Queer film festivals across the globe are facing immense challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Festival organizers and curators from around the world tell us about the history of their respective festivals, about the strategies they use to tackle the challenges posed by the pandemic, and about their outlook on the future of the queer film festival landscape.
SPEAKER
Saadat Munir
AKS FILM+ART+Dialogue Festival for Minorities
T.J. Murphy
Executive Director of Reel Q: Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ Film Festival
T.J. Murphy
T.J. Murphy leads Reel Q, currently in it’s 36th year as the longest running film festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The event features films, panel discussions with visiting directors and actors. Since starting as a volunteer at Reel Q in 2012, Murphy has substantially increased the organization’s outreach, including the creation of Reel Stories, a series in partnership with City of Asylum Pittsburgh that highlights LGBTQ international cinema. Murphy is also a freelance photographer and works part time at Bernie’s Photo Center on the selling vintage photographs.
HOST
Zsombor Bobák
Zsombor has graduated from the University of Amsterdam’s Heritage Studies: Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image programme in 2018. Since then he is a member of the TEDDY AWARD-Team conducting interviews with filmmakers and film professionals. He is passionate about queer cinema, queer film histories, and the political potential of film festivals.