Glitter and Doom
From Three Dollar Bill Cinema
Three Dollar Bill Cinema is proud to announce the full lineup of film screenings and special events for the 28th Seattle Queer Film Festival (SQFF), taking place October 12-22 at venues on Capitol Hill and in Columbia City. The festival will be followed by a week of select films streaming online from October 22-29. The diverse slate of queer cinema hails from across the globe and includes narrative features, documentaries, and short films totaling 53 programs comprised of 119 films.
In-person screenings take place at SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Northwest Film Forum, Broadway Performance Hall, Ark Lodge Cinema, and Queer/Bar, and virtual screenings are available in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Tickets go on sale September 15, 2023. Passes are on sale now.
The 2023 festival theme is “Queer Joy Is Cinematic.” Festival screenings and events will explore what ‘queer joy’ means to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“For our theme of Queer Joy is…cinematic, we wanted to reflect the duality of queerness at this moment in time, the hardship and the joy we all feel,” said Kathleen Mullen, Artistic Director of Three Dollar Bill Cinema and Seattle Queer Film Festival Director. “The idea is Queer Joy in action – as resistance, as happiness, as love, as cinema—with all the spectrum of queer voices and experiences. We have films that dive deep and many that are also funny and joyful, and we hope you will find something that speaks to you and brings you joy.”
The Seattle Queer Film Festival will open on Thursday, October 12, at Capitol Hill’s Egyptian Theatre with the Seattle premiere of ALL OF US STRANGERS from Searchlight Pictures. Fresh from its premieres at the Telluride and Venice International Film Festivals, Andrew Haigh’s (WEEKEND, LOOKING) supernatural gay romance stars Andrew Scott (BLACK MIRROR, FLEABAG) as a screenwriter who, after an encounter with his neighbor (Oscar nominee Paul Mescal, AFTERSUN), is pulled back to his childhood home where he discovers that his long-dead parents, played by Claire Foy (THE CROWN) and Jamie Bell (ROCKETMAN, BILLY ELLIOT), are alive and look exactly the same as they did the day they died. The film will screen at 7:30 PM, followed by an Opening Night party at Century Ballroom.
Closing night, QUEER JOY IS…COMEDY will feature a curated selection of short films highlighting various comedic takes on queer joy and laughter. Screening at Broadway Performance Hall on Sunday, October 22, this film program will also feature sets by local queer comedians and will be followed by the Closing Night party and awards reception at Broadway Performance Hall.
The Floating Man
The festival has four centerpiece films showcasing the diverse spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community and the multifaceted stories that make up the fabric of our community. The Trans Centerpiece, RUNS IN THE FAMILY, is a South African feature about a reformed con artist, Varun, and his transmasculine son, River, on a road trip across South Africa to break River’s estranged mother out of rehab. When injury befalls River’s drag partner, his mother urges father and son to partner up for a drag competition that could win River his gender-affirming surgery.
The Sapphic Centerpiece, HEALED, is a psychological thriller that follows former pop icon Jazz and her pregnant wife, Olivia, as they embark on a remote holistic retreat hosted by renowned mindfulness expert Georgia, played by celebrated actress, screenwriter, and director Guinevere Turner (GO FISH, WATERMELON WOMAN).
The Documentary Centerpiece, 1946: THE MISTRANSLATION THAT SHIFTED CULTURE details the origins of the rabid homophobia of the conservative church through the shocking discovery that in 1946, an erroneous translation used the term homosexual, a choice that has spread into most popular versions of the Bible, and has been weaponized against the LGBTQ+ community ever since. Filmed partially in Seattle, 1946 brings incredible insight into how the misuse and misinterpretation of a single word has changed the course of modern history.
The Comedy Centerpiece, CORA BORA, stars breakout comedy queen Megan Stalter (HACKS) as Cora, a struggling and somewhat delusional musician struggling to find her path while her long-distance open relationship with her girlfriend is seemingly on life support. Suspecting her girlfriend of starting a new romance without telling her, Cora leaves LA and returns to Portland to save (or hold hostage) her flailing relationship.
Jewelle: A Just Vision
Additional highlights screening at the festival include the US Spotlight screening of the family drama OUR SON starring Billy Porter (POSE), GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Sundance Film Festival and Outstanding Documentary Feature at Frameline: San Francisco LGBTQ Festival, the West Coast premiere of the winner of the Queer Lion Award at the Venice International Film Festival, HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS, and the Friday the 13th double feature screening of DEPARTING SENIORS AND SCREAM, QUEEN! shorts program.
Several special programs are a part of this year’s film festival, including an informative panel for teens, in conjunction with NFFTY, featuring a variety of local teen filmmakers and industry professionals, an in-depth discussion on breaking into the TV industry through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion with Grace Moss, VP of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for Warner Bros. Discovery, a special debut clip presentation and storytelling event, MOVIE MUSICALS MADE ME GAY with the Fruitbowl Podcast followed by a screening of CABARET, a virtual live recording of the Screen Drafts podcast, and a live recording of the Gal Pals Watch podcast at the W Hotel’s Sound Suite.
In 2021, SQFF began hosting a series of community-centric meetups in partnership with local queer-owned businesses to foster connections amidst the COVID epidemic. The beloved series continues this year with gatherings at the Wild Rose, Pony, and Lottie’s.
Screening venues include SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Northwest Film Forum, Broadway Performance Hall, Ark Lodge Cinemas, and queer/bar. Hybrid passes, which include access to all film festival programs (in-person & virtual), range in price from $200 – $275. In Person passes are $150, Virtual-only passes are $125, and weekend passes are $75 (Fri to Sun). Discounts on tickets and passes are available for Three Dollar Bill Cinema members. Single tickets are available on a sliding scale from $13-$30, and single Opening and Closing Night tickets are $25-$50 and include the post-screening parties. Mix and match (virtual and in-person screenings) six and ten ticket packs are available for $70 and $115, respectively. TeenTix tickets are available for the BIG BOYS, LGBTQ: GEN ALPHA TO Z SHORTS PROGRAM, HUMMINGBIRDS, and SUMMER QAMP programs.
Hummingbirds
“At a time when COVID funding has dried up for non-profits across the country, and members of the queer community find themselves under daily attack by the ‘powers that pretend to be,’ it’s more important than ever to elevate queer artists and stories, and celebrate the joy that binds us together,” said Billy Ray Brewton, managing director of Three Dollar Bill Cinema. Our program represents a lot of hard work over the past several months and a commitment to representing the incredible diaspora of queer lives all around the globe.”
Three Dollar Bill Cinema would like to thank Gilead, Warner Media, BECU, Alaska Airlines, W Seattle, Cascade Public Media, and Edge Media Network for sponsoring the 28th Seattle Queer Film Festival.
For the film lineup, film descriptions, tickets, passes, and more, visit threedollarbillcinema.org/sqff2023
