Utah Queer Film Festival 2026

The Utah Queer Film Festival returns to Salt Lake City from November 6 to 8, 2026, with in-person screenings at the Utah Film Center. This year, all the screenings, Q&As, and artist performances are under one roof at the Geralyn White Dreyfous building, 375 W. 400 North in the Marmalade District. If you can't make it that weekend, select titles will be available virtually from November 9 to 15.

Programming director CE Dillon has put together 36 LGBTQIA+ independent films—11 full-length features and 25 shorts—curated from local, national, and international filmmakers. The festival opens with Second Nature, narrated by Elliot Page, and includes the cult classic By Hook or by Crook. Closing night features Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, with director Linus O'Brien in person for a live Q&A. The theme this year is "Queer Films, Queer Futures," which the festival describes as pushing beyond convention and bodily limits to envision landscapes not yet imagined.

There's some history behind the name. The festival started 23 years ago as Damn These Heels, and was later the Queer Utah Film Festival, both created to make space for queer stories in Utah. It's now a program of the Utah Film Center. This is the first time all the in-person screenings, Q&As, and performances are held in one place, giving the festival a dedicated home for its growing community of filmmakers and film lovers.

In-person screenings run November 6 to 8 at the Utah Film Center's Geralyn White Dreyfous building, 375 W. 400 North in the Marmalade District, with virtual screenings following from November 9 to 15.