Queerness has been represented on film, in varying ways, from the advent of motion pictures to the present day. This special issue of the academic journal Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture will explore the forms and functions of groundbreaking queer cinema in the early decades of the 21st century. Completed articles on any topic pertaining to contemporary cinema studies at the intersection of gender/sexuality studies and/or queer theory are invited from established and emerging scholars of various disciplines.

Questions of relevance to the contents of this special journal issue include (but are certainly not limited to): (1) What cultural status does queer cinema possess in the early 21st century? (2) In what noteworthy ways does 21st-century queer cinema represent an extension of, and/or a significant deviation from, queer cinematic offerings of the past? (3) What sorts of representational patterns are evident in groundbreaking queer cinema in the early 21st century, and whose interests do they ultimately serve? (4) What does the (near) future of queer cinema look like, and what are the cultural implications of this likely state of affairs for members of various cultural and demographic groups? (5) What signs (if any) exist to suggest a potential reemergence of New Queer Cinema?

Of particular interest are insightful, theoretically informed articles pertaining to especially unique, noteworthy, and/or culturally influential representations of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and/or otherwise queer individuals in films released from the year 2000 to the present. Also of interest are articles pertaining to queerness and intersectionality as well as other topics of relevance to queer theory (e.g., fetishism, gender bending, homoeroticism, kink, sex work, etc.) as they are explored in cinematic offerings of the early 21st century.

Original submissions of 6,000-8,000 words total (including references), in the form of a double-spaced Microsoft Word document, should be e-mailed to journal co-editor Kylo-Patrick Hart (k.hart@tcu.edu) by February 15, 2022.

To facilitate the process of blind peer review, please include your name, complete contact information, and essay title on a separate cover sheet; with the exception of your essay title, please do not repeat this information on your first page of text. Please prepare your submission using the Harvard referencing system, with bibliographical references embedded in the main text in the following format (Harper 1999: 27) and a single bibliography at the end of the article. For additional references and style information, please consult the Intellect Style Guide 5th edition at <https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/1414/house-style-guide-5th-ed-2021-....