For the first time in 30 years, there will be no Seattle Queer Film Festival. Despite a strong recent run screening a variety of acclaimed films such as \u201cAll of Us Strangers<\/a>\u201d and the Lily Gladstone<\/a>-starring \u201cFancy Dance<\/a>,\u201d it\u2019s now an open question of when the festival will return.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The news follows Seattle arts organization Three Dollar Bill Cinema<\/a> merging the festival dedicated to queer cinema, which began in 1996, with the transgender-focused film festival TRANSlations, which began in 2006, into one singular festival in 2025<\/a>. The indefinite pausing of both festivals this year was confirmed by Lindy Boustedt, board president of Three Dollar Bill Cinema, the volunteer-run organizer of the yearly event. In an email sent Wednesday, Boustedt said \u201cinstead of one large festival, we\u2019re focusing on smaller, more frequent experiences that allow us to stay active, responsive, and truly connected throughout the year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In an interview with The Seattle Times, Boustedt pointed to 2023 as being part of what led to the organization taking on more than $70,000 in debt.<\/p>\n \u201cWe definitely accrued a lot of debt through a lot of decisions that were made by staff at that time. Then the board had to make a lot of decisions on how to get us out of that debt,\u201d Boustedt said. \u201cThen we found even more debt that was hidden in 2024. So the board in 2024 and into 2025, with the help of our supporters, was able to dig out of that and come back into the black.\u201d<\/p>\n Boustedt said that the board doesn\u2019t want to fall back into the red, hence the pause of the festivals, and that she isn\u2019t sure when they\u2019d be able to return.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Sophie Amity Debs, a former volunteer for Three Dollar Bill Cinema who recently started the Seattle Trans Underground Film Festival<\/a>, which will be holding another edition in October at Northwest Film Forum, the pausing of the festivals was both a major loss and part of a broader trend.<\/p>\n \u201cI find it devastating. Three Dollar Bill has been such a long-term and consistent platform for queer voices in film and for queer people in Seattle,\u201d Amity Debs said. \u201cFilm in Seattle has been getting much more difficult with the closure of several cinemas<\/a> year over year over year. \u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n