Sanctuary shorts in association with SQIFF + Q+A
2021-10-03 18:00 - 20:00 UTC | Online
This community-curated programme* explores the acceptance of identity, self, and of the world around us, while highlighting the universal experience of being queer–with a special focus on being lesbian. The films’ instinctive narratives show the lows of being ‘othered’, and the highs of finding a safe space within that, no matter what age, country, or time period. Join us for powerfully diverse stories, told with heart, honesty, and a perfect amount of humour. You’ll leave the event with a new community of queer film-lovers: your very own sanctuary.
*Back in July, Sanctuary collaborated with SQIFF producer and co-founder Helen Wright to offer 2 online workshops for LGBTQIA+ people, aged 18+, to learn about film programming. Participants worked together to watch a selection of queer short films and make decisions about a final shorts programme. Thanks to Ewan McPherson, Kate Hammer, Liam Rees, JD Stewart, Merik Tiz, Ben Cave, Beth Cooper, Jonathan McLean, Vee Smith and Sand Owsnett.
This is a free event. Book tickets using the button below.

ACCESS
We’ll be using Zoom Webinar for this screening event and Q&A. Audience members will be able to interact with the discussion through the chat function. Once you book a ticket you’ll be sent a link to access the event, 24 hours before the event starts.
The films are in a mixture of spoken languages with English language captions and the Q&A will have live captions and BSL-English interpretation available. The event is suitable for ages 16+. If you have any questions or access requests for this event, please get in touch by emailing info@sqiff.org.
The total films running time is 1 hour 25 minutes.
This film and discussion may include reference to: mental health breakdown, homophobia, transphobia, alcohol or substance addiction. We appreciate this list is not comprehensive and encourage you to confidentially get in touch if there is a particular subject matter not listed you wish to avoid: hello@sanctuaryqueerarts.com.
PROGRAMME
The Way We Are (16m)
Dir: Amanda Ann-Min Wong, Country: Canada, Year: 2020, Language/s:
English
“The Way We Are” shares excerpts of stories from audio interviews with 4 queer Asian women: Katherine Chun, Wenda Li, Tamai Kobayashi, and Nancy Seto. Told in the present-tense, these stories are arranged in a way that explores the past as the present, and in doing so, immersing viewers into the real-lived experiences from a different generation.

A Story of Wedding (27m)
Dir: Wei Zhao, Country: France, Year: 2021, Language/s: Mandarin
To satisfy their families, Huanlin, a gay man, and Ziqiao, a lesbian, have agreed to have a marriage of convenience, which will be held online due to the pandemic. In addition, they have also agreed to have and raise a baby together. However, this decision is changing their lives before they know it.

Fora de Época | Out of Place (13m)
Dir: Drica Czech, Laís Catalano Aranha, Country: Brazil, Year: 2020,
Language/s: Portuguese
2018: Brazil’s general election. Emotionally shaken by the possibility of Bolsonaro being elected, a young lesbian takes refuge in her family’s farm. As she tries to understand why her mother spent the last days of her life alone in the old house, she is faced with revelations about her own story.

Subjekträume (Subject Spaces) (29m) Dir: Kat Voss, Country: Germany, Year: 2020, Language/s: German
Leather, metal, fur: Pelze Multimedia, West Berlin 1981-1996, provided a space for art, musix, sex parties, experiments. A glimpse into an almost forgotten site of lesbian/queer history.

Are you into emotional edging?
2023-09-27 15:30 - 17:30 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
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Join us for a journey of conscious and unconscious thoughts. This screening features distinct experimental shorts made by trans and non-binary people that focuses on the varied ways our community tell stories of forming and navigating relationships, both digitally and in real life.
The films in this programme utilise archival footage, found footage, digital glitch, chemical abstraction, digital animation, layered imagery, and direct animation to explore the telling of our stories.
Milo Clenshaw will be hosting a panel discussion after the screening with special guests Hogan Seidel, director of The Backside of God, and Jamie Crewe, director of A Luxury.
Curated by Indigo Korres.

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.

A Luxury (2021, Dir. Jamie Crewe): A film commssioned by Edinburgh International Book Festival, 2021, in response to Shola Von Reinhold’s novel LOTE (2020). Made in homage to Curtis Harrington’s film The Wormwood Star (1956), a portrait of the artist Cameron, the film finds Shola in the attic of Preston Hall, Midlothian, undergoing a transportation. A section of LOTE is read over churning abstract liquids, and finally an escape.
A Trans with a Movie Camera (2018, Dir. Frances Damian Arpaia): A non-narrative cine-essay that collaboratively explores the potentials for trans-feminine representation in film.
The Backside of God (2020, Dir. Hogan Seidel): The Backside of God is an experimental documentary utilizing archival footage, digital glitch, chemical abstraction, and direct animation to explore the intricacies of the artist’s relationship with their familial, religious, and queer identity.
Bigger on the Inside (2022, Dir. Angelo Madsen Minax): From an isolated wooded cabin a trans man star gazes, scruff chats with guys, watches youtube tutorials, takes drugs, and lies about taking drugs – feeling his way through a cosmology of embodiment. Relative to the immensity of longing, the bodily insides become both portal and lens through which to probe the porousness between interior and exterior, the micro and macro. Nudes and landscapes are equally erotic, as Eros is an issue of boundaries: When i desire you, a part of me is gone.

ACCESSIBLITY
Content Warnings:

Discussion of transphobia, misogyny, religious views, homophobia, emotional edging, mental health, sex;
Depiction of masturbation, sex.

Access Notes:

Glitchy imagery

This screening has an age recommendation of N/C 16+.
61 minutes long with a Q&A after the screening.
English, Latin, Portuguese, and Vietnamese audio and screens with English language captions. BSL-English interpretation and live captioning provided.
Audio description available for the film. Headsets available at the cinema entrance.
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 by emailing info@sqiff.org.
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 info@sqiff.org 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 Bigger on the Inside (2022, Dir. Angelo Madsen Minax)

Building Community with LGBT Unity
2023-09-29 12:30 - 14:00 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
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In the summer of 2023, SQIFF and LGBT Unity hosted filmmaking workshops for queer asylum seekers and refugees. The workshops were facilitated by filmmakers Campbell X and Ambroise of Paradax Period, and focused on not only storytelling, filming and editing, but also building community and creating accessible ways to make films.
In this screening, we bring you all the shorts made during this workshop series, followed by a small Q&A where Campbell X and Ambroise talk about this process with some of the participants.
Presented in partnership with LGBT Unity Scotland, a community-led group providing essential support to LGBTQIA+ refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrants.

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.

ACCESSIBLITY
Content Warnings:

Depiction of date rape drug, being outed, drug use, alcohol use, suicide attempt;
Discussion of persecution, transphobia, abuse, assault, homophobia, conversion therapy, mental health issues.

This screening has an age recommendation of N/C 16+.
30 minutes long and a Q&A after the screening.
English and Portuguese audio and screens 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 info@sqiff.org.
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 info@sqiff.org 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 SQIFF x LGBT Unity

Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean with TGirlsonFilm
2023-09-29 15:00 - 17:00 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
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Five girlies reunite at a five-and-dime for the 20th anniversary of James Dean’s death. They all gossip and process where life has led them over a cup of coffee, the film features five female leads, one of which is Cher and another is a glamorous transexual. Based on a play and directed by Robert Altman, this is trans director Kristiene Clarke’s favourite trans representation.
Curated by Jaye Hudson. Presented with TGirlsonFilm and Introduction by Kristiene Clarke.

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.

ACCESSIBLITY
Content Warnings:

Depiction of transmisogyny, ableism, outdated language and sexism.

This screening has an age recommendation of BBFC 15.
109 minutes long.
English audio and screens with English language captions. BSL-English interpretation and live captioning provided.
Audio description available for the film. Headsets available at the cinema entrance.
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 info@sqiff.org.
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 info@sqiff.org 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 Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean (1982, Dir. Robert Altman)

Animation Now
2023-09-29 18:00 - 20:00 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
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‘Animation Now’ celebrates a new generation of queer animators. The programme includes both 2D and 3D animation in the form of narrative shorts, experimental art film and an immersive game walkthrough.
The screening starts with the heartfelt 3D animation Dear Nana telling the story of the narrator’s late grandmother who was a supportive figure throughout their life. Clotilde follows in a stop-motion animated medium and provides a playful light-hearted moment in the programme.
The screening ends with a panel featuring some of the filmmakers in the programme on the newest wave of digital animation. Expect talk of gaming-inspired filmmaking.
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.

Dear Nana (2023, Dir. Han Nguyen): Dear Nana is a deeply personal work that reflects my own childhood memory of living as a queer kid in a small, conservative town in North Central Coast, Vietnam. It is made in memory of my maternal grandmother who passed away in 2011. She was the first person to teach me that there is no shame in being myself and doing whatever makes me happy instead of trying to conform to the norm and doing what is expected of me. This work is both about remembering her and reassuring myself that she would still be supportive of me now that I have come so far in my journey of self-expression. The film also features aspects of Vietnamese culture, such as the tradition to venerate our ancestors and pray for their blessings.
Clotilde (2023, Dir. Maria João Lourenço): In a planet where reproduction is mandatory in the daily life of its inhabitants, there is an alien who just wishes to pleasure herself.
White-Haired Witch and Black-Haired Witch (2023, Dir. Yini Yang): In a distant corner of the universe, amidst flowers, vines, and an endless expanse of crimson water, numerous placentas float. One of the placentas connects two fetuses, and in a flash of lightning, the placenta is divided into two halves. From one of the halves, a white-haired witch grows gradually, longing to find the other half of the fetus but unable to locate it. Consequently, it gives birth to a black-haired witch from its own body to coexist. One day, the black-haired witch embarks on a journey, leaving behind a letter documenting its travels for the white-haired witch. While waiting, the white-haired witch finds answers and returns to the primordial dream.
Living with It (2023, Dir. Holly Summerson): Perfectionist Lee (Annabelle Davis) must adapt to the imperfect reality of living with an illness – brought to life as a chaotic supernatural flatmate – Bug (Lawrence Chaney). Accepting the long-term effects of illness – and making the best of an imperfect situation – are explored through the relationship between two dysfunctional flatmates in this dark comedy animated short.
Coming Out Autistic (2023, Dir. Steven Fraser): Coming out Autistic is a short animated documentary that explores the experience of telling the world that you are autistic when you also identify as LGBTQ+. Queer coming out stories are well documented, but the occurrence of telling friends, family, co-workers and strangers that you are autistic is less explored. Parallels with queer experiences are investigated and a wide range of individuals are interviewed to express the array of feelings and reactions that are encountered.
Desire’s Exhibition (2023, Dir. Salmo Pagão): With the aim of finding Desire, so-and-so performs a ritual to go down in the depths of himself. There he came across an exhibition of Desire’s works which had until then haunted his dreams and non-dreams in land. It is important to him confront the works, recognize them, and rise with crucial answers.
A mother’s love for her baby (2022, Dirs. Éiméar McClay & Cat McClay): Using a combination of 3D animation and experimental prose, A mother’s love for her baby explores the corruption and conditions endemic in the Magdalene Laundries and mother and baby homes run by the Catholic church in Ireland throughout the 20th century. Influenced by Saidiya Hartman’s concept of “critical fabulation” – the use of storytelling to fill the gaps left in historical records – the film advocates for a bottom-up form of historiography: centring historically marginalised voices of Irish women and critiquing the structures of power that (re)produce their dispossession.
Junior & The Kid (2023, Dir. Dani Wasserman): Junior & The Kid is a sparse retelling of a fictional love affair between an unnamed western cowboy and 90s baseball superstar and heartthrob Ken Griffey Jr.
Where the Mouth is (Machinima Version) (2022, Dir. Benjamiin Hall): Set in the Saxon-era archipelago once where Oxford now stands, “Where the Mouth” is (re)builds Oxfordshire as an interactive world outside of time, leaping off from the collections of the public Museum of Oxford. You are let loose in the swampy terrain to observe the local tradition of ‘beating the bounds’ – marking parish boundary stones with a stick in order to embed them in the memory of the town’s residents. The mouth of that collective memory has issued many truths, half-truths, desires, cries, anecdotes, apocryphal stories, and tiny reminders of a future from the past.
Originally commissioned by the Museum of Oxford and Digital Artist Residency, with later support from Bloomberg New Contemporaries Digital Fellowships; Soundtrack by Peter Talisman (Slugabed and Samuel Organ) as mixed from their 2021 album ‘Lord of the Harvest’; Movement/ motion capture performance by Anya Sirina; Special thanks to Tom Milnes.
Patches (2021, Dir. Georgie Athanasopoulos): Outcast due to physical differences, a lonely little boy in the 1920’s makes an unlikely friend and finds belonging through sacrifice.
The Prince’s Dilemma (2023, Dir. Devin Rowe): The film follows Prince Philip, who longing to be with a prince of his own, must decide to follow the traditional tale expected of him or forge his own happily ever after.

ACCESSIBLITY
Content Warnings:

Discussion of living with a chronic illness;
Depictions of animated genitalia, animated masturbation.

This screening has an age recommendation of N/C 16+.
74 minutes long with a Q&A after the screening.
English, Latin, Portuguese, and Vietnamese audio and screens 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 by emailing info@sqiff.org.
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 info@sqiff.org 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 Coming Out Autistic (2023, Dir. Steven Fraser)

Queer East Presents: Peafowl 공작새
2023-09-29 21:00 - 23:00 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
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Shin-myung is a transgender woman and dancer who competes in waacking. Having cut ties with her family and rural hometown, Shin-myung seeks various ways to fund her gender reassignment surgery. But one day, she is informed that her estranged father, a master of Nongak folk music, has died. He stipulated that Shin-myung can receive her inheritance money if she returns to the village and performs a traditional drum dance, as part of his memorial rituals. Unwilling to yield to her intolerant father’s posthumous demands, the unapologetic Shin-myung is forced to reluctantly reconnect with her past while staying true to herself. Driven by an empowering vision of trans identity, this assured debut feature from Byun Sung-bin contemplates the possibilities – and limits – of forgiveness.
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.

ACCESSIBLITY
This screening has an age recommendation of N/C 16+.
115 minutes long.
Korean audio with English language captions. BSL-English interpretation and live captioning provided.
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 info@sqiff.org.
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 info@sqiff.org 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 Peafowl 공작새 (2022, Dir. Byun Sung-bin)

Not Quite That
2023-09-30 12:30 - 14:30 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
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‘Not Quite That’ follows 57-year-old Sarah, a butch lesbian predisposed to breast cancer.
Sarah discusses the implications of a mastectomy as a butch presenting person. She contemplates if people would perceive her as transmasculine and how that would make her feel.
Her long-term close friends listen attentively and help her process the situation. The love and support shared by this group of old friends is heartwarming. A feel-good film for sure.
This film is followed by two shorts. Director Leo Torre of The Ship of Theseus will join us to chat about short filmmaking and the importance of queer/trans friendships.
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.

Not Quite That (2022, Dir. Ali Grant): Might a genetic mutation be the very thing that allows this nice Jewish butch lesbian to be fully seen at last? Meet Sarah, 57. Lesbian? For sure. Jewish? Yes and no. Mother? In all but one sense. Trans? No, just often mistaken as such. Breast cancer survivor? Well, that’s the plan, the survival bit, but without the cancer or the breasts. Not Quite That is an intimate and insightful exploration of how we are seen, how we see ourselves, and why it matters.
The Ship Of Theseus (2022, Dir. Leo Torre): A creative trans self-documentary video exploring themes of early transition and gender rebirth using themes of mythology and the sea.
Patricia in the Dark (2023, Dir. Laura Hartley): Born into a world where the word ‘transgender’ didn’t exist, 95-year-old Patricia spent most of her life longing for love and acceptance but too afraid to reveal her true self.

ACCESSIBLITY
Content Warnings:

Discussion of cancer diagnosis, surgery, gender dysphoria, body image, transphobia;
Depictions of pregnancy, nudity, drains, hospitalisation.

This screening has an age recommendation of N/C 16+.
60 minutes long with Q&A after the screening.
English and French audio with English language captions. BSL-English interpretation and live captioning provided.
Audio description available for the film. Headsets available at the cinema entrance.
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 info@sqiff.org.
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 info@sqiff.org 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 Not Quite That (2022, Dir. Ali Grant)

Queerventures with Kendal Mountain Events
2023-09-30 15:00 - 17:00 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
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Kendal Mountain Festival is one of the UK’s longest running Adventure Film Festivals. Their programming goes far beyond the stereotypical adventurer, reaching out to individuals whose narratives are often overlooked. As part of this they have proudly curated a film programme of Queer-led films to stand in solidarity with the local LGBTQIA+ community and ensure that everyone sees themselves represented in the adventure world.
The event will be hosted by one of the Kendal Mountain team, Emily Lyons who will guide you through films that will transport you all over the world and showcase a multitude of folk from the community, from those getting outdoors everyday and people at the top of their game.
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.

I am a Fellrunner (2020, Dirs. Jessie Leong & Julie Carter): Fell running is more than a sport – it is part of an identity. Through the evocation of a poem, ‘I am a Fellrunner,’ explores the way in which one woman is defined as a fellrunner in the place where she belongs.
Fragments Choisis (2022, Dir. Alicia Cenci): In the mountains, she is Elisabeth the skier, in the streets, she is Elisabeth the activist. She lives her two lives very separately and makes sure those two sides do not interfere with each other.
Until the day she becomes world freeride champion. The activist then meets the sportswoman when Elisabeth decides to use her title and the attention around it to come out publicly.
Eden (2021, Dir. Charlie Bush): Eden Elgeti was part way through her male to female transition when she realised she wanted biological children in the future. Told she was now unable to produce fertile sperm after the hormone treatments, a medical practitioner suggested there was a very small chance cold water might help reverse the effects and so she started extreme cold water swimming.
Venture Out (2020, Dirs. Jamie DiNicola, Matthew Mikkelsen & Palmer Morse): Venture Out is a story of overcoming odds, the power of resilience, and ultimately, the ever-lasting effects of LGBTQ community building. The Venture Out Project, founded by Perry Cohen, is a non profit organisation that brings LGBTQ folks together outdoors on wilderness trips. In sharing Perry’s story, and hearing from the other TVOP participants, we get a glimpse into the healing qualities of nature and life-saving community bonds that are being forged as a result of Perry’s work.
Ascension (2023, Dirs. Emma Crome & Matt Pycroft): Elite climber Alex Johnson has attempted to climb the iconic boulder The Swarm, California, for a decade. Not succeeding breaks her down into self-reflection where she finally accepts her sexuality.
Big Things to Come (2022): One of Europe’s leading adventure photographers, Hamish Frost lives twin lives. In Ascension, we explore the side of himself he has kept hidden from the outdoor community. A story of confidence and connection and a reminder of the importance of diversity in the great outdoors.

ACCESSIBLITY
Content Warnings:

Discussion of mental health, fertility, suicide, depression, eating disorder, mental health, bullying, homophobia.

This screening has an age recommendation of N/C 16+.
71 minutes long.
English and French audio with English language captions. BSL-English interpretation and live captioning provided.
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 info@sqiff.org.
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 info@sqiff.org 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 Eden (2021, Dir. Charlie Bush)

Documenting and Archiving
2023-09-30 15:30 - 17:30 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
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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.

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 info@sqiff.org.
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 info@sqiff.org 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)

Closing Film: Mutt - SOLD OUT
2023-09-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, 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. CCA Box Office are operating a waiting list for sold out events – please contact them directly to be added to this!**
Mutt tells the story of a young trans man named Feña reacquainting with family and friends he has not seen since before his transition.
Feña (Lío Mehiel) experiences contrasting moments of hostility and heartfelt care upon reintroduction to his father, younger sister and ex-boyfriend. The father shows signs of intimidation by his child’s new masculinity, the ex-boyfriend questions his own sexuality and the younger sister naively asks questions that hit a nerve.
Mutt is the final film of our 2023 festival and will be followed by a short closing ceremony. Join us to celebrate another year of the Scottish Queer International Film Festival.
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.

ACCESSIBLITY
Content Warnings:

Discussion of transphobia, mental health, dysphoria;
Depiction of sex, violence.

This screening has an age recommendation of N/C 16+.
97 minutes long with a introduction by SQIFF.
English and Spanish audio with English language captions. BSL-English interpretation and live captioning provided.
Audio description available for the film. Headsets available at the cinema entrance.
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 info@sqiff.org.
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 info@sqiff.org 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 Mutt (2023, Dir. Vuk Lungulov-Klotz)

Building Solidarity & Kinship: Short Film Screenings + Panel Discussion (Glasgow)
2025-06-22 13:00 - 15:00 | Kelvin Hall, 1445 Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8AW, United Kingdom
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This event is part of the Building Solidarity & Kinship programme curated by Esraa Husain at the Refugee Festival Scotland 2025.
We are featuring a selection of short films followed by a panel discussion exploring the Festival’s theme Milestones and elements connected to finding refuge and belonging and the importance of community building.
After the screening we are joined by the directors Adéráyọ̀ Adenekan and Theo Panagopoulos, community organisers Mahasin from Exhale Group, Solidarity Screenings, and Xuanlin Tham the author of Revolutionary Desires: The Political Power of the Sex Scene to discuss the themes mentioned and share reflections.
Tickets are FREE. To book, click here.

Accessibility
This programme has:

English language descriptive subtitles
English-BSL interpretation for the introduction and panel discussion
Live Captioning for the introduction and panel discussion
Kelvin Hall is a wheelchair accessible venue

Films in this programme include:

Mark Thomas, Permissible Beauty (2023)
Baz Sells, Two Black Boys in Paradise (2025)
Theo Panagopoulos, The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing (2024)
Adéráyọ̀, DISSONANCE (2025)

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: Permissible Beauty, Dir. Mark Thomas, 2023

SQIFF x The Social Hub Movie Night: Nina's Heavenly Delights (20th Anniversary)
2026-07-14 18:00 - 21:00 | The Social Hub, The Social Hub, Candleriggs Square, Glasgow, G1 1TQ
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SQIFF are excited to announce another collaboration with the Social Hub for this year’s Pride Hub event. This year we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of a queer, South Asian classic set right here in Glasgow, Nina’s Heavenly Delights. The film follows Nina’s return to her hometown of Glasgow to save her late father’s struggling curry house. Nina pairs up with childhood friend and chef Lisa to save the business and let’s just say things get a bit ‘spicy’. Expect laughs, bright colours and a celebration of Scottish Asian cuisine.

Alongside this feature we will be screening the short Bhangra Jig also by director Pratibha Parmar. This short film captures the high energy music genre of Bhangra being enjoyed, again, right here in Glasgow.

The films will be followed by a pre-recorded Q&A with Pratibha and SQIFF curator Nat Lall. We would love for you to join us for a celebration of the rich culture right here on our doorstep.

Tickets are Free with a donation option. To book your ticket for this event, click here.

Accessibility
We aim to be as accessible as possible, please get in touch if there’s anything we can do to make this event more accessible to you. This programme has:

An age recommendation of N/C 16+.
English language descriptive subtitles for the films and pre-recorded Q&A.
Text on screen provided for the introduction.
The Social Hub is wheelchair accessible, with gender neutral toilets.
Please let us know at check in if you don’t want to be in pictures or video.

This screening is 98 minutes long with an introduction and pre-recorded Q&A.

Films in this programme include:
Bhangra Jig, Dir. Pratibha Parmar, 1990, United Kingdom, 4 min
A young South Asian woman walks through the city of Glasgow, once the second largest city of the British Empire. Her eyes reflect on the wealth symbolised in the textures of the city’s architecture. Signs of Empire ever present in the stone freizes, imposing cast iron statues of dead colonialists, ornate pillars and the opulence of marble. Against histories of colonial carnage, Asian people build our communities and cultures, forging identities of self-affirmation. Against echoes of colonial memories is the living memory of today’s cultures of resistance: through dance and music, young Asian people celebrate desire and self pride. Bhangra Jig disrupts dominant notions of European culture and offers new meanings of what constitutes national cultures and identities, of what it means to be Asian, British and European. It was a four-minute television intervention piece, commissioned by Channel 4 celebrating Glasgow as the European cultural capital for 1990.

Nina’s Heavenly Delights, Dir. Pratibha Parmar, 2006, United Kingdom, 94 min
A feisty young woman returns to Glasgow to run her deceased father’s curry house.

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: Nina’s Heavenly Delights, Dir. Pratibha Parmar, 2006
