Scottish Queer International Film Festival has gone online with Sqifflix – a platform to enjoy free, accessible queer short films from the comfort of your own home!
SQIFF has collected short films which have screened across their previous five festivals to create new programmes with a variety of themes. The first two programmes available now are Fighting for Justice, covering identities including Deaf, Disabled, and Two Spirit, battles against patriarchy, white supremacy, and ableism, and featuring hip-hop, a robot, and superhero finger puppets; and Funny Stuff, comedy shorts with queer narratives and musings involving love potions, a mystery trail of takeaway food, Fisher Price characters brought to life, cyborgs, and zombies!
With more programmes to be added over the coming weeks, Sqifflix focuses on representing marginalised LGBTQIA+ communities and filmmakers. The content is accessible with English subtitles or captions for Deaf and hard of hearing audiences and a list of other access information. Alongside showcasing this work, SQIFF is taking donations for LGBT Unity Scotland, to support LGBTQIA+ refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrants. Click here to donate.
The films are available for one month from launch and are available online. Click here to access Sqifflix.
Helen Wright, SQIFF Festival Co-ordinator, said:
“We wanted to put queer film content online to keep our LGBTQIA+ communities connected and provide something a bit different to the bigger streaming platforms. As LGBTQIA+ people may be particularly suffering from isolation and its impact on their welfare and wellbeing right now, we wanted to offer support with a welcoming and inclusive activity. We were especially keen to make sure our shorts programmes are available to those not able to access other independent film content online due to cost or lack of captions and other access measures. We’re really grateful to the filmmakers who have allowed us to share their work for free and create this platform.”
The sixth annual Scottish Queer International Film Festival will run 14 to 18 October 2020, with the full programme released in August.