Maine Queer Film Festival
Collaborators: Amelia Keleher, Katie Irwin, Jude Marx, Erica Snyder Drummond, Aubrey Calaway, Maddie King, Hannah Thanhauser, Jeannette, and members of the Treehouse Film Collective
With R&D support from the Kindling Fund, The Treehouse Film Collective (TFC) will pilot a Queer Film Festival event or screening. The future festival is intended to feature films produced by queer filmmakers. Local and regional filmmakers will be prioritized in an effort to cultivate a collaborative Maine film community for queer and nontraditional artists. With their future festival, they also aspire to pilot discussion-based screenings with community organizers and advocates about social issues in a public park in downtown Portland and community potlucks.
Founded in 2024, the Treehouse Film Collective is composed of Maine-based filmmakers, artists, and community organizers. The Collective is committed to supporting independent artists and intentional, action-oriented dialogue that build community and shift dominant narratives around a variety of social issues in Maine and beyond. By bringing together people with artistic and organizing backgrounds, we are able to bring projects to life that cross pollinate art and encourage community care and change. Treehouse Film Collective began with the filming of Vigilante Justice, a fictional short film about renters’ rights shot in August 2024. The film will premiere in 2026.
Image caption: Treehouse Film Collective, Hogfish’s Queen Marinette, 2024, still from a short film