Husein is a barber in Istanbul balancing life between his conservative family and his gay identity. Mahmoud is the founder of Syria’s LGBTI movement and a refugee living in Berlin. In this powerful documentary, they both dream of participating in an international beauty contest in order to challenge the invisibility that comes with being gay […]
Filmmaker and vlogger Ross Wilcock presents short films building on his own video for BBC The Social, Online Dating with a Disability. Themes of ableism and anxiety around sex and dating are explored alongside joy in self-expression and claiming Queer and Disabled as an identity. Screening along with Ross’ own work are Sherren Lee’s The […]
A behind-the-scenes look at the vibrant, fierce and ever-so-slightly chaotic world of one of the most dynamic drag scenes in China. Filmed in July 2017, Extravaganza covers the build-up behind a night of twelve drag performances, with running shade provided by organiser Miss Jade. Screening with a selection of new Chinese short films chosen by Extravaganza’s […]
After several years of pushing the queer porn filmmaking agenda in Scotland, SQIFF is delighted to be able to showcase some (sort of) homemade pornographic content. Bruce LaBruce creates a parody Scots porn character in Scotch Egg. Performer Candy Flip plays a straight girl impersonating a gay man and in a festish bar meets the […]
Indulging our obsession with cutesy animals, we present a gay goldfish, genderqueer spotted hyena, an affair between a dorky fox and a hunky wolf, and a somewhat unfortunate cat. This selection of shorts reflects on the non-human as allegories for our own queer lives, mediators of family discord, and source of philosophical contemplation of race, […]
The most urgent issues surrounding identity and oppression revolve around bodies and borders. In Being Okey, a gay Nigerian man is denied asylum in Switzerland and consequently caught between the constant fear of being sent home and hope of a life in safety. ABEO is an animation by Latinx artist Brenda M. Lopez Zepeda depicting […]
How can we imagine and build a sex party space dedicated to our desires and needs? SKOOSH WORKSHOP is a space to experiment and explore this question in a group environment.SKOOSH comes to SQIFF with two workshops, one at 12pm and one at 3.30pm. SKOOSH is dedicated to celebrating desire and worshipping self-love through sex […]
Promising police cadet Young-nam is sent to work in a small seaside village after her lesbian relationship is outed to her bosses in Seoul. Here, she meets a bullied teenager, Sun Dohee, and quickly becomes her trusted friend and defender. But as Young-nam looks further into Dohee's family life, she discovers a history of abuse by her […]
An encounter with a strange funeral procession in Bethnal Green, a family losing the plot after meeting their son’s trans girlfriend, a middle-aged gay man seemingly eerily affected by a forest camping trip, and queer feminist gangs doing battle in a violent, dystopian present. Weird and Wild consists of work by filmmakers expert in creating […]
We are delighted to welcome US-based director, photographer, and musician Donal Mosher to Glasgow for a filmmaking workshop hosted by SQIFF and Scottish Documentary Institute. Donal Mosher is the collaborative director with Michael Palmieri of the award-winning documentary features October Country, Off Label, and The Gospel Of Eureka, as well as the shorts Rougarouing, Marseilles, […]
