It has been an open secret that Hollywood has always had its fair share of gays and lesbians. For decades, they hid their lives, but today they are open and honest about it.
Today, there are not only LGBTQ people living Hollywood and around the world, but they are using film to tell their stories.
This is a list of some of the largest and most interesting LGBTQ film festivals around the world:
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Out Takes: A Reel Queer Film Festival – This festival takes place in New Zealand and shows an abundance of genres of queer films.
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Frameline 39: The San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival – This festival is a 10 day event located in San Francisco, CA.
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Outfest – Outfest, hosted in Los Angeles, promotes LGBTQ equality by creating, sharing, and protecting stories on screen.
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Newfest – In October, this festival is held in New York and shows anything from coming out stories to crazy stories about magical plants that change your gender.
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Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video Festival – This festival has been running for 30 years and continues to grow.
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Polari Fest – Polari Fest runs from September 8-11 in Austin, TX. It shows over 100 films.
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Reeling – The second longest-running festival of its kind. Shows award-winning films and presents a large range of genres.
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Mix Copenhagen – The oldest annual film festival of this type and one of the largest in Denmark. More than 12,000 people show up to their events. They work towards increasing visibility of LGBTQ stories.
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Festival International Du Film Lesbien – This festival is located in Paris, France and shows powerful feminist documentaries.
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Pink Screens Film Festival – The goal of this film festival is to promote alternative sexuality and gender. It is located in Brussels, Belgium.
There are many more queer film festivals in the world, each one with its own perspective and style. For film lovers who are not gay, many of these films are worth seeing, not because they deal with LGBTQ issues, but because many are outstanding, but frequently ignored films.
Article written by Bob Peryea for The Monthly Film Festival
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