The QueerFrames Screenwriting Lab is a one-of-its-kind creative incubator for emerging and early career queer storytellers in South Asia.

Launched by The Queer Muslim Project in 2023 with support from the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, the Lab celebrates and nurtures underrepresented queer talent behind the camera and provides them with the tools, resources, and networks to tell stories that can drive meaningful change. 

Overview of the Lab

In its second year, the Lab brings together six extremely talented and diverse filmmakers from India, Pakistan and the U.S. with fiction feature projects that celebrate queer joy and invite audiences to the complexity, nuance and beauty of queer life. The Lab is delivered under the mentorship of internationally-acclaimed script and industry experts, and combines creative workshops, technical training, and personalised mentorship.

The Lab provides a vital platform for early career queer storytellers to refine their craft, expand their networks, and advance their careers in the film industry. As part of the Lab, Fellows will partake in career development and networking opportunities at EFM in February 2025, where they will engage in crucial dialogues with potential producers, financiers, distributors, and other film industry delegates from across the world.

2024 Mentors

Guest Speakers

Highlights

Announcing the 2024 QueerFrames Fellows

Exclusive Preview – Girls Will Be Girls & Industry Mixer

November 2024 | Mumbai

Together with the French Institute in India, the Lab revealed the 2024 QueerFrames Fellows at an exclusive preview of Girls Will Be Girls, featuring a Q&A with producers, Claire Chassagne and Richa Chadha. The screening was followed by a networking mixer that included prominent industry professionals, actors, film critics, film production companies, and cultural institutions.

Celebrating Queer Global South Cinema at BFI Flare

Panel Discussion & Industry Mixer

March 2024 | London

Together with Gay Times and BFI FLARE: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, the Lab hosted a vibrant industry event on queer cinema from the Global South that brought together over 100 filmmakers, industry professionals, and advocates. The panel featured notable voices like Amrou Al-Kadhi (Layla), Onir (Pine Cone), Cary Rajinder Sawhney (London Indian Film Festival), Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor (Producer), and Nimra Bucha (The Queen of My Dreams), moderated by Rafiul Alom Rahman (Director, The Queer Muslim Project).