Proud in the middleground: how the creative industries allow the Melbourne queer film festival to bring queer content to audiences

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Melbourne Queer Film Festival's (MQFF) growth makes it a key example of an arts organisation embracing the creative industry. MQFF pursues corporate sponsorship to achieve economic sustainability and, in doing so, functions as an interesting case study for the conceptual shift from a traditional cultural policy framework – emphasising access, equity and grassroots representation – to a creative industries logic. The creative industries support a cultural policy that acknowledges the economic benefits of public participation. This development has seen a commodification of queer culture in order to add value to Melbourne's cultural identity. Queer film festivals are one of the main avenues for the distribution of queer cinema. This article will argue that the success of the festival is an outcome of its evolution and that it now occupies the middleground between community and neoliberal corporate interests. For such an organisation to be successful, financial and social values must be treated with equal importance. The queer film festival is an important and financially viable alternative to mainstream distribution of queer films. Film festivals that cater for a minority community represent a primary means of exhibition for many films that would otherwise struggle for distribution. This is evident in MQFF's support of three recent Australian queer feature films: 52 Tuesdays, Submerge and Monster Pies. MQFF is a socially legitimate avenue for distributing films that would not otherwise reach such a wide audience. MQFF moves underground queer content into a formal, commercial realm.