dir. Samantha Lee, 2023

Eachdraidh Na Tìre - SOLD OUT
2025-10-30 18:00 - 20:00 | GMAC Film, 103 Trongate, Glasgow, Scotland, G1 5HD, United Kingdom
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**Please note this event is now sold out – we may be able to release more tickets nearer the screening. We are operating a waiting list for sold out events on the platform Ticket Tailor, where we sell our tickets for SQIFF 2025 – please add your name to the waitlist and you’ll be notified by Ticket Tailor if any tickets become available!**

Eachdraidh Na Tìre is a screening of two short films by Scottish filmmakers that explore queer connections to place, memory, and belonging. Rooted in the landscapes of Scotland, the programme reflects on how the land holds traces of marginalised histories and how these can be reclaimed through queer storytelling.
The films offer personal and poetic reflections on identity and resilience, asking how we relate to the places we come from and the spaces we move through. They invite us to consider whose stories are remembered, whose are erased, and how queer people continue to shape and be shaped by Scotland’s shifting cultural and physical environments.
The screening will open with a poetry performance by Esraa Husain, who will also lead a post-screening workshop exploring personal and collective connections to land through a queer lens.
Curated by Take One Action Film Festivals.

Click here to book your ticket for this event
Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of FREE, £4, £8, £12, £16, or £20, in order to make SQIFF more accessible to those on a low income. You can choose what you pay based on your circumstances – you won’t be asked for any proof/ID. We just ask that you are honest! Please find the ‘What Should I Pay?’ guidance here.

Accessibility
This programme has:

British Sign Language (BSL), English, Scottish Gaelic audio with English language Descriptive Subtitles
English-BSL interpretation for introduction and workshop. The interpreter for this event is Lisa Li.
Live Captioning for introduction and workshop

This screening is 60 minutes long and has an age recommendation of N/C 15+.
If you require access seating please get in touch. Access seating includes: wheelchair spaces, bean bag seating, sitting in the front row / in the aisle / at the back. If you need any other provisions, please let us know by emailing info@sqiff.org with your name, ticket information and access request. If you are attending with companions and they need seating with you please also let us know. We will provide one free PA ticket for people who require any type of assistance (all tickets are pay what you can). We will do our best to work with you whilst also managing the capacity of each venue. Thank you for working with us on this.
You can find out more information about accessibility at SQIFF 2025 here. If you have any questions about accessibility at SQIFF 2025, please get in touch with us at info@sqiff.org or by phone on 07873 331 036.

Films in this programme include:
Dissonance, Dir. Aderayo Adenekan, 2025, United Kingdom, 30 min
Experimental short following a young Black woman exploring her queerness after moving cities, battling internal conflict from homophobic upbringing. Split between wordless narrative and documentary epilogue, the film uses movement, sound, and symbolism to capture psychological dissonance between taught identity and authentic self-discovery.
Content notes: Discussion of homophobia, racism, transphobia.
Access notes: Flashing lights.

who will be remembered here, Dirs. Michael Sherrington, Lewis Hetherington, CJ Mahony, 2025, United Kingdom, 30 min
A cry against cultural erasure. Four queer people across Scotland’s historic landscapes question the stories we tell and their impact on future generations. This intimate film archives marginalized identities, claiming space in history as a beacon for those who follow—a tender refusal to be forgotten.
Content notes: Discussion of death, war, queer and disabled erasure.

Donate:
Donate to SQIFF via PayPal or sign up to one of our four Patreon tiers to support our work and show us you’re a big SQIFF fan 🌈✨

Supported by Screen Scotland, the BFI Audience Projects Fund and Film Hub Scotland (part of the BFI Film Audience Network), all awarding National Lottery funding.

Image Credit: Dissonance, Dir. Aderayo Adenekan, 2025

Closing Film: Dreams in Nightmares - SOLD OUT
2025-11-01 19:00 - 21:00 | The Social Hub, The Social Hub, Candleriggs Square, Glasgow, G1 1TQ
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**Please note this event is now sold out – we may be able to release more tickets nearer the screening. We are operating a waiting list for sold out events on the platform Ticket Tailor, where we sell our tickets for SQIFF 2025 – please add your name to the waitlist and you’ll be notified by Ticket Tailor if any tickets become available!**

Three queer black femmes embark on a road trip across the Midwest United States in search of their missing friend. The trio face challenges as they encounter different communities along their journey and this prompts reflection on the group as friends, as well as individuals.
Expect tender friends and lovers, open country roads and a chance to dream in a world of nightmares.
The winner of Best Scottish Shorts will be announced at the end of this event.
Curated by Nat Lall.

Click here to book your ticket for this event
Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of FREE, £4, £8, £12, £16, or £20, in order to make SQIFF more accessible to those on a low income. You can choose what you pay based on your circumstances – you won’t be asked for any proof/ID. We just ask that you are honest! Please find the ‘What Should I Pay?’ guidance here.

Accessibility:
This programme has:

Content notes: Depiction of alcohol use, distressing argument scenes, nudity, sex. Discussion of racism and transphobia.
English audio with English language Descriptive Subtitles
English-BSL interpretation for introduction. The interpreter for this event is Sula Brookes.
Live Captioning for introduction

This screening is 128 minutes long and has an age recommendation of N/C 18+.
If you require access seating please get in touch. Access seating includes: wheelchair spaces, bean bag seating, sitting in the front row / in the aisle / at the back. If you need any other provisions, please let us know by emailing info@sqiff.org with your name, ticket information and access request. If you are attending with companions and they need seating with you please also let us know. We will provide one free PA ticket for people who require any type of assistance (all tickets are pay what you can). We will do our best to work with you whilst also managing the capacity of each venue. Thank you for working with us on this.
You can find out more information about accessibility at SQIFF 2025 here. If you have any questions about accessibility at SQIFF 2025, please get in touch with us at info@sqiff.org or by phone on 07873 331 036.

Donate:
Donate to SQIFF via PayPal or sign up to one of our four Patreon tiers to support our work and show us you’re a big SQIFF fan 🌈✨

Supported by Screen Scotland, the BFI Audience Projects Fund and Film Hub Scotland (part of the BFI Film Audience Network), all awarding National Lottery funding.

Image Credit: Dreams in Nightmares, Dir. Shatara Michelle Ford, 2024

Queer as Punk + intro + pre-recorded Q&A
2026-05-13 20:30 - 22:30 | Edinburgh Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9BZ
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Cinetopia:DOC in collaboration with SQIFF presents this Scottish special preview of Queer As Punk ahead of its wider UK release with T A P E Collective. The screening will have an introduction by artist Kai Khidir Hassan (fka Aki Hassan) and the film will be followed by a 20-minute pre-recorded Q&A.

Faris is a transman and the lead singer of “Shh..Diam!” (meaning “shut up!” in Malay), an openly queer punk band in Malaysia. Together with his bandmates Yon and Yoyo, they use their music to fight for LGBTQI+ rights in a country where conservative Muslim policies and society severely curtail human rights and freedom of expression. As discrimination against them intensifies, Yoyo chooses to leave the country. However in the face of the many challenges, Faris opts to stay, determined to continue using their music as a platform to advocate for freedom and equality, refusing to let the pressures of society silence their voice.
Director Yihwen Chen followed the trio for several years as they toured, documenting their gigs, experiences, and wide-ranging discussions. Queer As Punk continue to use their nonconformist live performances to fight for justice, in the face of intense pressure to and threats to silence their voices.
Kai Khidir Hassan (fka Aki Hassan) is a visual artist, researcher and organiser who primarily works with expanded sculpture, drawing and self-publishing. Rooted in collaborative inquiry and community-building, Aki’s practice extends beyond the studio into organising spaces that foreground collective knowledge, mutual support, and slower modes of active engagement.
Cinetopia:DOC is a monthly club bringing audiences together around exceptional documentary films alongside filmmaker Q&As or conversations, followed by continued discussion and networking in the Filmhouse Bar. Cinetopia:DOC is supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI and the Scottish Documentary Institute and produced by Cinetopia, a hub of activity around filmgoing and filmmaking based in Edinburgh.
SQIFF (Scottish Queer International Film Festival) is a charity formed with the aim of showcasing diverse queer cinema and uplifting creative voices from the LGBTQIA+ community in Scotland and beyond. The organisation runs an annual film festival in Glasgow, pop-up and year-round events, and community-focused programmes across Scotland.
T A P E Collective: Reppin’ could-be-cult classics, T A P E is a UK-based film company working across exhibition and distribution to platform the works of global majority filmmakers. Cross-curatorial, but firmly rooted in film, T A P E creates ties with art, music, talks and more, to bring exciting and subversive filmmaking to new and established audiences. With a focus on representation, identity and heritage, we champion the forgotten could-be cult films of the festival circuit.
Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of FREE, £4, £8, £12, £16, or £20. To book your ticket for this event, click here.

Accessibility
This programme has:

English and Malay audio with English language Descriptive Subtitles
Text on Screen for the introduction

This screening is 88 minutes long.

Supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, awarding funding on behalf of Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery.

Donate:
Donate to SQIFF via PayPal or sign up to one of our four Patreon tiers to support our work and show us you’re a big SQIFF fan 🌈✨

Image Credit: Queer as Punk, Dir. Yihwen Chen, 2025

Bouchra + intro
2026-08-07 18:15 - 20:00 | Edinburgh Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9BZ
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This film contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.

This screening of Bouchra is hosted by SQIFF, and will have an introduction from SQIFF Programmer, Huss, which will be accompanied by text backing slides for accessibility. The film itself will be screened with Descriptive Subtitles.

We have a Reduced Rate ticket option to make this screening more accessible to those on a low income. If cost is a barrier please email info@sqiff.org for a complimentary ticket.

Bouchra (35), a queer Moroccan coyote living in NYC, is wrestling with writer’s block for her first film. As she begins a series of difficult yet long overdue phone calls with her mother, Aicha, in Casablanca, forgotten memories begin to resurface. Balancing the precarity of working as an artist in New York, the rift in her identity between her two homes and an array of friendships and romantic interests, Bouchra’s emotional reckoning with her mother and herself becomes her path to expression.

With a lived-in granularity and unmistakable visual style, Bouchra, the debut feature from acclaimed visual artists Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki (best known together from their 2020 web series 2 Lizards), is a singular portrait effortlessly towing the line between documentary, visual art and resonant family drama. Deeply felt, surprisingly sexy and formally adventurous, Bennani and Barki’s distinctive debut forges new ground.

Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of £7.50, or £13, with an Access Ticket at £5 and a Senior Ticket at £11.50. To book your ticket for this event, click here.

Accessibility
This programme has:

Arabic, English and French audio with English language Descriptive Subtitles
Text on Screen for the introduction

This screening is 83 minutes long.

Donate:
Donate to SQIFF via PayPal or sign up to one of our four Patreon tiers to support our work and show us you’re a big SQIFF fan 🌈✨

Image Credit: Bouchra, Dirs. Orian Barki, Meriem Bennani, 2025
