QueerWest Film Fest (Day 1)

WHAT IS QUEERWEST?

Queerwest is a three-day event produced by the Roxy Theater to celebrate Montana’s diverse LGBTQ2S population. The event will take place in June 2023 to commemorate Pride Month in Missoula. It features a block of shorts from filmmakers around the world, as well as several feature films, including the made-in-Montana Please Baby Please.

OKAY, WHAT’S THE  PITCH?

From the restrictive Hays Code that constructed a celluloid closet, to the queer indie explosion of the mid-90s, to our contemporary conversations about representation, both independent and mainstream cinema have struggled with the way they portray LGBTQ2S people and stories. And while representation has obviously bettered over the last century of cinema, the question now turns to what queer stories get told. Queerwest celebrates not the stories of queer life on the coasts, but the lives, adventures, and pain of LGBTQ2Speople living under the majesty and power of the American West.

THAT SOUNDS DOPE. WHAT’S THE PROGRAMMING LIKE?

Queerwest Film Fest is a weekend-long showcase of classic and contemporary queer cinema. This will include a block of shorts made by filmmakers across the country. We have shorts about transgender gunslingers, Two-Spirit artists, and bandits in love. The feature film will be Please Baby Please, an incredibly gay movie about gender fluidity that was filmed in Butte recently.

OH COOL! THIS IS GIVING ME A HANKERING FOR MORE QUEER CINEMA

Well you know about Out at the Roxy, Missoula’s beloved community cinema’s monthly showcase of LGBTQ2S films and stories, right?

YEAH I KNOW ABOUT THAT, I MEANT FOR JUNE.

Not only does the Roxy always roll out the rainbow-carpet for June, but the Western Montana Center’s Annual Celebration of Pride Month kicks off that week, making QueerWest the kickoff event for Missoula Pride 2023.

I’M SOLD. HOW DO I HELP OUT?

We’re always looking for sponsors! What better way to help build community than by creating more queer arts and events in Missoula?

OH SO THIS IS ABOUT MONEY.

No, what it’s about is creating and maintaining community in a place where our state is openly and actively trying to force queer people from our borders.

AND WHO ARE YOU AGAIN?

I’m Charlotte Macorn, the festival director. You might know me as the mercurial icon and the voice of your generation.

WHAT?

I’m also the Roxy’s Volunteer Coordinator, the co-producer of the beloved Camp Horror Film Festival, and the hostess of both Trash Vault and the aforementioned Out at the Roxy.  I’ve also been working in LGBTQ+ advocacy for nearly a decade here in the City of Many Shoulders. Maybe you’ve seen me do drag. Maybe you’ve seen me do comedy.