Reasons to Attend OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival

The OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival is an annual film festival held at the Carolina Theatre celebrating a glimpse of today’s LGBTQ+ life around the world. As the second largest LGBTQ+ film festival in the Southeast, OUTSOUTH attracts thousands of patrons to Downtown Durham every year. Here’s why you should join them this year, August 14-17, at the Carolina Theatre!

A Decades-Long Tradition of Gathering to Celebrate the LGBTQ Community 

Since its inception 30 years ago, the festival has been a tentpole event in Durham that brings the community together. Beginning in 1995 as “A Salute to Pride” and running from 1996-2019 as the North Carolina Gay + Lesbian Film Festival (NCGLFF), the festival was renamed the OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival in 2020. While the name of the festival changed over the years, one thing has remained the same— the festival continues to be an event where the community can gather to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community through film, and attending is your chance to join the decades’ long tradition!

Queer Films From Around the World

Every year OUTSOUTH features more than a hundred entertaining and sophisticated films that reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ community. This year the festival will showcase 9 feature films and 121 shorts from 22 countries. The film selection includes a variety of genres, including dramas, comedies, sci-fi, horror, documentaries, animation, and more. There is truly something for everyone! 

Intimate Interactions with Artists

Filmmakers and actors from around the world attend OUTSOUTH every year to show off their hard work! Ticketholders have the chance to mingle with them between screenings and glean insights on their work from pre-film introductions and post-film Q&As!

Community Events and Partnerships

OUTSOUTH extends beyond the theater doors into the community of downtown Durham!

On Saturday, August 16 OUTSOUTH co-presented with events are open to the public, including:

• 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗖 – 𝗔𝗻 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀’ 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 | 10-11:30am | Fletcher Hall, Carolina Theatre 
  Led by creative teams from the 2025 OUTSOUTH featured shorts “Rainbow Girls” and “Crazy as a Loon,” this workshop will explore how to make bold, narrative films outside traditional Hollywood models, using the resources already available throughout the state of North Carolina.
• 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗲 | 10-11:30am | Cinema One, Carolina Theatre
  Join local drag queen Stormie Daie as she reads with cinematic charisma and celebrates living life as bold as the ink on the page and the scene on the silver screen! Following the event, join us outside on the plaza from 11:30am-1:30pm, for family-friendly fun and refreshments!
• Some Like It Hot: An Early Queer Dance Party | 6:00pm | The Pinkhook
  Celebrate OUTSOUTH with an easygoing, cinematic event. This lounge-meets-dance party is a mix between cocktail hour and club night. DJ Black as the Cosmos will play a blend of electronic, indie pop, queer R&B, and dancey film soundtracks (Moonlight, Call Me By Your Name, Hedwig), while soft motion clips and behind-the-scenes B-roll from the festival are played on a loop. 

Local bars and restaurants have also partnered with the festival to provide special menu items and discounts throughout the festival. This includes queer-owned and queer-friendly establishments across Durham like Alley Twenty Six, Velvet Hippo, and more. See all participating establishments on our website.

For the film schedule and to purchase individual tickets and 5-passes, visit the box office and the Carolina Theatre website. Check out Discover Durham’s guide to OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival, here.