With its inaugural film festival, Jack’d is creating more than a showcase for GBTQ+ filmmakers. It’s creating space for Black, Brown and queer stories to be seen, celebrated and heard on their own terms.
For GBTQ+ people, storytelling has always been about more than entertainment. It’s how we find each other, preserve our histories and make sense of who we are. For Black and Brown queer communities in particular, telling our own stories has often meant pushing against an industry that hasn’t always made room for the full complexity of our lives.
That’s what makes the Jack’d Film Festival, running November 2 through December 3, feel significant.
Creating Space For Our Stories
Representation matters but simply being visible isn’t enough.
We need stories that allow queer people to be complicated, funny, messy, romantic, ambitious, vulnerable and joyful. We need Black and Brown GBTQ+ characters at the center of stories, not simply supporting someone else’s. The Jack’d Film Festival is creating another space for those stories to reach audiences.
With films spanning five categories and selected work streaming directly through the Jack’d app, the festival connects independent LGBTQ+ storytelling with a community already there to experience it.
A filmmaker doesn’t just need to make a great film. They need someone willing to watch it. Jack’d is creating a platform to reach the right audience.
Judges Who Understand The Stories
Jack’d’s commitment to building the right program is reflected in the festival’s inaugural judging panel: TS Madison, Miss Lawrence, Dyllon Burnside, Bobby Ashley and Mike Gauyo.
Across television, film and independent storytelling, the five judges have helped expand how Black and GBTQ+ lives are represented on screen and understand what it means to create within industries where those voices have historically fought to be heard.
From Madison’s groundbreaking visibility as a Black trans entertainer and Burnside’s work on Pose, to Miss Lawrence’s boundary-pushing career, Ashley’s independent filmmaking and Gauyo’s work as a writer and producer, the panel brings lived cultural perspective to the films they’ll evaluate.
They aren’t simply names attached to a festival. They understand why these stories matter.
Putting the Audience In The Room
The Jack’d festival also recognizes that culture isn’t created in a vacuum. Audiences help determine what resonates.
Through Audience Choice voting, viewers can support the films that move them most. The community isn’t simply being marketed to—it becomes part of the experience.
And somewhere, someone may press play and see a life that looks a little more like their own.
That kind of recognition matters.
More Than A Film Festival
Ultimately, the importance of the Jack’d Film Festival extends beyond a month of screenings or a group of winners.
It’s about creating another pathway for GBTQ+ stories to be discovered and giving Black and Brown queer audiences more opportunities to see the fullness of their lives reflected on screen.
Our community has never lacked stories. We’ve never lacked creativity, filmmakers, writers, actors or visionaries.
What we have sometimes lacked are enough screens willing to show us. The Jack’d Film Festival is creating another one.
