Out in the regions: Queer film festivals, community-building and the cultivation of creative talent in regional Victoria

Abstract

Queer Film Festivals (QFFs) have tended to be linked with major capital cities in Australia. This reflects wider global trends, as well as the symbolic metropolitan/nonmetropolitan divide that has long-permeated the queer imaginary (Weston, K., GLQ: A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies 2:253-277, 1995; Halberstam, J., In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives. New York University Press, New York, 2005). Yet, events like Bendigo Queer Film Festival and Geelong Pride Film Festival are demonstrating that QFFs are not only viable in regional areas, but that their various initiatives and activities also foster important benefits for regional LGBTI+ wellbeing. Examining these events and their contributions to community-building, networking and the cultivation of creative talent, this chapter demonstrates that the tendency to overlook regional areas in the study of queer cinema and film festivals risks reifying limiting narratives that dichotomise regional and urban queer experiences.