Manchester Queer Media Festival reveals programme

The full programme has been announced for the third annual Queer Media Festival, which will take place at HOME, Manchester on 5 November.

Feature by News Team | 12 Oct 2016

The day-long festival includes screenings, talks and Q&As, and an afterparty with DJs from leading Manchester club nights HomoElectric and Black Angel. 

Moving to HOME for the first time, the festival welcomes major industry speakers from Channel 4, BBC, Gay Star News and UK Black Pride, and after a packed day of events closes with a screening of Strike A Pose – the story of Madonna’s famous troupe of dancers on her iconic Blond Ambition tour – with live vogue dancers from House of Ghetto. 

Other highlights include a screening of disco documentary Jewel's Catch One (fresh from the London Film Festival); a selection of the best LGBTQ+ short films from around the world curated by the festival’s Young Programmers, and discussions on the latest in film, broadcast and digital media from guests including Tris Reid-Smith (the founder of Gay Star News), Rachelle Constant (head of BFI Vision Award-winning Constant Productions) and Aziz Rashid (head of BBC North West). 

There'll also be Q&As with community leaders including Lady Phyll Opoku-Gyimah (co-founder of UK Black Pride), Rosie Hastings and Hannah Quinlan (creators of the @Gaybar project, commemorating the fight for queer spaces and mourning their loss), Abigail Ward (co-founder of the Manchester District Music Archive) and trans performer Kate O’Donnell; plus a special screening of the results from the first ever MobDoc workshop, taking place 31 Oct-1 Nov, in which filmmakers Rikki Beadle Blair and Geertje Algera will teach participants how to make their own 60-second documentary on their mobile phones. 

“Queer Media is very proud to be celebrating its third festival at Manchester’s HOME," said festival director Jamie Starboisky. "It is a great partnership as their aims as a combined arts centre exactly match our mantra towards combining media.

"The Queer Media Festival fills a vital gap with panel discussions about telling LGBT stories across all platforms from apps, interactive storytelling, games, and virtual reality mixed with traditional media like films, performance and art. We are not just a film festival and our aim is to inspire the next generation of LGBT storytellers. No matter what age you are you are welcome to come along and network, learn, inspire, and create."

Queer Media Festival 2016
Saturday 5 November
HOME, Manchester
Tickets and info: queermedia.org.uk