FILM FESTIVALS

Long before South By Southwest and Austin Film Festival stepped out on the Austin festival scene, a film movement focused on LGBTQ issues arose in a small theater on the UT campus. Today, the short movie series that drew lines outside the doors of Dobie Theater on move-in weekend has come to be known as the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival — one of the longest-running cinema festivals in the city.

“Moonlight” premiered at the Telluride Film Festival exactly one year ago, followed by a bow in Toronto before making history by winning Best Picture in one of the most exciting Academy Awards ceremonies of all time. While “Moonlight” may have opened more doors for black filmmakers than for queer ones, the film’s central themes of identity, masculinity, and sexuality were firmly rooted in queerness.

Queer cinema reached peak visibility at the 89th Academy Awards when Barry Jenkins’ film Moonlight won for Best Picture. The film, which details the adolescent and adult lives of a young, black gay man, carries the distinction of being the first LGBT movie to win Best Picture and is clearly a turning point for more LGBT filmmakers to find wider representation in Hollywood.