After a three-year hiatus, the only LGBT film festival in the Philippines is finally back. The QC International Pink Film Festival (QCIPFF) is a “non-competitive, non-profit celebration of local and international LGBTQIA+ feature and short films” founded in 2014. An official member of the Asia Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance, it aims to make the country the center of the largest LGBT festival in Southeast Asia.
Its last run in 2015 includes an impressive lineup of films, including El Hombre Nuevo, winner of the Best Documentary Award, Stories of Our Lives, special Jury Award winner from Kenya, and Nasty Boy, TEDDY Best Film awardee from US. Among the Filipino films shown were Esprit de Corps, Esoterika Maynila, Shunned, and Pinoy Transking.
The festival’s return is significant, as it coincides with Quezon City’s 79th founding anniversary, as well as the centennial celebration of Philippine cinema. This year, QCIPFF seeks to empower the community by focusing on relevant LGBTQ issues, with its theme “KKEPS,” which stands for kalusugan (health), karapatang pantao (human rights), edukasyon (education), pangkabuhayan (livelihood), and sekswalidad (sexuality).
It will feature the same program of award-winning international and selected Filipino LGBTQ+ films. While the festival’s international program is already closed, submission for local entries is still ongoing. Long feature films, documentaries, short films, student films, regional films, animation, and diasporic films are welcome submissions.
See guidelines and requirements below.
Art by Marian Hukom
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