In today’s political landscape, an LGBTQ+ film festival is more necessary than ever. Since 2019, David Hatkoff has been at the helm of NewFest — now in its 37th year — as its executive director. During his tenure, he helped grow the annual New York LGBTQ+ film festival into the largest queer film festival in the United States.
In addition to growing the festival, he helped expand the nonprofit s reach with new flagship events like NewFest Pride and Queering the Canon, and initiatives including the Black Filmmakers Initiative and the New Voices Filmmaker Grant with Netflix.
One of his proudest achievements is launching NewFest’s Arizona Queer Film Access Initiative after the state lost its LGBTQ+ festival, helping keep queer films accessible for free. “It showed how, even in the face of political erasure, we can build new pathways for visibility,” he says. “Queer stories can be entertaining, sexy, urgent, and funny and they can also change lives and save lives.” @davidhatkoff
