Also known as "The Gay Brothers," this short film showed two men dancing together.
Best Picture at the Academy Awards and also depicted one of the earliest onscreen same-sex kisses.
Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope" tells the story of two heavily coded gay men who murder one of their classmates for the sheer thrill of it.
The well-known drama includes clear, coded gay subtext between troublemaking teen protagonist Jim Stark (James Dean) and his new classmate, Plato (Sal Mineo who later came out)
Robert Aldrich's film about the breakdown of an aging lesbian TV actress included a lesbian sex scene that broke down a major taboo associated with the Code's erasure of gay characters on screen.
John Director Waters, challenged the concept of camp by making deliberately filthy, transgressive films that let their queer, outcast characters gleefully behave badly.
William Friedkin's "Cruising" was reviled by many gay viewers, with one pamphlet saying that, in the film, "gay men are presented as one-dimensional sex-crazed lunatics."
Donna Deitch's "Desert Hearts" tracks the romance that develops between repressed English professor Vivian and free-spirited rancher's daughter Kay. It's regarded as the first mainstream lesbian film with a happy ending.
Jennie Livingston's acclaimed documentary chronicles New York City's Black and Latino Harlem drag ball scene of the late 1980s, bringing the vital subculture into the public eye in a major way.
Director Cheryl Dunye plays a Black lesbian filmmaker working on a project about "The Watermelon Woman," an obscure 1940s Black actress.
Hedwig Robinson, a gay East German rock singer develops a relationship with a younger man, Tommy, becoming his mentor and musical collaborator, only to have Tommy steal her music and become a rock star.
Ang Lee's film about the long-term secret romance between two cowboys (Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger) made history as one of the first big mainstream movies that centered on a gay love story. The film became a critical and box office success and won three Oscars, proving to Hollywood that LGBTQ+ stories had a place outside of strictly independent filmmaking.
Lesbian filmmaker Dee Rees arrived on the scene with her 2011 debut narrative feature film, "Pariah." The semi-autobiographical film centers on a Black Brooklyn lesbian's experiences with coming out and reckoning with her identity.
Moonlight tells the story of a young Black gay man named Chiron as he grows up and comes to terms with his identity. It made history as the first LGBTQ+ movie and the first movie with an all-Black cast to take home the top prize.
Director Wanuri Kahiu's "afro bubblegum" film "Rafiki," which tells a love story between two teenage girls, became the first Kenyan film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival.
The animated documentary "Flee" centers on a man identified as Amin Nawabi, a refugee from Afghanistan who left his country for a new life in Denmark, as he shares a painful hidden past ahead of marrying his soon-to-be husband.
In the early 1960s, Agnes Torres — a pseudonymized transgender woman — participated in sociologist Harold Garfinkel's gender health research at UCLA, making her the first subject of an in-depth discussion of transgender identity in sociology.
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Zia Stolbie (she/her/they) is a mixed race, lesbian creator, mystic & experience artist based between Canada & Jamaica, where she holds dual citizenship. Her creative journey is shaped by deep curiosity and a desire to question the paradigms carved for us and to make space for ever-evolving expansion. Creating to feel and guided by cravings for exploration, discovery and a deeper awareness of self and her surroundings. Zia’s creations reflect a reality filled with depth and duality, freedom and function, love and lightwork, humour and harmony.
Her art explores the ongoing balance between belonging and othering, always rooted in the belief that nature is innately queer if you’re paying attention. Living at the intersections of multiple cultural & embodied identities, Zia is committed to honoring her truth through visual storytelling and creative expansion. She expresses herself through photography, motion, functional art & immersive experiences that invite others to connect with their own authenticity, and to feel empowered to live fully and holistically.
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Wes is a mixed-media artist working with photography, painting, sculpture, and 3D printing to explore shape, form, and the spaces where reality intersects with the fantastical. Drawing on influences of horror, fantasy, realism, and queerness, his work challenges conventional boundaries, offering a space for both wonder and curiosity. Utilizing mixed-media he is able to utilize his talents and offer a unique lens through which he examines both the tangible world and the realms of fantasy. All works are made in his home studio by him.
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Yiyo is a talented Plastic & Scenic Artist, Multidisciplinary Creator, and Nature-Inspired Storyteller. This multidisciplinary Mexican artist’s work celebrates nature, identity, and cultural heritage through vivid visual art, performance, and media. Born and raised in a small town in Mexico where nature surrounds him, it was normal for Yiyo to live with animals and plants every day. For him, animals and plants and all nature itself is the purest form of art made by the universe, and that’s what he tries to convey in his pieces where vibrant color reflects the intensity of what he wants to express.
Deeply inspired by his upbringing surrounded by nature, Yiyo channels its energy and beauty into bold, emotionally resonant creations. With a background in communication and cultural studies, he has performed in over 14 theatrical productions and hosted national TV and radio programs. His art and collaborations reflect a commitment to inclusivity, self-expression, and the transformative power of creativity.
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
TR is a queer artist based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary, Alberta) who is obsessed with all things fibre. She learned to knit at a very early age, taught by her mother and grandmother, and cannot remember a time when she didn’t have a set of needles and yarn in her hands. She dabbles in other fibre arts, but knitting is her true love. TR is passionate about social and environmental justice and believes this consciousness extends to making informed decisions about our consumerism and the clothing we put on our bodies.
Born Under Leo offers slow-fashion hand-knit garments made with sustainable, humanely sourced, 100% certified Canadian fibres. Each piece is carefully crafted by hand, with intention, with zero waste.
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
We’re excited to spotlight two of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Theo and Benji are two queer, trans artists who are trying to raise awareness for environmental protection, trans rights, and queer acceptance. Through their art practices they tie themes of nature into experiences of overcoming hardships. They would like to encourage other queer folks to embrace their connection with nature with their creations.
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Teigan Tulsie, aka The Armoured Artist, is a biracial transgender knight on a quest to make the world more gay with his handmade 2SLGBTQIA+ pride chainmail jewellery and accessories! He offers bracelets, keychains, earrings, necklaces and more in 20+ pride flags! Whether you’ve got small wrists, big wrists, skin sensitivities, need a good fidget, or just want some unique modern medieval made pride swag, come meet your friendly Calgary born and raised chain smith and be well equipped for your next adventure!
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Sumit Munjal (he/they) is a multidisciplinary artist exploring spirit, memory, and liberation through saturated colour, gold detailing, and storytelling. Their work blends ancestral symbols with a queer futurist lens—honouring the matriarch, the body, and the unseen. Each piece is an invitation to reflect, reimagine, and reconnect.
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Steven is a gay artist based in Calgary whose work includes homoerotic sketches and colorful collages. His single line gay erotic sketches bring visibility to queer narratives in art, while his multidisciplinary approach extends to color spectrum magazine collage work. Steven sees his fascination with colors, color theory, and the rainbow as deeply connected to the pride flag, reflecting his identity and artistic vision.
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Midnight Bandit is a mixed media artist serving up unapologetically queer, pop-infused romantica with a wink and a grind. His work celebrates homoerotic desire, romantic tension, and camp excess—each piece a vibrant love letter to gay male attraction, intimacy, and pride.
From bold prints to cheeky stickers, Midnight Bandit reimagines the classic pin-up through a queer lens, inviting you to indulge in what excites you: color, connection, and the pleasure of being seen.
Come for the eye candy. Stay for the queer joy.
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Kylar Lange is a multi-disciplinary queer artist working with glass, wood, metal, and ecopoxy. He is inspired by nature and loves to create nautical creatures/scenes. Kylar has a variety of different critters and functional pieces available in a range of prices.
Join us for four days of unapologetic storytelling, fierce creativity, and pure queer magic as we celebrate our 27th year of amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ voices! Experience 21 screenings, connect with 16 incredible artists, dance to 2 amazing DJs, dive into creative workshops, enjoy electrifying drag performances, and discover so much more!
📅 June 12-15, 2025
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
701 11 St SW, Calgary, AB
🆓 Free Entry
🔗 FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS VISIT OUR LINKTREE
#FairyTales2025 #YYCArts #QueerArt #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #QueerFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #CalgaryEvents #QueerStories #YYCQueer #FairyTalesFilmFest #QueerCinema #CalgaryArt #QueerMakers #2SLGBTQIA+
Calgary Queer Arts Society honours and acknowledges Moh’kinsstis, the lands and oral practices of the Blackfoot Confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations; the îethka Nakoda Nations: Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney; and the Tsuut’ina Nation. We also recognize this territory as home to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, Districts 5 and 6. Finally, we acknowledge all nations, genders and spirits who live, work, and play across Turtle Island.
We are only the latest to live, create and gather here, and so it is only right that we should acknowledge those who have come before us; their feasts and family gatherings, art, music, dance, storytelling and ceremony, that have been happening right here, on this land, for more generations than any of us can count.
As we enter and care for the relationships made possible through our work, we see every gathering as an opportunity to engage and walk a path of reconciliation; in doing so, we hope to build connections of inclusion, respect, and shared creativity.
