Queer/ing Film Festivals: History, Theory, Impact by Dr. Leanne Dawson and Skadi Loist

This article traces the history of queer film festivals, from their beginnings to the present day, while offering socio-political and cultural reasons for a range of trends in festival name, location, and programming choices, before outlining the relatively late emergence of Film Festival Studies, including queer festival studies, within Film Studies and Queer Studies in the academy. It then uses the Scottish Queer International Film Festival (SQIFF) as a case study to demonstrate the increasing focus on diversity and inclusivity in queer film festivals, especially more grass roots ones, and the social impact of this.