This weekend I attended the ReelQ Film Festival in Pittsburgh, PA. I spent several evenings there, and just wanted to comment on the experience.
The festival is presented annually by the Pittsburgh Lesbian and Gay Film Society, a 501c3 non-profit organization. Their mission is “to celebrate LGBT culture and foster appreciation and visibility through film media.” This year marks the 29th festival, and they are pretty excited about the big three-oh next year.
The entire event takes place at the Harris Theater on Liberty Ave in downtown Pittsburgh. The theater is a good size for the event, and it has a cozy atmosphere (versus the big corporate megaplexes) that lends a personal touch to the festival. You actually get to interact with people when you are there which is always a good option for a community event like this. The films they showed on the days I was there were very good. Admission is $9, although there are some passes you can buy that bring that down to about $7 per film. Some films were better than others, but all were worth seeing. Even worth the 2 hour drive, interstate shutdowns, and the crazy circular parking garage that made me dizzy!
For the opening night film they were able to get the producers of the film there for Q&A after the movie. This was a pretty cool opportunity to learn more about the movie and meet the people behind it.
The festival continues through the week with more short and feature-length films. It ends this Saturday, October 18, with some films that look outstanding. I have to give a shout-out to the volunteers that worked the event itself and the ones who probably worked like crazy after their other jobs to make this happen. You can tell that a lot of time and effort went into planning and executing the event. I had the good fortune to be able to volunteer one evening for a short while, and I enjoyed getting to know and chat with some of the volunteers.
Thanks to PLGFS for bringing these films within 150 miles of where I live and giving me the chance to see them. I hope my readers will benefit as well from knowing there are some new, good LGBT films out there to watch for. And if you’re in or near Pittsburgh there’s still time to go see them for yourself!
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