Only in LA
Screenings & Events
Festivals, Special Guests, Retrospectives and more "one night only" queer cinema screenings.
Sep
17
September
17
-
September
17
&
7:00 pm
.webp)
So Pretty
University of Southern California
Four young queers in New York City struggle to maintain their proto-utopian community against the outside world as their lives curiously merge with the 1980s German novel “So schön” by Ronald M. Schernikau. Free and open to the public; RSVPs required.
Four young queers in New York City struggle to maintain their proto-utopian community against the outside world as their lives curiously merge with the 1980s German novel “So schön” by Ronald M. Schernikau.
Sep
16
September
16
-
September
16
&
7:00 pm
Vampyros Lesbos
Los Feliz 3
Halloween comes early from Jess Franco, the "European Ed Wood." It's a 70s softcore erotic exploitation horror film directed by a man, so temper your expectations--but it's a noteworthy film, one of many in the tradition of the lesbian vampire, and a wild psychedelic experience.
An erotic horror tale about a vixen vampiress seducing and killing women to appease her insatiable thirst for female blood.
Sep
15
September
15
-
September
15
&
8:00 pm
Talk to Her
Spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar
Brain Dead Studios
Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.
Sep
15
September
15
-
September
15
&
1:00 pm
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Introduction by Vera Drew
Vera Drew
Los Feliz 3
Two aging film actresses live as virtual recluses in an old Hollywood mansion. Jane Hudson, a successful child star, cares for her crippled sister Blanche, whose career in later years eclipsed that of Jane. Now the two live together, their relationship affected by simmering subconscious thoughts of mutual envy, hate and revenge.
Sep
14
September
14
-
September
14
&
7:30 pm
James Baldwin Abroad
Three Short Documentaries
Academy Museum
The Academy Museum's "James Baldwin at the Movies" series concludes with this screening of three short Baldwin documentaries: James Baldwin: From Another Place (1973), Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1970), and Baldwin’s N***** (1968).
Sep
14
September
14
-
September
14
&
7:00 pm
All About My Mother
Spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar
Brain Dead Studios
Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.
Sep
14
September
14
-
September
14
&
1:00 pm
Mulholland Drive
Los Feliz 3
In David Lynch’s maniacal, notorious thriller, amnesia-suffering Rita, who barely escapes murder on winding, hilly Mulholland Drive, makes her way down to Hollywood, where she sneaks into the apartment of bright-eyed aspiring actress Betty.
Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman’s identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.
Sep
13
September
13
-
September
13
&
9:45 pm
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar
Brain Dead Studios
Recently released from a mental hospital, Ricky ties up Marina, a film star he once had sex with and keeps her hostage.
Sep
13
September
13
-
September
13
&
7:30 pm
If Beale Street Could Talk
Academy Museum
A non-queer story based on James Baldwin's novel of the same name. Included in the James Baldwin at the Movies program.
After her fiance is falsely imprisoned, a pregnant African-American woman sets out to clear his name and prove his innocence.
Sep
13
September
13
-
September
13
&
7:00 pm
Thelma and Louise
Vidiots Eagle Theater
Whilst on a short weekend getaway, Louise shoots a man who had tried to rape Thelma. Due to the incriminating circumstances, they make a run for it and thus a cross country chase ensues for the two fugitives. Along the way, both women rediscover the strength of their friendship and surprising aspects of their personalities and self-strengths in the trying times.
Sep
12
September
12
-
September
12
&
7:30 pm
No. 18: Mahagonny
Academy Museum
This non-narrative, four-projector experimental film opus from asexual avant-garde filmmaker, musicologist and mystic Harry Smith, features Smith's friends and contemporaries including Allen Ginsburg, Patti Smith, and Robert Mapplethorpe.
Harry Smith’s final film; an epic four-screen projection. Smith worked on this cinematic transformation of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1929) for over ten years and considered it his magnum opus. The film was shot from 1970 to 1972 and edited for the next eight years. The “program” of the film is meticulous, with a complex structure and order. The Weill opera is transformed into a numerological and symbolic system. Images in the film are divided into categories— portraits, animation, symbols and nature— to form the palindrome P.A.S.A.N.A.S.A.P. The film contains invaluable cameos of important avant-garde figures such as Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, and Jonas Mekas, intercut with installation pieces from Robert Mapplethorpe’s studio, New York City landmarks of the era, and Smith’s visionary animation.
Sep
11
September
11
-
September
11
&
8:00 pm
Tongues Untied
TAPE Los Angeles
Whammy Analog Media
TAPE Los Angeles presents Marlon Riggs’ Tongues Untied, an experimental blend of documentary and performance that, in Riggs’ own words, was meant to, “shatter the nation’s brutalizing silence on matters of sexual and racial difference.”
Marlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs telling the story of his growing up, scenes of men in social intercourse and dance, and various comic riffs, including a visit to the “Institute of Snap!thology,” where men take lessons in how to snap their fingers: the sling snap, the point snap, the diva snap.
Sep
11
September
11
-
September
11
&
8:00 pm
Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown
Spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar
Brain Dead Studios
Pepa resolves to kill herself with a batch of sleeping-pill-laced gazpacho after her lover leaves her. Fortunately, she is interrupted by a deliciously chaotic series of events.
Sep
9
September
9
-
September
9
&
7:30 pm
I Am Not Your Negro
Academy Museum
Based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript "Remember this House," this Oscar-nominated documentary is narrated by Samuel L Jackson as Baldwin shares his recollections of assassinated civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.
Sep
8
September
8
-
September
8
&
9:00 pm
LA Queer Shorts
QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance
Art Theater Long Beach
Harnessing the talents of local LA filmmakers, is a unique showcase of stories. From saving a queer country bar, an awkward Grndr date gone right? A first kiss, social media havoc, to creating a safe space for queer bikers. These films speak to us in different ways.
Sep
8
September
8
-
September
8
&
7:00 pm
Lady Like
QFilms Long Beach
Art Theater Long Beach
In this rags to riches origin story, Lady Camden struggles to manage the demands of her freshly minted international fame, while Rex is forced to come to terms with the troubling childhood he left behind in Camden which drove him to so desperately seek joy, fantasy and escape through the performing arts.
Sep
8
September
8
-
September
8
&
5:00 pm
Young Hearts
QFilms Long Beach
Art Theater Long Beach
Fourteen-year-old Elias increasingly feels like an outsider in his village. When he meets his new neighbour of the same age, Alexander, Elias is confronted with his burgeoning sexuality.
Sep
8
September
8
-
September
8
&
3:30 pm
An Unexpected Community
World Premiere @ QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance
Art Theater Long Beach
AN UNEXPECTED COMMUNITY tells the story of a lesbian community that found each other online and virtually thrived during the pandemic. It features appearances by Lily Tomlin, Meredith Baxter, Paula Poundstone, Kate Clinton, The Indigo Girls, Vickie Shaw, Karen Williams, and more!
Sep
8
September
8
-
September
8
&
1:15 pm
Women in Shorts
QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance
Art Theater Long Beach
From preserving our stories to saying goodbye, waking up in the afterlife, finding “the one,” and even an epic search for a tampon—this year’s Women in Shorts program is all about navigating the unexpected and making it unforgettable.
Sep
8
September
8
-
September
8
&
11:00 am
Men in Briefs
QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance
Art Theater Long Beach
Sci-fi, Voguing, a Merman and a Magical Fairy all collide to fill the screen, for QFilms Long Beach much-beloved Men's short films program.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
9:30 pm
F.L.Y.
QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance
Art Theater Long Beach
This slice-of-life comedy follows the intertwining journeys of former partners Max and Rafael amidst the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges of lockdown. Suddenly quarantined under one roof, Max, Rafael, and Max’s new boyfriend Hunter navigate awkward dinners, emotional revelations, misunderstandings, and heartache to embrace their authentic selves and forge a new kind of family.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
9:30 pm
Law of Desire
Spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar
Brain Dead Studios
Pablo, a successful film director, disappointed in his relationship with his young lover, Juan, concentrates in a new project, a monologue starring his transgender sister, Tina. Antonio, an uptight young man, falls possessively in love with the director and in his passion would stop at nothing to obtain the object of his desire.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
7:15 pm
The Queen of My Dreams
QFilms Long Beach
Art Theater Long Beach
Azra is worlds apart from her conservative Muslim mother. When her father suddenly dies on a trip home to Pakistan, Azra finds herself on a Bollywood-inspired journey through memories, both real and imagined; from her mother’s youth in Karachi to her own coming- of-age in rural Canada.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
7:00 pm
All Shall Be Well
Hong Kong On Screen Film Festival
Starlight Whittier Village Cinemas
Hong Kong On Screen Film Festival presents 2024 Narrative Teddy award winner All Shall Be Well, a story about a lesbian widow navigating friendship, family, and inheritance without the legal protections of marriage, after her longtime partner unexpectedly dies.
When her partner Pat unexpectedly dies, Angie is left to worry about the flat in which the couple lived together for over 30 years. Supported by her chosen family, Angie begins a later-life journey into emancipation.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
5:00 pm
Asian Persuasion LGBTQ Short Films
QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance
Art Theater Long Beach
An Eclectic mix of Asian Queer short films. With something for everyone. Includes: comedy, drama, documentary, experimental and animation.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
3:00 pm
Queer & Trans Shorts
QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance.
Art Theater Long Beach
Our queerness demands to be seen, heard, and appreciated. This program presents the spaces that make us who we are — past, present, and future. Cool off afterwards and join us next door at The Center for our Ice Cream Social.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
2:00 pm
Looking for Langston
Academy Museum
A hypnotic experimental film that weaves between reality and a fantastic recreation of the Harlem Renaissance of Langston Hughes, exploring the lives and desires of Queer Black writers and artists throughout time.
A black and white, fantasy-like recreation of high-society gay men during the Harlem Renaissance, with archival footage and photographs intercut with a story. A wake is going on, with mourners gathered around a coffin. Downstairs is an elegant bar where tuxedoed men dance and talk. One of them has a dream in which he comes upon Beauty, who seems to reject him, although when he awakes, Beauty is sleeping beside him. His story and his visits to the jazz and dance club are framed by voices reading from the poetry and essays of Hughes and others. The text is rarely explicit, but the freedom of gay Black men in the 1920s in Harlem is suggested and celebrated visually.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
1:00 pm
Long Beach Queeroes Short Films
QFilms Long Beach
Art Theater Long Beach
A collection of three short films, highlighting local Long Beach Heroes. Whether you're a Lesbian who became caretakers of our AIDS afflicted brothers. Creating a safe running club for Queers or just being your Authentic self. We salute you.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
11:00 am
Silver Screen Shorts
QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance
Art Theater Long Beach
A wonderful collection of short films, with over 100 awards, between them. These shorts will make you want to stand up and dance, smile, or just sit back and enjoy. It's definitely a screening you will want to see and feel.
Sep
7
September
7
-
September
7
&
8
10:00 am
Some Like It Hot
Vista Theater Hollywood
Two musicians witness a mob hit and struggle to find a way out of the city before they are found by the gangsters. Their only opportunity is to join an all-girl band as they leave on a tour. To make their getaway they must first disguise themselves as women, then keep their identities secret and deal with the problems this brings - such as an attractive bandmate and a very determined suitor.
Sep
6
September
6
-
September
6
&
10:00 pm
Matador
Spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar
Brain Dead Studios
A conflicted youth confesses to crimes he didn’t commit while a man and woman aroused by death become obsessed with each other.
Sep
6
September
6
-
September
6
&
9:30 pm
Extremely Unique Dynamic
QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance
Art Theater Long Beach
Ryan and Daniel, two childhood best friends and aspiring actors, spend one final weekend together before Ryan has to move to Canada with his fiancé. Wanting to create one lasting memory, they decide to make a movie… about two guys making a movie.. about two guys making a movie. Along the way, they unpack their decades-long friendship and prepare for the next chapters of their respective lives.
Sep
6
September
6
-
September
6
&
7:30 pm
I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Academy Museum
Renowned Black writer James Baldwin retraces his time in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, reflecting with his trademark brilliance and insight on the passage of more than two decades. From Selma and Birmingham and Atlanta; to the battleground beaches of St. Augustine, Florida, with Chinua Achebe; and back north for a visit to Newark with Amiri Baraka, Baldwin lays bare the fiction of progress in post–Civil Rights America, wondering “what happened to the children” and those ‘who did not die, but whose lives were smashed on Freedom Road’.
Sep
6
September
6
-
September
6
&
7:30 pm
Mysterious Skin
Brain Dead Studios
A gay teenage hustler and another teen obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
Sep
6
September
6
-
September
6
&
7:00 pm
Still Working 9 to 5
QFilms Long Beach
Filmmakers in attendance
Art Theater Long Beach
Examines the 40-year evolution of gender inequality and discrimination in the workplace since the 1980 release of the comedy film “9 to 5” starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Dabney Coleman.
Sep
6
September
6
-
September
6
&
7:00 pm
Brokeback Mountain
Vidiots Eagle Theater
Landmark Hollywood gay movie and 2005 Oscar smash Brokeback Mountain won Oscars for Screenplay, Directing, and Score--in addition to its nominations for Best Picture, Cinematography, and stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michelle Williams.
Rodeo cowboy Jack and ranch hand Ennis are hired as sheepherders in 1963 Wyoming. One night on Brokeback Mountain, they spark a physical relationship. Though Ennis marries his longtime sweetheart and Jack marries a fellow rodeo rider, they keep up their tortured, sporadic love affair for 20 years.
Sep
6
September
6
-
September
6
&
7:00 pm
Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon
Double Feature
Heavy Manners Library
A documentary double feature featuring Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon, with reenactments of passages from the controversial collection of tawdry gossip about the golden age of Hollywood. And stick around for a making-of doc on the not queer, but incredible Do the Right Thing.
Reenactments of passages from the controversial Kenneth Anger collection of tawdry gossip about the golden age of Hollywood.
Sep
5
September
5
-
September
5
&
7:30 pm
Melissa Etheridge: I'm Not Broken
QFilms Long Beach
The Queen Mary Theatre
QFilms Long Beach kicks off their festival with an amazing experience -- the Queen Mary's theater room will be open to the public for the first time. Iconic lesbian musician Melissa Etheridge got her start in Long Beach--so there's no better venue for this special documentary.
An inspiring story of healing and transcendence through the power of music. When five female residents from the Topeka Correctional Facility, a women's prison in Kansas, write letters to Etheridge, she then uses as inspiration to create and perform an original song for them. Having recently lost her son to opioids, Etheridge works to understand and interrupt the cycle of addiction while connecting with these women who, so often, are forgotten by society.
Sep
2
September
2
-
September
2
&
8:00 pm
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar
Brain Dead Studios
A henpecked housewife ekes out a meager existence, surrounded by a host of colorful characters: her ungrateful husband, her delinquent sons, her headstrong mother-in-law, and her sex worker neighbor, among others.