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Capitol Hill Community Post | 27th Seattle Queer Film Festival

CHRISSY JUDY – directed by Todd Flaherty

From Three Dollar Bill Cinema

Three Dollar Bill Cinema has announced the full lineup of film screenings and special programs for the 27th Seattle Queer Film Festival (SQFF), taking place October 13-24. Tickets and passes are on sale now. The largest festival of its kind in the Pacific Northwest will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual screenings. Audiences outside the greater Seattle region can be a part of the film festival community by watching films online. The festival’s virtual viewing footprint extends to all of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska.

The Seattle Queer Film Festival features a diverse slate of queer cinema from across the globe, including narrative features, documentaries, and short films totaling 59 film programs comprised of 150 films.Twenty-seven countries are represented, including Poland, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Brazil, Tunisia, Taiwan, Lebanon, Nigeria, India, Iran, Hong Kong, Norway, Chile, and more. Live podcast recordings, panel discussions, visiting guests, filmmaker Q&As, meetups, and parties round out the film festival lineup.

“We are very excited to present this year’s Seattle Queer Film Festival and the breadth and diversity of queer stories from around the world,” said Billy Ray Brewton, managing director of Three Dollar Bill Cinema. “The importance of representation on screen, community connection, and the power that queer film has to inspire change is what we like to call queer magic, our theme for this year.”

The Seattle Queer Film Festival will open on Thursday, October 13, at Capitol Hill’s Egyptian Theatre with the world premiere of the new locally produced and directed documentary, WHAT THE FUNK?!. This love letter to the POC community is the story of the inaugural What the Funk?! BIPOC Burlesque Festival, held in Seattle over three days in August 2019.

BLACK AS U R – directed by Michael Rice

“We are thrilled to open the festival with the world-premiere of this timely and fun-filled documentary that celebrates the queer BIPOC burlesque community and showcases the importance of inclusivity and accessibility in the world of live performance,” said Kathleen Mullen, festival director of the Seattle Queer Film Festival. “We are so fortunate to shine a spotlight on local performers and this trailblazing burlesque festival that happens right here in Seattle.”

The festival’s centerpiece is a double feature of two very diverse yet equally captivating comedies. Winner of honorable mention for North American narrative feature at LA’s Outfest, YOUTOPIA is a comedic and music-filled social commentary about Scout, who, after a devastating breakup, inadvertently becomes the leader of a hipster millennial cult. Feature film debut from writer/director Daniel Montgomery, THE JESSICA CABIN is a queer ghost story about love, loss, and connection, told through a darkly comedic lens.

The festival’s closing night gala is on Saturday, October 22, at the Egyptian Theatre, with the US premiere of GOLDEN DELICIOUS, the first feature from award-winning Canadian alumni filmmaker of SQFF Jason Karman. A classic queer first love story set in the social media-obsessed digital age, the film centers on high school senior Jake, who, to his father’s delight, tries out for the basketball team after he meets his new basketball-obsessed and openly gay neighbor, Aleks.

Another festival highlight is a preview of the first three episodes of HIGH SCHOOL, premiering on Amazon Freevee (formerly IMDB TV) on October 14. Executive produced, co-written, and directed by Clea DuVall (Happiest SeasonBut I’m A CheerleaderVeepThe Handmaid’s Tale), HIGH SCHOOL is a fictionalized adaptation based on platinum recording artists Tegan and Sara Quin’s New York Times best-selling memoir of the same name. Told through a backdrop of ‘90s grunge and rave culture, the series tells the story of finding your own identity—a journey made even more complicated when you have a twin whose own struggle and self-discovery so closely mimics your own.

On October 5, Three Dollar Bill Cinema will present a special preview screening of PLEASE BABY PLEASE directed by Amanda Kramer and starring Demi Moore. Screening venue to be announced.

Several special programs are a part of this year’s film festival, including a series of free podcast events. Screen Drafts, where experts and enthusiasts competitively collaborate on creating screen-centric “best of” lists, and Disability After Dark, which centers on disability and sexuality with topics rarely discussed publicly, will be presented online via YouTube and Facebook. Locally produced Gal Pals Watch, a fun conversation about lesbian, queer, and trans cinema, and Fruitbowl, an oral history of queer sex, will happen live at the W Hotel Seattle’s Sound Suite.

Continuing a festival series that began in 2021, SQFF will host a series of community-centric meetups in partnership with various local queer-owned businesses, including the Wild Rose, Footprint Wine Tap, and Pony.

DONNA – directed by Jay Bedwani

MOTORBIKE/SUPERDYKE is a collaborative multimedia installation that will be on view at the Museum of Museums from October 19-23. Created by Cheryl Hamilton and lisa g based on lisa g’s diaries about coming out and queer stereotypes circa 2000 and includes illustrations, art prints, an animated film, and a zine.

“SQFF27 showcases the queer experience utilizing varied mediums from film to music to visual art to podcasts,” said Kathleen Mullen. “I love to see how our festival has evolved to include so many additional art forms, but at its foundation is film. Over 25+ years of amplifying queer stories, there is nothing like being in a theatre with a full audience of LGBTQ+ people and our allies seeing our identities reflected on screen.”

The festival takes place from October 13 – 23. Screening venues include SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Northwest Film Forum, Broadway Performance Hall, Erickson Theatre, Ark Lodge Cinemas, The Beacon, and MoPOP’s Sound and Vision Theater. All virtual screenings have a 72-hour viewing window.

Hybrid passes, which include access to all film festival programs, range in price from $200 – $295. Virtual-only passes are $150 for individuals and $199 for households. Discounts on passes are available for Three Dollar Bill Cinema members. Single tickets are available on a sliding scale from $13-$30, and single Gala (opening, closing, and centerpiece programs) tickets are available on a sliding scale from $25-$100. Mix and match (virtual and in-person screenings) six and ten ticket packs are available for $65 and $110, respectively.

For the film lineup, film descriptions, tickets, passes, and more, visit https://threedollarbillcinema.org/sqff.

CHRISSY JUDY – directed by Todd Flaherty

BLACK AS U R – directed by Michael Rice

DONNA – directed by Jay Bedwani

 

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