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.
🌶️✨ DRAG SPOTLIGHT ✨🌶️
Get ready to be SERVED by your Local Central Alberta Latina Obsession! Berry Wet La Tina is about to bring the SASS, SPICE, and pure FUEGO to our festival opening night! 🔥💃
This small town queen stepped up to fill the representation gap in Central Alberta’s Queer and Latinx community, and honey, she’s been SERVING ever since! Berry Wet La Tina revives our culture with warm spirits and just the right amount of attitude that’ll leave you absolutely GAGGED! 🌶️👑
Expect fierce moves, flawless execution, and that special Latin flavor that’ll have you screaming “¡VAMOS!” Come through for a performance that’s equal parts heart, heritage, and pure CHARISMA! ✨
This queen is ready to show you why she’s Central Alberta’s spiciest little secret and trust us - you do NOT want to miss this moment!
📅 THURSDAY, JUNE 12 | 6:00 PM
📍Contemporary Calgary Atrium
Get your life and come witness this ICONIC opening night performance!
#BerryWetLaTina #FairyTales2025 #OpeningNight #DragPerformance #LatinaQueen #QueerLatinx #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #ContemporaryCalgary #YYCDrag #CentralAlberta #LocalObsession
🌈✨ DJ SPOTLIGHT ✨🌈
We’re absolutely PUMPED to announce that Prince Morbucks is bringing the BEATS to the festival opening night! 🎧🔥
@prince_morbucks is a Calgary based name with Vancouver ties that is synonymous with the art of rhythm and auditory innovation. From locally supporting heavy hitters like Channel Tres and Coco & Breezy, to Chasing Summer, Badlands, Calgary Pride in the Park Festival and BSide Radio—he has also played pop up parties like Level Up, Pansy Club, Detour and Soul Circus.
Gracing some of the city’s most renowned clubs like Commonwealth and Twisted Element, Prince Morbucks’ journey has been one of unwavering dedication to his craft and his community. He has also recently co-founded the inclusive open-format parties known as Genrefluid. His unique ability to seamlessly blend genres, taking listeners on a sonic experience through House, Disco, R\&B, Hip Hop, Jersey Club, Amapiano and beyond, has earned him popularity as a true musical chameleon.
Get ready for an EPIC sonic journey that’ll set the perfect vibe for four days of queer excellence! Plus, entrance is FREE while you browse our incredible artist market! 🌈✨🎨
📅 THURSDAY, JUNE 12
📍 Contemporary Calgary – Atrium
Performance Schedule:
• First Set: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
• Second Set: 8:30 PM - 9:30 PM
#PrinceMorbucks #FairyTales2025 #OpeningNight #DJSpotlight #QueerMusic #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #Genrefluid #YYCArts #ContemporaryCalgary #FestivalVibes #FreeEntry #ArtistMarket
⚖️✨ FILM SPOTLIGHT ✨⚖️
Get ready for a POWERFUL story of courage that changed EVERYTHING! “Pride vs. Prejudice” tells the incredible true story of Delwin Vriend - an unlikely hero who took on the entire Alberta government! 🏛️💪
This isn’t just a legal battle - it’s a riveting David vs. Goliath story that exposed discrimination and challenged an entire system determined to deny human rights! Watch as one person’s fight for justice unfolds with twists and turns that led to a GROUNDBREAKING 1998 Supreme Court ruling! 🌈⚖️
This transformative precedent didn’t just change Canada - it’s cited around the WORLD! Talk about making history and leaving a legacy! 🌍✊
PLUS! Stick around for our “Then & Now” panel discussion with legal experts and advocates exploring how 2SLGBTQIA+ human rights battles continue in Alberta today. This conversation is going to be ESSENTIAL! 🗣️
📅 THURSDAY, JUNE 12 | 7:00 PM
📍 Contemporary Calgary, Heather Edwards Theatre
🎤 POST-SHOW PANEL DISCUSSION
This is the Alberta queer history lesson you NEED to see!
Link in bio for tickets!
#PrideVsPrejudice #FairyTales2025 #VriendVAlberta #QueerHistory #HumanRights #LGBTQRights #AlbertaHistory #SupremeCourt #OpeningNight #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #DocumentaryFilm #ContemporaryCalgary #YYCArts #QueerActivism
🌈✨ SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT ✨🌈
We’re absolutely THRILLED to celebrate @kneticclub as the exclusive sponsor of our most provocative night - FAIRY TALES AFTER DARK! 🔥🎬
📅 FRIDAY THE 13TH | 9:30 PM
🎭 “Love, Lust & Liberation” + “Carnage for Christmas”
Get ready for an absolutely WILD night of sensual storytelling and queer horror! KNetic’s sponsorship brings you eight boundary-pushing short films curated by the legendary @mskatesinclaire , PLUS a deliciously twisted holiday slasher that’ll make you rethink going home for Christmas! 💀🎄
From shibari photo shoots and witchy rituals to trans heroines and candy-cane carnage - this is cinema that celebrates sexuality, power, and queer desire in its rawest forms! ✨🔥
KNetic Club is Calgary’s “Nightclub with a Twist” - a sex-positive, ultra-inclusive lifestyle space where exploration and authenticity reign supreme! Their support makes our most daring programming possible! 👑
This adults-only showcase promises ethical smut, dreamy cinematics, camp horror, and unfiltered self-expression. Stick around - it gets JUICY!
Tickets in bio! 18+ only! 🎫
#KNeticClub #FairyTalesAfterDark #LoveLustLiberation #CarnageForChristmas #QueerHorror #AdultsOnly #FairyTales2025 #CalgaryQueerArts #SexPositive #QueerCinema #YYCNightlife
🌈✨COMMUNITY PARTNER SPOTLIGHT✨🌈
We’re absolutely HONOURED to announce @blackprideyyc as a community partner bringing you a night of fierce ballroom culture and Black queer excellence! 🏆💃🏿
📅 SATURDAY, JUNE 14 | 9:30 PM 🎭
🎬”This Is Ballroom” with opening short “Shall We Meet Tonight”
LIVE PERFORMANCE:
Get ready to GAG as Calgary`s IV from the International Iconic Kiki House of PinkLady SERVES you EXCELLENCE! This ballroom icon is about to bring PURE FIRE to the stage! 🔥👑
PRE-FEATURE SHORT:
“Shall We Meet Tonight” - A young woman arranged to marry an aristocratic benefactor discovers her passionate affection for a townswoman, creating a heart-wrenching choice between duty and desire! 💕⚡
Get ready for a powerful night featuring a special pre-show by Black Pride YYC followed by this award-winning documentary that takes you inside Rio de Janeiro’s electrifying ballroom scene where voguing, shade, and pure artistry collide! 🔥✨
Experience stunning performances, intimate stories, and the power of chosen family in this internationally acclaimed film that’s been slaying festivals from Portugal to Norway! This isn’t just dance - it’s resistance, identity, and JOY all rolled into one unmissable experience! 💫
Directors Juru and Vitã have created something MAGICAL that celebrates transformation, community, and the fierce power of self-expression! 🎥
Black Pride YYC champions safe spaces for Black 2SLGBTQ+ folks in Calgary through cultural celebration, education, and advocacy. We’re beyond excited to showcase their incredible curation!
Tickets in bio! This one’s going to be ICONIC!
#BlackPrideYYC #FairyTales2025 #ThisIsBallroom #BlackQueer #Voguing #QueerCinema #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #BallroomCulture #YYCArts #CommunityPartner
🌈✨ COMMUNITY PARTNER SPOTLIGHT ✨🌈
We’re EXCITED to welcome @coloresyyc as our community partner celebrating Latinx 2SLGBTQI+ stories and culture! 🏳️🌈💃
📅 FRIDAY, JUNE 13 | 7:00 PM 🎥 “Streets of Gloria”
Get Ready for a FESTIVE EXPLOSION featuring a special Brazilian dance performance by Colores Del Alma! 💥 Incredible performers from Dance Fusion Calgary and Samba Queen will be bringing the heat with authentic Brazilian styles - from Estilo Urbano to Axé and Samba!
This pre-show celebration will transport you straight to the streets of Rio! 🔥🕺💃
Then settle in for a passionate Brazilian love story that will leave you BREATHLESS! Follow Gabriel, a young literature teacher, as he discovers Rio’s underground queer scene and falls into an explosive romance with Adriano, a magnetic male escort! 🔥💕
This stunning film explores love, obsession, chosen family, and finding your place in the world through the vibrant streets of Rio de Janeiro! Director Felipe Sholl has crafted something truly beautiful and raw! 🎬✨
Founded in 2018 by Cesar Altamirano and Melvi Alvarado, Colores del Alma has been making HISTORY representing Latino 2SLGBTQIA+ voices in Calgary with love, dignity, and respect! From bringing the first Latino float to Calgary Pride to creating safe spaces for our community - they’re absolute ICONS! 👑
We’re so grateful to showcase their incredible curation that celebrates our diverse Latino queer experiences!
Tickets in bio! ¡Vamos!
#ColoresDelAlma #FairyTales2025 #StreetsOfGloria #LatinoQueer #BrazilianDance #Samba #Axe #EstiloUrbano #QueerCinema #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #BrazilianCinema #YYCArts #CommunityPartner #LatinoLGBTQ
🌈✨ COMMUNITY PARTNER SPOTLIGHT ✨🌈
We’re THRILLED to announce @rangdepride as a community partner for an incredible evening of South Asian queer storytelling! 🎬💕
📅 THURSDAY, JUNE 12 | 9:30 PM
🎬 “Tangled Hearts & Quiet Revolutions” Shorts Package
Get ready for a powerful night featuring a special pre-show by Rang De Pride followed by four stunning films that explore the beautiful complexity of Desi queer experiences! From secret crushes to family tensions, these stories will have you feeling ALL the emotions! 😭💖
Featured films include:
🎥 Aadat (Pakistan)
🎥 Elijah (USA)
🎥 U for Usha (India)
🎥 Shame (Lebanon)
Love rarely arrives quietly, and neither do these incredible stories! This is representation that MATTERS! 🔥
Rang De Pride creates safe spaces for South Asian LGBTQIA+ folks in Calgary through advocacy, cultural celebration, and community building. We’re honored to showcase their curation! 🙏
Tickets in bio! Don’t sleep on this one!
#RangDePride #FairyTales2025 #DesiQueer #SouthAsianPride #QueerCinema #2SLGBTQIA #CalgaryQueerArts #RepresentationMatters #YYCArts #CommunityPartner
We’re excited to spotlight one of the incredible artists featured at this year’s Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival! ✨🎬
Meet @blakemcleodd - Artist in Residence! 🎨
Blake is an interdisciplinary artist and storyteller of Nehiyaw + settler descent, living and creating on Treaty 7 territory in Mohkinstsis/Calgary since 2013.
As Creative Director of @cinicstudio, Blake masterfully weaves together narratives of Indigiqueer identity through writing, illustration, photography, filmmaking, printmaking, and music! 🌈📸🎬
Their vision shaped the ENTIRE visual identity of #FairyTales2025 - from our marketing materials to promotional imagery that captures pure queer celebration! ✨🏳️🌈
Blake’s multidisciplinary art creates space for authentic narratives that challenge frameworks while celebrating the resilience of marginalized communities. Through their work with CQAS, they’re building bridges between artistic expression and community building! 🌉
We’re SO grateful for this incredible artistic collaboration, ensuring diverse voices find platforms for authentic representation!
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! ✨🎬
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+
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.
