About the film festival
Right from the start, the filmfestival plays a key role in gaining self-knowledge, and achieving self-acceptance in those individulas and communities whose sexual orientation differs from the majority. In the beginning, besides LGBT festivals, there was no other forum or medium where gayness was a subject in works of art. The festival played a key role in this. Today, the situation is different thanks to certain TV channels and movie distributors. Still, LGBT filmfestival play an important role as it’s editorial values are more than those of the commercial mediums which occasionally place sensation and publicity before artistic or cultural value and a positive message to society.
The films which will be shown are chosen in a way that they reflect a positive image and question stereotypes, show the changes and choices that an individual has to undergo in order to accept her/himself and the others. While editing the program, we take into account the following criteria:
- all LGBT community groups should be equally represented
- both LGBT community people and both visitors of the festival who are of majority sexual orientation should find movies with the lack of stereotypes and that have a quality of content and of form
- every age group should find its own requirements in movies
- movies of the most genres should be shown
- movies that so far did not get into Hungarian distribution should be shown
- movies made all over the world should be shown so that those who visit the festival get the most complete and most realistic image of the situation of LGBT communities and people world-wide
- besides providing entertainment, the movies should also fit the LGBT Festival’s goal which is equality in law and in society
A Budapest LGBT Filmfestival is an event supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, however it is an event open to everyone. One of the most important changes in the history of the filmfestival over the last years is that there are more and more heterosexual viewers who want to know and understand gay culture and gayness. This proves the success of our work.
The 14th LGBT Filmfestival as in many other cities throughout the world would like to make the filmfestival from celebrating gay subculture to a celebration of tolerance and living together a peacefully – a common social event in the capital.
