Official Selections: 1st-7th LA Queer Film Festival
Congratulations to our accepted filmmakers!
Films are listed in alphabetical order, index to the left.
Scroll Down to learn more about each film.
Lights, Camera, Action
Reflecting the beauty of classic Black romance films, Lights, Camera, Action takes Victor from the nervous anticipation of an audition room to the intimate ease of sharing space with a lover.
Director: Maya Table
Producer: Princess Mbanuzue
Writer: Victor Jackson
Cast: Victor Jackson, Justin Bernard, Candis Danielle, Sheena Knight, TereLynn Jones
Cinematographer: Steven C. Pitts
Editor: Maya Table
The song was featured on the award-winning OWN series, "David Makes Man" (S2|EP).
Website: www.mrglamrocksoul.com
Instagram: @mrglamrocksoul
Twitter: @mrglamrocksoul
Facebook: Victor Jackson
Love Has No Label
Short
Love Has No Label is a portrait series about real queer identities that navigate the quest to be accepted and find love in a world of boxes and stereotypes. The film questions and challenges what has been taught as 'normal' or 'natural' through self-expression and power.
Commissioned by the LGBTQ+ platform Container Love, which has been promoting queer art since 2013.
Director: Ben Galster
Producer: Christian Ruess & Tim Augustin
Writer: Ben Galster & Christian Ruess
Cast: (Chiderah Sunny, Katja Grube, Isaak Chong, Shayne Stubbs)
Cinematographer (if applicable): Julian Landweer
Editor: Anselm Koneffke @SEC
Any awards, accolades or additional details about the process you would like to mention:
Berlin Commercial - Shortlist (Cultural Impact)
Aesthetica - Official Selection
|Iris Prize - Short List
LA Fashion Film Festival - Official Selection
Kaltblut Feature
Website: containerlove.art/love-has-no-label/love-has-no-label
Instagram:@container.love
Facebook: fb.com/containerlove.art
Mija
Los Angeles Premiere
After living in comfort for the first 14 years of her life, Perla's identity is stripped away with a newly found family secret. Learning to deal with this ordeal, she finds out who she truly wants to be.
Director: Priscilla Emprechtinge
Producers: Devan Ford & Angela Zaniboni
Writer: Priscilla Emprechtinger
Cast: Agavni Tischyan, Marta Gil, Guillermo Canba
Cinematographer: Theresa Eschbacher
Editor: Brandon Lattman
Mija won Best Student LGBTQ Short in September 2020 by the Indie Short Fest Los Angeles. This is also Mija's 5th selection!
Instagram: @mijashortfilm
Linktree: linktr.ee/fabulousprissy
my body is a place, just like any other
Feature
United States Premiere
Making her way across the deserts of North America in search of a place she can see herself reflected in, Carrie muses on her identity through memories, stories, and conversations from other trans* people to uncover what it means to have an embodied experience in the world.
Director: P Totten (she/they)
Composer: Jacqui Speer (she/her)
Writers: Brie Porter (she/her), Micha Cardenas, Kit Malone
Casting: Laura Nordin (she/her)
Interviewees: Xay De Fisher (she/her), Alexa Forester (she/her), Rosalynn Montoya (she/they)
Story Contributors: Emma Farnan, Eoghan Grey (they/them), Amanda Hergott (she/her), Tenzin Mingyur Paldron, Aisling Rowan (they/them)
Voice Cast: Cressa Maeve Beer (she/her), Savannah Burton (she/her), Kem August Ersoy (she/they), Samantha Kruger (she/her), Kiley May (she/they), Jack McGuire (he/him), Robin Nash (they/them), Rita Ushakova (they/them), Kat Zoumboulakis (they/them)
Like A Marriage
Short
United States Premiere
Gay partners Chan Yui and Ka Wing are happily in love, before Chan Yui enters a marriage of convenience with his lesbian friend Fung Ming to appease the parents. However, the sham marriage does not seem much of a solution as lies and parental expectations continue to pile up. Under great pressure, Ka Wing has no choice but to accept the arrangement as he practices emergency drills of hiding in the closet. Can things go back to normal for Chan Yui and Ka Wing? Are they destined to live in lies with happiness out of reach?
Director: Cheng Tsz Lok
Producer: Cheng Tsz Lok
Writer: Cheng Tsz Lok
Cast: Jam Shing Kwan, Bobular Wong
Cinematographer: Lau Tak shing
Editor: Ho Chi Wing
Shortlisted:
15th Fresh wave International Short Film festival
32nd Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
8th Taiwan International Queer Film Festival
Margins
Los Angeles Premiere
Short
In Los Angeles, California, during the tumultuous period of May 2020's BLM movement, an interracial queer couple, Kai and Lucie, navigate the difficulties of supporting and protecting each other through the complexities of racial inequality and immigration issues.
Director: Emanuela Boisbouvier
Producer: Francisco Lederman
Writer: Emanuela Boisbouvier
Cast: Doyin Domingo, Emanuela Boisbouvier, Luis Santos, Cazimir Milostan
Cinematographer: Vincent Augusto, Bella Pilli
Editor: Francisco Lederman
Awards: Honorable Mention at the Toronto Indie Filmmakers Festival, Best Female Filmmaker at the Cannes Indie Cinema Festival, Best Drama Short Film at the Naples Film Awards
Instagram: @margins_shortfilm
Motel Room
Short
Motel Room, based on a true event, explores the friendship that develops between an Armenian teenage boy and the prostitute his father hires to take his virginity.
Director: Bradford Lipson
Producers: Tammy Kaitz, Tracy Clifton, Bradford Lipson, Robert C. Rodriguez
Writer: Sahag Gureghian
Cast: Tammy Kaitz, Sebastian Rosero, David Gianopoulos
Cinematographer: Jeff Berlin
Editor: Agustin Rexach
- Winner: Best Original Script, Sahag Gureghian, from Athens International Monthly Film Festival
- Nominee: Best Actress from Indie Short Fest
Instagram: @motelroomthemovie
Losing Hope
Losing Hope is a scripted series that embraces the challenge to tell a love story from the perspective of Gideon Hope, an African-American, gay man living in Los Angeles. After an emotional heartbreak, Gideon navigates the reluctance of falling in love again, but with a LatinX man. Written, directed and executive produced by Derek Daniel, Losing Hope aspires to fill the gaps between mainstream narratives and the “outlier” narratives of both the diverse African-American and LGBTQ+ communities.
Director: Derek Daniel
Producer: Derek Daniel
Writer: Derek Daniel
Cast: Derek Daniel, Brianna Michelle, Pedro Figueroa, Blake Bodden, Apollo Levine
Cinematographer: Brandon "Champ" Robinson, Joseph Blackburn
Editor: Brandon "Champ" Robinson, Joseph Blackburn
Losing Hope has had the honor of premiering at the 2020 Cannes International Independent Film Festival in France and has continued to screen at other Film Festivals.
Website: www.losinghopeseries.com
Twitter: @losinghopeTV
Instagram: @losinghopeseries
Facebook: /losinghopeseries
Love Spell
USA Premiere
In 1999 in a high school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a teenage girl casts a spell to make her best friend fall in love with her.
Love Spell is a film about female friendship and queer desire.
Director: Lauren Vevers
Producer: Jen Corcoran
Writer: Lauren Vevers
Cast: Katie Davidson-Powell, Brogan Gilbert
Cinematographer: Lizzie Gilholme
Editor: Danielle Giddins
Instagram: @lovespellfilm
Marimacha
Los Angeles Premiere
Short
When an illicit pic outs the daughter of two conservative Black/Afro-Panamanians on their way to a family wedding, they must finally confront the elephant in the room and decide who gets to dictate the terms of love, in and outside the family.
Director: Cami Cruz Thomas
Producer: Amelia Acosta Powell, Jacqueline Flores, Darrel Alejandro Holnes
Writer: Darrel Alejandro Holnes
Cast: Florinda Bryant, Hannah Oliveira, Jose Febus, Bryan Edison
Editor: Cami Cruz Thomas
MARIMACHA won Best Performances at the Latino Feedback Film Festival
MARIMACHA won Best of the Fest at Pride Film Fest
MARIMACHA won Best LGBT Short from the LA Independent Women Film Awards