Wicked Queer is Boston's LGBTQ+ 
Film Festival

Shawn has been Executive Director of Wicked Queer since 2018, previously serving as Operations Manager and Director of Programming. They are an experimental handmade filmmaker whose Super 8mm films have shown internationally.

‍

Shawn currently lives in Malden, MA, with their feline familiars and counts among their favorite filmmakers Joe Gage, Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, RW Fassbinder, Douglas Sirk, Kenneth Anger, Wong Kar-wai, Jess Franco and Dario Argento. Their favorite LGBTQ+ movie is Funeral Parade of Roses.

A graduate of Emerson College, Katie is a Boston based filmmaker and founder of Thompson Films. She’s a writer/director whose work has been screened all over the world and has been recipient of awards such as Best Comedic Short at ITVFest, The Oak Foundation Grant, and a finalist for Story Central Labs at Bravo TV.

‍

Katie’s early work was selected and screened at the Wicked Queer Film Festival and she loves the chance to be able to do the same thing for another filmmaker. She is also enjoys teaching film and screenwriting at Stonehill College.

Giuseppe Di Caprio has been involved with Wicked Queer Film Festival since 2012. Introduced to Neorealism and Nouvelle Vague by his father, he developed a fascination for Pedro Almodovar in his young years.

‍

As a festival programmer, he primarily focuses on international productions to guarantee a rich and diverse film selection. When he's not watching queer movies, he works as a scientist in a research lab. He currently holds the role of Community Outreach Coordinator.

Elliott would be a lifetime film student if he had his way, and has had the pleasure of volunteering with Wicked Queer since 2022, first in the realm of development and now in community outreach. Please drop him a line if you are enthusiastic about partnering with the organization or getting into a heated argument about P.T. Anderson.

Meg joined Wicked Queer in 2022. They currently work on the communications team. Unsurprisingly, they are an avid film enjoyer. Some of their favorite filmmakers are, Chole Zhao, Edson Oda, Yorgos Lanthimos, Celine Song, and Kelly Reichardt. When they are not watching film they are making things with their hands using methods like crochet, woodworking, woodcarving, and sewing."

Thomas is an artist from Ithaca, New York who now lives in Boston. He graduated from Lesley University in 2022 with a BFA in filmmaking, where his thesis film "Slims" won the grand prize at IFFBoston's Student Showcase. When he’s not obsessing over WQ’s Instagram, he’s out walking with his girlfriend and their dog or finding his next horror obsession. His favorite movie is Fight Club (in a gay way). Come message our Insta if you have any questions, or just wanna say hi!

Dutch is an event producer/designer with a background in video editing and documentary production. A life-long film enthusiast with a soft-spot for the freaks, they’re always excited to help push new, weird, and queer art into the spotlight. They received their BA in Critical Humor Studies from Hampshire College & their favorite rejection letter from the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies.

Charles G. Baldwin is the Program Officer for Cultural Equity and Access Initiatives at the Mass Cultural Council. Since 2016 he has led the agency’s Universal Participation (UP) Initiative which provides training and funding for organizations developing accessible policies, programs, and practices. Charles is a founding member of CANE (Cultural Access New England), TAMA (Theater Artists Marketing Alliance), and the Z Collective. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Brickbottom Artist Association and the Wicked Queer Film Festival. Charles is an educator, illustrator, theater designer, and puppeteer.

Sheen is a graphic designer from the sunny island of Singapore who currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts. They're in charge of programming the 'Queer Asian Stories' shorts program and designs the lovely logos, posters, and program sheets you see at Wicked Queer. They like art, video games, Kamen Rider, K-pop, and would absolutely die for the Bauhaus Movement.

Sofia Wickerhauser is a filmmaker/screenwriter, producer and game dev with a passion for Queer cinema, photography, anime and video games. Co-founder of AbrAce (a collective that fights for visibility regarding asexuality), in 2019 she released the short film 'Infinito Enquanto Dure', famous worldwide for being the first fictional film about asexuality. She has been a film festival programmer since 2018, having worked for MixBrasil, Curta Kinoforum, Ramsgate, Norwich and Whistler Film Festival.

Craig Gimbrone has enjoyed working with Wicked Queer as an usher and as a member of the film screening board. When he’s not with his husband or friends, he enjoys curling up with a good book, trying new musical instruments, and learning new styles of dance (even if he has two left feet). When asked what his favorite films are, he’d cite The Muppet Movie, Taxi Driver, Weekend, and Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.

After finishing grad school in 2021, Cole joined the Wicked Queer team as the Social Media Coordinator, film screener, and has now taken on programming the experimental and documentary shorts programs. He currently lives in Seattle, WA and works at Northwest Film Forum as their Technical Director (with some Queer programming work on the side) and drinks a lot of coffee. Among his favorite filmmakers are Agnes Varda, Doris Wishman, Guy Maddin, Arthur J. Bressan Jr., and Pedro Almodóvar. His favorite Queer film is Pink Narcissus.

Paul E. Lamoureux was born and raised in central Massachusetts. He attended College of the Holy Cross (B.A. 1967), Boston College Law School (J.D. 1970) and Harvard University (Ph.D. in 19th Century British Literature 1978). While in graduate school, he taught English courses to undergraduates and submitted film reviews to The Harvard Independent. After finishing school, Paul went to work as a writer for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and eventually served as Senior Editor there for a little under 30 years, retiring in 2011. He has subsequently volunteered as a tutor for new adult citizens of Cambridge who have come from other countries and who need to improve their English abilities in order either to seek good paying jobs or to succeed in university courses. Paul has had, as his life partner for 39 years, David E. Sears who joined Paul in 2022 as a film screener with the Wicked Queer Film Festival. Both Paul and David love to spend their spare time going to the theatre and the movies. They have amassed a home DVD library of 2,000 titles, their favorites being black and white films from the 1930s and French movies of any time period.

A midwestern transplant to Boston in 1981, I was able to see some emerging gay movies being programmed at the Nickelodeon theater near Boston University. Luckily I was able to attend the first Boston Gay + Lesbian Film Festival and have enjoyed it every year since. Seeing LGBTQ+ people on the big screen was very validating for me. Working with WQ by helping pre-screen film submissions is a privilege which has allowed me to help in a small way to keep LGBTQ+ people more visible to each other and the world.

Iván Reina Ortiz (Colombia, they/them). Filmmaker, film programmer, vogue dancer and member of the ballroom culture. Director and producer of the documentaries “The squatters of The Devil’s House” (2015) and “autoethnography” (2021). Co-curator and producer of “Más Allá del Trabajo - Beyond Work, Labour Film Series” for the Cinematheque of Bogotá (2020). Programming coordinator at Cinematheque of Bogotá and co-curator of Ciclo Rosa, Colombia's most important LGBTQ+ film event (2021-2024). Guest curator for OutFest's The OutMuseum with the short film programme "Queer workers of the world, unite!" (2022). Flaherty Seminar's recipient of the Curatorial Fellowship (2022). Senior programmer at Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival 2024 (Canada).

Sami Safiullah stumbled across the Wicked Queer: Docs festival on Instagram in 2025. Soon after, he joined the team as a member of the film screening board. Sami is a cinephile, who particularly enjoys independent cinema from India. Inspired by early-2000s online forums like Planet Bollywood, Sami spent college running an online film blog called Kora Kaghaz (The Blank Slate), where he wrote extensive reviews on Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali movies and their soundtracks. Some of his favorite directors are Rituparno Ghosh, Homi Adajani, and Wes Anderson. Among his favorite films are Being Cyrus, Amelie, and Heathers.Sami works in Customer Analytics at Fidelity Investments. Outside of his day job he organizes events with Muslims for Progressive Values, gets lost in reddit fitness forums, and plans the occasional Ina Garten themed dinner party.

Amirah Fadhlina is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Boston University. Her research explores the social and political lives of gender-nonconforming communities in Muslim-majority Indonesia, her home country. She first discovered Wicked Queer in 2019 through its promotional content on Queer Muslim shorts. In 2025, she joined as a programming volunteer, assisting with the SWANA/Muslim Voice programming.Beyond academia, Amirah is a passionate film enthusiast, writer, traveler, and musician. A devoted horror fan, she believes the genre serves as a powerful lens to examine complex social issues related to gender, sexuality, intimacy, and masculinity. Her favorite filmmakers include Joko Anwar, Guillermo del Toro, Coralie Fargeat, David Lynch, and Karyn Kusama.

‍

Tyler Santor is a creative professional with expertise in art and design, blending traditional and mixed media techniques. With a background as a designer and gallery assistant, Tyler has developed a strong foundation in the arts. Currently pursuing a tattoo apprenticeship, Tyler is eager to expand his artistic range. Inspired by iconic artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Andy Warhol, he thrives in collaborative environments and values the transformative power of client-driven creativity.

Since beginning their volunteer work with Wicked Queer, Tyler has found the experience to be both rewarding and collaborative. They consistently look forward to creating impactful art

‍

Bianca Todini is a current Junior at Emerson College, majoring in Media Arts Production with a minor in Business Studies and Philosophy. Bianca is originally from Rome, Italy, but she spent her childhood living abroad, specifically in East Timor, Cambodia, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

As a programming Volunteer, Bianca assisted in selecting the films for the 2025 program.  Bianca’s dedication to filmmaking and film appreciation is informed by her unique perspective as a “third culture kid” and her desire to uplift under-heard and non-traditional voices. As a filmmaker and a programming volunteer, Bianca is interested in exploring the relationship between cultural norms and expressions of identity, and as a Lesbian woman, Bianca takes pride in facilitating a platform for queer filmmakers.

‍

Kayla joins the Wicked Queer programming team for the festival’s 41st installment after attending her first WQ screening last year. She brings along her experience as an assistant programmer for the Key West Film Festival since 2023 and her love and support for all things queer, film, and fest! She is a graduate of Emerson College, a member of IATSE Local 481, and a credited set dresser on Season 1 of Julia (2022) and the feature film American Fiction (2023). An active movie goer, Kayla, can often be found attending screenings at The Brattle, West Newton Cinema, The Coolidge or Somerville Theatre when not using her AMC A-list. Her favorite Sundays are spent at home with her girlfriend and two cats playing cozy video games and watching the most peculiar films they can find. Follow her on Letterboxd at FemmeFilmFatale for silly and sometimes serious movie reviews

‍

‍

James A. Nadeau is the CEO for the Queer Film Institute, the producer of WIcked Queer. He has been involved with the LGBTQ+ film industry since 1999, overseeing what was then known as the Boston Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival from 2000 to 2004 and then becoming executive director of the festival in 2009.

‍

He is a lecturer of film in the Literature Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an adjunct professor of film at Lesley College of Art and Design. His short films have screened internationally and now spends his free time posting pictures of his cat on Instagram.