SQIFF came into being in May 2014 and we have put on several one-off events as we lead up to our first full Festival in September 2015.
We took part in the UK-wide Scalarama festival in September 2014 with a screening of Tomboy, Céline Sciamma’s drama about a kid trying to work out their gender identity, along with several short films: Bedding Andrew, a doc about disability campaigner Andrew Morrison-Gurza’s experience of losing his virginity; The Gay Agenda, about using art to tackle conservatism in Australia; and Beyond the Mirror’s Gaze, an animation about gender-swapping and love.
In November 2014, we held an event in association with the Scottish Transgender Alliance at their Trans and Intersex Conference of the Isles (pictured). We showed trans director Sam Feder’s Kate Bornstein is a Queer & Pleasant Danger, a doc about the legendary gender theorist and activist. We also screened two Scotland-produced short films, James Dean, about a trans kid coming out to their parents, and Twin Set, a documentary about a trans woman dealing with the different relationships in her life. A third short Teagan is an animated doc depicting a mtf person coming to terms with their transition. An extra short film was contributed by audience members: a short documentary from Northern Ireland called Butterfly, about Adrianne and Karl, a transgender couple both diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome.
We were pleased to take part in LGBT History Month Scotland 2015 with two screenings at Eden Court in Inverness in collaboration with the Highland LGBT Forum. These were Hockney, an experimental documentary about the famous queer artist, and My Beautiful Laundrette, a British classic about racism and homophobia in 80s London. We also staged a Queer Shorts Showcase in Edinburgh together with History Month Scotland, which featured the premiere of Annabel Cooper and Elaine Gallagher’s High Heels Aren’t Compulsory, about a woman returning to work for the first time after her transition, artist Garry Mac’s animated interpretation of Scottish LGBTQ people’s experiences, and several shorts by My Genderation. Fox Fisher from My Genderation hosted a filmmaking workshop and Scotland-based playwright Jo Clifford performed as part of the event.
We are grateful to everyone who turned out for these screenings and to the organisations, venues, and filmmakers who helped make them happen!
Check out our upcoming events, and stay tuned for festival updates.
Image: Tiu Makkonen