Help us bring exciting new films and guests by donating to our UWEC Foundation account here: https://connect.uwec.edu/donate?fid=rRgo41kjZ5I%3d&fdesc=UtmCLbK8MykHShJ2hhqzPi8byvPnF3Tv
We are pleased to be back for our 8th annual Eau Queer Film Festival (EQFF)! This year’s theme is "Activate" as we continue to bring films that challenge the norms of gender, orientation, and relationships! The 2017
Eau Queer Film Festival will take place Oct. 10th - Oct. 14th at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire in Davies Center’s Woodland Theater. All films and discussion sessions are free to attend. Be sure to check our website to stay up to date on film schedules and other EQFF news! History
In 2010, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire held its first LGBTQ film festival, bringing an array of quality, first-run queer cinema to the Eau Claire community. Founded by associate professor of communication and journalism Ellen Mahaffy and associate professor of sociology Pam Forman, the Eau Queer Film Festival stands out as one of a small group of university queer film festivals remaining in the United States. Within the University of Wisconsin system, Madison, Steven’s Point, and Milwaukee also have festivals. Other universities festivals include the University of Oregon, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Syracuse University, and the University of Louisville. While Forman and Mahaffy are its creators, the content of Eau Queer is completely student-driven; students produce the festival from the initial stages of screening films to negotiating fees with distributors, and finally creating a publicity campaign. Students learn valuable skills in event planning and public relations, and use the power of cinema to build bridges between the UWEC campus and larger Eau Claire queer communities. From 2010-2013, the festival worked in tandem with the Women’s Studies immersion course, LGBTQA Studies: San Francisco Travel Seminar, taught by professors Forman and Mahaffy. Students attended San Francisco’s Frameline International LGBT Film Festival, the oldest and longest running queer film festival, to screen first-run queer shorts and feature length films, and participate in San Francisco Pride events. Students worked in small groups to produce queer documentary shorts using interviews with activists and filmmakers while in San Francisco, which premiered at EQFF. Several UWEC student-made documentaries have been selected to screen at Frameline. Most recently, JR Smathers, Neil Robmann, and Nate Cooper’s documentary Housing First was chosen to screen at Frameline as part of the Homegrown series in June 2014. Two films debuted as part of Frameline’s Generations series: Hear Me Now (Liz Albert, Katie Chaplin, Megan Chilman, and Brianna Mueller, 2012), and Out of the Convent (Thom Kishaba, Bridget Oliver and Andrea Van Haren, 2013). Building Community
The student films add a vital component of community activism and outreach to Eau Queer. In 2011, the student films brought the largest audience turn out of the year. Such participation builds bridges between allies and LGBTQ people, strengthening our ties between the university and broader community. In 2013, we hosted our first visiting filmmaker, Anna Margarita Albelo, who wrote, directed, and produced the award-winning film, Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf? Albelo’s film brought a standing-room-only crowd to the Woodland Theater for our opening night. Besides leading a question and answer session after her film, Albelo met with several classes of students to discuss film production.Albelo’s wit and humor made her a very popular visitor during her stay. These conversations after films are significant, whether with a filmmaker, friend, or stranger. After most films, Eau Queer hosts a discussion led by a UWEC faculty member or student to foster new connections and insights between LGBTQ people and allies. Mahaffy notes that this gives us a chance to “think about what we just saw, and make sense of queer realities in a challenging world.”
The 2014 Eau Queer Film Festival is operating without the course-component that brings us UWEC students’ films. However, we are excited to continue engaging the Eau Claire community with new queer cinema through the generous support of a Blugold Commitment Differential Tuition grant, and our partnership with the University Activities Commission. We look forward to bringing fresh queer cinema that pushes boundaries and unites our community. This film festival would not be possible without the support of the Women’s Studies Program, the Blugold Commitment Differential Tuition Grant, Domestic Intercultural Immersion Grant, and the University Activity Commission.
