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40 Years of Honoring Queer Creativity: Wicked Queer Film Festival

By Hours
Poster for 40th Year of Wicked Queer (Courtesy of Wicked Queer’s Instagram)

 Wicked Queer, the fourth-longest LGBTQ+ film festival in North America, is back for its 40th anniversary. Film programmer, George Mansour, founded Wicked Queer in 1984, Downtown Boston, with the effort to promote queer voices via storytelling and filmmaking, unite community and keep the verve of queer history alive. Sponsored by Queer Film Institute (QFI), this festival will run from April 5th to the 14th, and will feature long and short form narrative films, as well as documentaries from 27 countries available both online and in person at varied Boston venues. 

The opening night begins by spotlighting queer Cuban-born filmmaker Hansel Porras Garcia’s “Febrero” and a 4K restoration of filmmaker Gregg Araki’s 1997 “Nowhere,” at the Brattle Theatre. The ArtsEmerson Paramount Theatre on the following day will feature a collection of short documentaries emphasizing the queer community’s fight for liberation. Additionally, the Brattle Theatre will present several shorts of transgender stories. The duration of the festival also takes place at the Institute of Contemporary Art, GSU Auditorium at Boston University, Museum of Fine Arts, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and Coolidge Corner Theater. Its opening night consists of several shorts such as “Short & Sweet Chuckles,” “MENA Shorts” and “Latinx 2024 Shorts,” as well as spotlight British film director’s “Mad About the Boy: A Noel Coward Story” and trans actor Brina Healy’s campy “Transexuals from Space.” 

Submissions are accepted through FilmFreeway, where filmmakers can find varied entry fees based on category. Accepted filmmakers are expected to have a complete press kit with stills labeled with their film’s title, poster image, trailer, synopsis, log line and their social media. Wicked Queer prides itself on being accessible so it is required all films must provide English captions or subtitles burnt onto a DCP with an MP4 back-up. Those who enter will have the opportunity to win audience awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Feature Documentary and Best in Show Short Film in addition to the jury prizes for Best Feature, Narrative, and Best Feature, Documentary. 

To watch Wicked Queer’s virtual encore (viewing restricted to Massachusetts), from April 15th to 30th, visit Eventive where passes and tickets are available.

About :

Kei’Aria Gillard is from Boston, MA, concentrating on writing, literature, and publishing at Emerson College. With her dog, Raya, at her side, she indulges in a good romantic, drama-filled book, movie, or television series in spare time.

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