Seattle Queer Film Festival
| Location | Seattle, WA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founded by | Skylar Fein |
| Hosted by | Three Dollar Bill Cinema |
| Website | Festival Website |
Seattle Queer & Trans Film Festival is an annual film festival in Seattle, produced by the nonprofit Three Dollar Bill Cinema.[1][2] It is the largest LGBTQIA+ film festival in the Pacific Northwest,[3] showing films at the Broadway Performance Hall and Erickson Theater.[4]
For the 2024 event, the festival offered a fully hybrid experience where participants could attend in-person, or stream the content virtually.[5] For the 2025 event, the festival announced a partnership with Scarecrow Video that allowed for the inclusion of content that highlighted local films and filmmakers.[2]
History
The Seattle Queer Film Festival was founded in 1996 as the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. In 2016, it was renamed TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival.[6] In 2019, the word "Twist" was dropped and the festival became the Seattle Queer Film Festival.[7]
TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival (TRANSlations) was launched in 2006 as one of few film festivals focused on films by and about transgender people.[8][9] The festival began as part of the Gender Odyssey Conference but grew into an independent festival.
In April 2025, it was announced that the Seattle Queer Film Festival and TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival were merging to become the Seattle Queer & Trans Film Festival.[10]
Films
The 2025 festival included 17 films:
- 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture. Director: Sharon "Rocky" Roggio (USA)
- Appropriate Behavior. Director: Desiree Akhavan (USA)[11]
- Beautiful Thing. Director: Hettie Macdonald (UK)[4]
- Big Eden. Director: Thomas Bezucha (USA)[12]
- By Hook or By Crook. Director: Harry Dodge and Silas Howard (USA)[12]
- Golden. Director: Kai Stänicke (Germany)
- Night Train. Director: Jerry Carlsson (Sweden)
- Of Hearts and Castles. Director: Ruben Navarro (USA)
- Outdoors. Director: John Mark Fitzpatrick (UK)
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Director: Céline Sciamma (France)
- Rafiki. Director: Wanuri Kahiu (Kenya)[13]
- Rubber Dolphin. Director: Ori Aharan (Israel)
- Saving Face. Director: Alice Wu (USA)
- Song Lang. Director: Leon Le (Vietnam)[13]
- Tangerine. Director: Sean Baker (USA)[13]
- The Happy Sad. Director: Rodney Evans (USA)[12]
- Were the World Mine. Director: Tom Gustafson (USA)[12]
References
- ^ "Seattle Queer Film Festival". FilmFreeway. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ a b Ottilie, Madeline (2025-06-21). "Gets Real: Seattle queer and trans film festival to elevate LGBTQ+ stories". KIRO 7 News Seattle. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ "Seattle Queer Film Festival". FilmFreeway. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ a b "2025 Queer & Trans Film Festival - July 10-12". KNKX Public Radio. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ "The Seattle Queer Film Festival brings catharsis". www.realchangenews.org. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ Frizzelle, Christopher. "The Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Is No Longer Called the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival". The Stranger. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ Staff, EverOut. "Just Announced: The Complete Lineup for the Seattle Queer Film Festival 2019". The Stranger. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ Borden, J. D. (2015-04-29). "Translations — The Seattle Transgender Film Festival — Celebrates Its 10th Year". IndieWire. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ "TRANSlations FILM FESTIVAL 2024". The Beacon. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ "2 longtime Seattle film festivals have merged. Here's what that means". The Seattle Times. 2025-05-14. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ "Appropriate Behavior". visitfilms. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ a b c d "Queer & Trans Film Festival 2025 – TRACTION". Retrieved 2025-08-24.
- ^ a b c "Queer & Trans Film Festival 2025 – TRACTION". Retrieved 2025-08-24.
