OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival, formerly The North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (NCGLFF), has consistently been ranked among the largest Queer film festivals in the United States, attracting thousands of patrons yearly.

In 2021, Moviemaker Magazine named OUTSOUTH QUEER FILM FESTIVAL as one of "20 Fantastic LGBTQ+ Film Festivals Around the Globe."

Since its beginning in 1995, the Festival has featured a diverse array of shorts, documentaries and feature films. The Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau named OUTSOUTH as a Signature Event for Durham, the highest honor bestowed on a cultural event or attraction by the organization. The Carolina Theatre of Durham, NC, curates and produces the festival.

OUTSOUTH celebrates a worldwide glimpse of today’s queer, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender life, with a goal of helping to bring the community together and featuring entertaining and sophisticated films and filmmaking.

OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival seeks submissions in many categories. Please extensively review the categories BEFORE submitting your film. We are especially seeking submissions that include Black, Asian & Pacific Islander or Latinx characters and themes. We include animated short films.

In 2021, OUTSOUTH has been confirmed to be an all-virtual festival.

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Awards & Prizes

JURY AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature Film
Best Foreign Language Narrative Feature Film
Best Narrative Short Film
Best Foreign Language Narrative Short Film
Best Long-Form Narrative Short Film
Best Animated Short Film
Best Documentary Short Film
Best Documentary Feature Film

Note: If OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival deems there are not enough worthy entries in any given category, the festival reserves the right to not present an award for that category.

Rules & Terms

The Deadline to submit SHORTS in ALL categories is May 14th.

RENTAL OR SCREENING FEES:
OUTSOUTH does NOT pay rental or screening fees for films.

EXHIBITION FORMAT:
All films in the festival screen on digital format via the Eventive Platform. The maximum file size permitted by the platform is 10GB. 1080p resolution recommended. .mov, .mp4 accepted.

DIGITAL RIGHT MANAGEMENT and GEOBLOCKING
All films on the Eventive platform will have digital rights management for your protection. The festival will be geoblocked to the following states in the US: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, and Florida. Anyone not in these states will be unable to view your film.

OUTSOUTH is seeking new narrative and documentary feature films that have NOT yet been released (or planned to be released) on Netflix, DVD/Blu-ray, or other pay services prior to August 20th, the first day after the end of festival. (If your feature film is ONLY available for purchase on your website but NOT on any other service such as Amazon, etc., it is indeed eligible.)

Short films that are available on YouTube, Vimeo or other media services are indeed eligible, although stronger consideration will be given to those shorts which are not.

OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival does NOT accept music videos or similar.

ARTIST TRANSPORTATION:
OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival does NOT pay for artist travel such as per diems, airfare, train, hotel, etc. We also do not coordinate travel arrangements with International Cultural Agencies. If your film is accepted, all transportation and lodging is 100% the responsibility of the artist, including all travel arrangements.

Feel Free to contact Committee members about your submission questions.
We encourage submissions of films with or without distribution.
44 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Robin Noonan-Price

    This was an online festival and they reached out to me and encouraged me to submit my film, Tell Me About Orange. I was so excited to be part of the festival. I hope to be able to attend in the future.

    October 2021
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  • Josef Steiff

    One of our best festival experiences. So well organized and a great team to work with. They did an especially amazing job on social media, and all of us filmmakers felt the love. I'll definitely submit future films here because of such a great experience this year! We are so proud to have been included and highly recommend this festival to all queer / lgbtq+ filmmakers. Thank you OutSouth!!!

    September 2021
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  • Peter Fitzgerald

    This is a festival that has its act together. Not only were they courteous and communicative, but their Instagram posts kept me apprised of all the other films in the line-up. Overall, it was a fine experience though I wish it would have been in person.

    September 2021
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  • Adam DeCarlo

    Thank you so much for having SKELETONS play this year. Such a wonderful festival to be a part of!

    August 2021
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  • Evan Bode

    I had a great experience with this festival — everything was well organized with excellent communication. Thank you for the honor of being included!

    August 2021
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