As a regular reader of QUEERGURU (!), you will know we are passionate about queer cinema and the Film festivals that screen it. Both big and small. And talking about the latter, word reaches us that it’s almost time for the 12th edition of the APPALACHAN QUEER FILM FESTIVAL. It involved a geography lesson for our British Editor, but he can be forgiven, as the festival is held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, with a population of just 1531 (at the last count), and is one of the two oldest towns in that State
The Festival’s mission is to promote queer and trans film and filmmakers worldwide, offer LGBTQ+ content to the Appalachian region, and discover and amplify queer and trans artists in Appalachia.
There are 5 blocks of short queer films which include:
Church Girl by Bessie Fong in which a discerning lesbian pretends to be Christian to score a date with the hot choir singer, finding herself at Bushwick’s oldest queer Bible study.
Sexy Boy by Ian Rosales in which a string of mysterious phone calls thrusts a lonely young man into a surreal, psychosexual frenzy with a smooth-talking serial killer. Sexy Boy is a queer deconstruction of sex, queerness, and genre in the horror film.
I wanna hold your hand by Conor Larsen and Zachary Kornblum. In a dark movie theater, a young boy’s anxiety swells as he debates making the first move—until a small act of courage speaks louder than words.
September 18-19th, 2026
📍 Shepherdstown, WV
appalachianqueerfilmfest |
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