queer short cuts

In 2022, after developing Long COVID, I spent a lot of time in bed for several months. Out of boredom, I started watching queer short films from around the world, because short films are a medium that I’ve rarely engaged with but can be such a lower barrier or entry to queer filmmakers than feature films, and also, they fit with my short attention span at the time.

After my attention span and energy started improving, I decided I wanted to share my short film recommendations in case there were others that were similarly curious about queer short films, so I started a newsletter, originally on Substack, called queer short cuts. Each entry is themed, and I choose a set of short films to fit that theme whose runtime will, together, come up to an hour at most. I also provide information about the filmmakers and how to support them, if that information is available, and content notes as applicable

What kinds of short films will be recommended?

I’m choosing films from around the world that cover a broad range of experiences within LGBTQIA2S+ communities. The majority will be dramas, because that is what I have found to be the most common genre, but I’ve also found many wonderful short comedies, rom-coms, documentaries, speculative films, and horror and thrillers.

Some of the films I recommend will be on subscription-only sites that you have to pay to access. I wrestled with whether or not to include these but the truth is that many LGBTQIA2S+ short films are hosted on queer-content sites like GagaOOLala, or film sites like MUBI. If you have the means to subscribe to those sites, I have had a good experience with their content.

One last thing I should note is that I am committed to promoting films that center own voices through their production and casting – in particular, making sure that trans stories are created and portrayed by trans people, that disability stories are created and portrayed by disabled actors, and that films portraying people of color aren’t whitewashed. However, with short films, especially short films in languages I don’t speak, that information is sometimes hard to find. I will make sure to do as much research as I can to determine this for each short film, but sometimes I will have to make a judgment call to recommend a film without knowing much about the actors or creator

Types of content notes included in each newsletter

I will not warn for nudity or graphic sex between consenting adults. None of the films I recommend will, to the best of my knowledge, depict scenes of nudity or graphic sex that includes anyone under the age of 18. (There may be scenes of kissing between people under 18, or mentions of sex between people under the age of 18.)