During the Festival's early years, screenings were often cancelled at short notice by the security police, and films were moved from cinemas and universities to bars and private homes.
Several more publicized screenings were held at the French and Dutch embassies, and the American Center, out of reach of the local authorities.
In that year, 28 films from nine countries were screened, including Chinese-language titles from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
In late August 2013, the Beijing Independent Film Festival had been forced to close, and would-be audience members were dispersed by police, whilst the venue's electricity supply was switched off and the organizers were detained.
They were told to "go to the central Beijing railway station the next morning, purchase tickets for the 11:15 AM train to a town near the Great Wall, and proceed to car [carriage] number 7", with the note ending “Make sure to bring your laptops”.
The following morning, the train carriage was filled with a mixture of Chinese LGBT film buffs, filmmakers, academics, artists and activists.
The organizers handed out flash drives for the laptops, containing the opening film, Our Story, a retrospective of the Festival's history.