A new LGBTQ Film Festival comes to New Jersey on the weekend of April 14th, 2023. The Newark LGBTQ Community Center, along with their community partners, will host the weekend event. It will be the first of its kind in the city of Newark and the state of New Jersey as it will focus on LGBTQ BIPOC film makers, directors, and actors. The organizers are specifically looking for those from Newark and the surrounding areas to participate.
The festival will also hold the shared goal of the Newark LGBTQ Center which is “to create a safe, inclusive environment for the LGBTQ community in Newark and beyond.”
“We will create our own lookouts and remind each other constantly what it takes to be safe. That’s what we do because we don’t necessarily feel like the cavalry is coming. And so, we must be our own cavalry,” said Beatrice Simpkins, Executive Director of the Newark LGBTQ Community Center.
The mission of the Newark LGBTQ Film Festival is to amplify the voices, vision, and works of film that would otherwise struggle to find a mainstream audience, she stressed. They are looking for works that have a significant impact in raising awareness around lives and issues of queer people and queer communities of color.
The festival will “bring people together while celebrating the rich history and bright future of artistic contributions from the LGBTQIA+ BIPOC community in Newark and beyond,” the Center said in a press release.
Feature-length and short films, including documentaries and experimental projects, are all eligible for consideration. Works should be of interest to, and inclusive of, the LGBTQ community. Specifically, the festival is looking to highlight films by BIPOC LGBTQ creators, and about topics relevant to the LGBTQ community in Newark.
To submit a film, visit Film Freeway online. The film submission deadline is January 27, 2023, although some films may come in later on a case by case basis until February 17.
For more information about the Newark LGBTQ Film Festival visit the Center’s website, or on Facebook.
