Reel Q: The “Best of the Best” of LGBTQ+ Cinema in Pittsburgh
By Olivia Miller
Reel Q, a Pittsburgh nonprofit aimed at promoting LGBTQ+ films, holds an annual film festival in the city that could easily rival famous movie festivals like South by Southwest and the Tribeca Film Festival. Showing almost 100 films over 10 days, the film festival showcases, what executive director TJ Murphy calls, “the best of the best '' of queer cinema.
The organization, then called The Pittsburgh Gay & Lesbian Film Series, was started by Rich Cummings in 1982 and was started to bring together “a society of people who wanted to hang out and watch films when they weren’t as acceptable as they are today.” The first official film festival was in 1985 and it has been going strong ever since. Now in its 37th series, Reel Q is hailed as the 6th oldest LGBTQ+ film festival in the world.
The purpose of Reel Q is centered around “promoting queer visibility” and creating a safe space for Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ+ community. Murphy emphasized the need “now more than ever” to create safe spaces so queer individuals can “see themselves and hear like-minded stories.” This is especially so for the young adults they bring together through their Reel Youth program as queer young adults often have higher rates of depression, homelessness, and suicide.
This year, the film festival will take place October 6th through the 16th in locations that are “a little bit all over the city” including Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville and The Andy Warhol Museum on the North Shore.
Submissions for the festival are still open until the end of June; visit their website to learn more about how to submit a film. If you like watching movies more than being behind the camera, Reel Q is also looking for individuals to join their screening committee. The committee is responsible for watching films and helping plan events around those films.
If you can’t wait until October to get involved with Reel Q, consider going to one of their free monthly screenings at City of Asylum on the North Shore. This June, they will show Walking With Shadows, a Nigerian film based on the book of the same name by Jude Dibia. Murphy has been “trying to bring this movie here for a couple of years” and encourages cinephiles to attend the event in person or through City of Asylum’s livestream.
For more information about Reel Q and their upcoming events, visit their website here or you can call 412-422-6776. You can also follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @reelqpgh across platforms.
Ultimately, Murphy wants Reel Q to continue its offerings for “40 plus” years and “fulfill the needs of the community for as long as possible.” He hopes to continue “[providing] safe spaces, knowledge, education, and enlightenment through movies” as well as being able to offer resources to aspiring filmmakers.
