Join Artist Foundry at the Utah Queer Film Festival!
Some of the most exciting queer filmmaking is happening right here in Utah.
This year’s UQFF Local Shorts Showcase features eight films from Utah filmmakers, spanning experimental cinema, documentary, horror, romance, historical drama, animation, and post-apocalyptic storytelling. These stories are bold, deeply personal, and uniquely local—proving that queer voices are thriving in our own community.
Films include:
Outside the Lines directed by Maddy Green
Monet spends her time painting and being with her roommates Vince and Henri. Everyday, she paints on the sidewalk by a mural. One day a girl, Brandy, sits next to her and draws. Monet immediately falls for her and keeps going back to meet this girl. Eventually the two girls start getting closer, leading to a deep connection and newfound love.
After You Get Back directed by Nikki Bullock
After You Get Back follows two best friends searching for a way forward after life has been interrupted. Fresh out of an inpatient mental health stay, Quinn has one idea, run away to the Oregon coast. Margo, her best friend, agrees to go with her, and what begins as a spontaneous escape becomes a journey neither of them quite knows how to navigate. As the miles pass, their plans unravel. Difficult conversations surface. Old wounds and uncertain futures begin to follow them down the road. Somewhere between where they came from and where they thought they were going, Quinn and Margo are left asking the same question, where do we go from here? After You Get Backexplores the complicated space after a crisis, the strange in-between of being discharged and expected to return to ordinary life. It is a film about friendship, recovery, uncertainty, and the search for meaning when you’re not sure what comes next. Because sometimes getting back isn’t the end of the journey.
Ripple directed by Jacob Norris
During the 80s AIDS epidemic a nurse Katherine has her son outed to her; she must protect him from the disease she witnesses daily. In an effort to understand, Katherine cautiously begins to interact with her patient suffering from AIDS. Through her efforts to understand her gay son as well, she comes to learn he isn’t any of the things society says he should be. In turn, she disregards the fears instilled by societal pressures and forms a relationship with her patient.
Some Other Place directed by Solstice Harris
Esther is back in her rural Utah hometown with one intent only: to break into her parents’ house. She desperately needs her identifying documents in order to legally change her name and gender before it’s made illegal. Along the way she recruits her old friend and only ally in town – Markus – to assist her. Between the break-in and navigating Markus’s intentions, she doesn’t intend to stay long.
After Us directed by Jase Hal Van Meeteren
After Us is an anthological post-apocalyptic series. This queer coded episode follows a bereaved father as he takes shelter in an old church, dealing with old traumas, and haunting memories of a past life. As he copes with encroaching loneliness, he discovers another uninfected human on the other side of the road. Unable to meet face to face due to a zombie infestation below, the two attempt to form a connection through through any possible way. As they learn about one another, they begin to form a relationship with each other. As they do, they find the undead horde below making similar connections with one another. As the road clears, the two attempt to meet, with disastrous results.
Finding Light: Salt Lake City Two-Spirit Stories directed by Andy Whipple
A paper-puppet stop-motion documentary about Two-Spirit people’s gender experiences, contrasted with a white transgender experience, with magical-realism visuals.
Little Genes directed by Skye Emerson and Amy Redford
In 1987, on a weekend camping trip in Utah’s beautiful Wasatch Mountains, fourteen-year-old Arlo Murphy is eager to prove he can be a world explorer scout like his Dad, while his parents grapple with Arlo’s gender identity.
Gold Star, Good Citizen directed by Ryan Margetts
Official music video for edgy electropop band Die Shiny’s song, “Gold Star, Good Citizen,” which is a brutally cutting commentary on how hyper-individualism, ignorance of what unites us, and complacency has made all of us complicit in global terror.
A panel discussion with filmmakers to follow after the screening.
Read more about our moderator and filmmakers below.
