BOUNDARY-pushing LGBTQ+ films from Scotland and around the world are to be put at centre stage for the fourth Scottish Queer International Film Festival (SQIFF) in Glasgow next month.

Highlights of the event, which runs at venues across the city, including the CCA, GFT, The Art School and Kinning Park Complex, include a focus on LGBTQ+ films from East Asia and the Arab world, such as Ayse Toprak’s acclaimed docu-drama Mr Gay Syria, pictured, right.

Held in December for the first time, the SQIFF also features veteran US actress Molly Shannon as 19th century poet Emily Dickinson, queer porn star Bishop Black introducing a retrospective of his films and a screening of The Wizard of Oz in which Dorothy and her friends are re-imagined as an allegory for asexuality, pictured, below.

Having doubled its size since its first outing in 2015, the SQIFF also showcases Gay As In Hysterically Funny, a selection of short films on making fun of yourself as an LGBTQ+ person, followed by a panel discussion with stand-up comedian Rosie Jones.

Elsewhere, there’s Queer Scotland, a collection of shorts by and about LGBTQ+ communities across the country and Dykes, Camera, Action!, a night exploring how lesbians and queer women are excluded from the film canon.

“There are so many films that don’t get a general release or aren’t shown in the main film festivals, especially films representing a wide range of queer identities,” says SQIFF programmer Helen Wright.

Since beginning in 2015, SQIFF has screened all films with captions or subtitles, and the festival has always been interested in representing stories from deaf and disabled filmmakers, says Wright.

On December 5, there’s a discussion event about deaf and disabled aesthetics in film, and whether captions can be artfully integrated rather than being an afterthought. The next day Scottish filmmaker and vlogger Ross Wilcock will head a panel discussion on short films which explore dating with a disability, including one he made for the BBC Social.

“It’s about my experience of online dating being gay and disabled and how I navigate with this constant anxiety of when I tell the person about my disability,” says Wilcock, who first worked with SQIFF last year to help them develop audio descriptions. “People have this perception that disabled people don’t think about sexuality when there’s a big community of LGBT+ disabled people.

“At the end of the day that’s what we are – people, and though we shouldn’t be defined by disability or sexuality, unfortunately our society does put labels on things.”

Wright says she hopes increased measures to improve access will build on the festival’s success. Like last year, tickets to all events are priced on an honesty sliding scale of £0-£8, depending on what individuals feel they can afford.

“We don’t want people to be excluded from an event because they can’t afford the ticket price,” Wright says. “I was sceptical and nervous about it at first, but we actually grew our audience and made more money than before, and I think more people came because of the availability of lower price tickets. More people have started to do the same thing because it works.”

She adds: “Because we’re got more deaf and disabled representation in the programme this year, we are hoping that those audiences will have an increased chance to engage with the festival. The festival is about all our communities and audiences having a good time and making it the success it is.”

December 5 to December 9, venues across Glasgow.

www.sqiff.org