Festivals such as Brisbane Queer Film Festival are of utmost importance in strengthening our LGBTI communities by increasing their visibility, portraying their diversity and demanding recognition.

Our festival provides an environment in which the LGBTI community and cinephiles can come together for ten days to discuss and debate the issues facing the queer community that are reflected in the films. No other festival in Brisbane offers this experience. In 2010 I was a member of the International Jury for Best First Feature at the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and just recently was honoured to be invited to sit on the jury of this year’s Teddy Award, the official Queer Award, at Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival). Thanks to these opportunities and others, during this past year, as with every year, I have watched too many films to count in order to make sure Brisbane Queer Film Festival has the best program possible.

For me, this year’s feature highlights are Undertow, Sasha, The Last Summer of Boyita and Sistagirls.

SARAH NEAL, HEAD OF PROGRAMMING

Warning: This festival contains films that are unclassified and therefore the entire festival is rated R. Films in this festival are legally restricted to people 18 years or older.