Though the sixth edition of the Scottish Queer International Film Festival won't be launching until October 2020, the team at SQIFF are here for us during the lockdown, having launched an online mini-festival called Sqifflex. A series of queer short films – all of which were screened at previous festivals, and with a focus on marginalised LGBTQIA+ communities and filmmakers – will be available to view on the SQIFF website.

There are currently two programmes online, touching upon a variety of themes. The Fighting for Justice programme will focus on Deaf, Disabled and Two Spirit identities, and how these challenge notions around patriarchy, white supremacy and ableism. Meanwhile, Funny Stuff will showcase comedy shorts with queer narratives, involving love potions, mystery trails of takeaway food, animated Fisher Price characters and more.

Every short film will be available to view on the website for a month, and will feature English subtitles or captions for Deaf and hard of hearing audiences. Though the films are free, Sqifflex will be fundraising for the charity LGBT Unity Scotland, which works to support LGBTQIA+ refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants. More Sqifflix programmes will be announced later in the month.

Helen Wright, SQIFF Festival Co-ordinator, said of Sqifflix: 'We wanted to put queer film content online to keep our LGBTQIA+ communities connected and provide something a bit different to the bigger streaming platforms. As LGBTQIA+ people may be particularly suffering from isolation and its impact on their welfare and wellbeing right now, we wanted to offer support with a welcoming and inclusive activity. We were especially keen to make sure our shorts programmes are available to those not able to access other independent film content online due to cost or lack of captions and other access measures. We're really grateful to the filmmakers who have allowed us to share their work for free and create this platform.'

Sqifflix will run throughout May and June and is available to view via the SQIFF website. The Scottish Queer International Film Festival will return 14–18 October 2020, with the full programme announced in August.

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