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The Denver Film Society (DFS) is pleased to announce the full lineup for the CinemaQ Film Festival, taking place July 19-23. The documentary, REBELS ON POINTE will open the festival on Wednesday, July 19 at 7pm. This film, sponsored by the Denver Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, will be followed by the Opening Night Party in Henderson’s Lounge. REBELS ON POINTE is the first-ever, cinéma vérité documentary film celebrating Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo -- the all male, drag ballet company founded over 40 years ago on the heels of New York's Stonewall riots. Following the opening film Rebels on Pointe, special guest Robert Carter, a twenty-year member of the ballet company, will be in-person to host a Q&A session.
“Rebels On Pointe captures the raw elegance of ballet paired with the challenges and joys of breaking down gender norms in our society,” said Film Society Programmer, Matthew Campbell. “We are thrilled to shine a spotlight on these dancers and their stories through the lens of queer cinema.”
CinemaQ celebrates the best of the best in film that covers every aspect of the LGBTQ community and introduces new visionaries, pays tribute to iconic staples, tells stories from around the world, and connects us all with a common message of identity and understanding. This year marks the ninth anniversary of the Festival with ten narrative feature films, five documentaries, and a package of short films. In addition to the full program, the Festival will host special guests, films, and presentations at both the Sie FilmCenter and at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
CinemaQ will take over Film On The Rocks for the first time ever on Thursday night, July 20 with a screening of the pop culture and cult favorite film: THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
"We are very excited to bring a CinemaQ screening to Red Rocks this year,” said Festival Director, Britta Erickson. “By merging the popular Film On The Rocks experience with our CinemaQ Festival, we hope to build wider awareness, appreciation, and love for LGBTQ cinema in Denver.”
Party with the best of the Denver drag scene at A Cock In A Frock On A Rock - DJ & Drag Party at Red Rocks before the film begins. The evening features DJ Markie, DJ Stone Cox, Kai Lee Mykels, Felony Misdemeanor, Yvie Oddly, Khrys’taaal, Jessica L’Whor and Nina Montaldo starting at 7pm.
Two local filmmakers will also be highlighted on the big screen at this year’s Festival. On Saturday afternoon, the CinemaQ Shorts Program will feature two locally filmed shorts, TRANSaction: stepping out of the closet and I STAND STILL: a love poem.
Rounding out the program, the award winning, GOD’S OWN COUNTRY, will close out the Festival with a Denver premiere screening on Sunday, July 23 at 6:30pm at the Sie FilmCenter. GOD’S OWN COUNTRY was the Männer Reader Jury Award winner at the Berlin International Film Festival and the World Cinema Directing Award Winner in the Dramatic category at the Sundance Film Festival.
FEATURE PRESENTATIONS:
THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT - Directed by Stephan Elliott (1994) Australia, 104 min
Special presentation at Film On The Rocks! CinemaQ is stepping out of the theater and onto the rocks for a special evening under the stars. Go back down under with everyone's favorite Aussie Queens for a magical bus ride through the outback.
AFTER LOUIE - Directed by Vincent Gagliostro (2017) United States, 100min
After Louie explores the contradictions of modern gay life and history through Sam, a man desperate to understand how he and his community got to where they are today. As an AIDS activist and member of ACT UP in the 1980s and 90s, Sam witnessed the deaths of too many friends and lovers. Battle-wounded and struggling with survivor’s guilt, Sam now resents the complacency of his former comrades and derides what he sees as the younger generation’s indifference to the politics of sex, and death. An unexpected intimacy with a much younger man challenges Sam’s understanding of contemporary gay life. Through this unconventional romance, he is forced to deal with the trauma that so informs his past, their present, and an unknown future.
BEHIND THE CURTAIN: TODRICK HALL - Directed by Katherine Fairfax Wright (2017) USA, 101min
Todrick Hall launches his most ambitious project yet: the full-scale original musical, Straight Outta Oz. From a small town in Texas to big-time show business, comes an inspiring documentary of grit, perseverance and the redemptive power of art. We watch Todrick struggle to write songs about growing up gay and black in small-town Texas, his difficult relationship with his mom, and the harsh realities of trying to make it in show business. With limited time and budget the odds are against him, but Todrick’s passion and his team of talented performers overcome all obstacles to bring this story to the world.
CHERRY POP - Directed by Assaad Yacoub (2016) USA, 79 min
Cherry Pop is a crazy night in the life of a small local bar's drag show. The film is about a newcomer struggling with being the outcast on his first night, a legend coming to terms with life after her last night in drag, all set against the backstabbing queens, with their own problems, who just plain can't stand each other. Even the stories of some of the patrons play a part in the chaos. Cherry Pop is a real-time roller coaster ride where you better be strapped up, tucked in, and ready to go!
CinemaQ Shorts Program, 90min
Sometimes good things come in small servings. CinemaQ presents our favorite short LGBTQ films of the past year. You might laugh or cry, but your attention span will not run out. Featuring a mix of styles, countries, and sexual identities, there’s a little something for everyone in these brief, yet proud tales.
THE CRYING GAME - Directed by Neil Jordan (1992) UK, 112min
25th Anniversary Screening! An unlikely friendship develops between a kidnapped British soldier and his captor, an IRA volunteer named Fergus. When the hostage-taking ends up going horribly wrong, Fergus escapes and heads to London, where he seeks out and begins dating the soldier's lover, a hairdresser named Dil, who knows nothing about Fergus' IRA background. But there are some things about Dil that Fergus doesn't know either.
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON - Directed by David France (2017) USA, 107 min
Who killed Marsha P. Johnson? When the beloved, self-described “street queen” of NY’s Christopher Street was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, the NYPD called her death a suicide. Protests erupted, but the police remained impassive and refused to investigate. Now, twenty-five years on, Academy Award® nominated director and journalist David France (How to Survive a Plague) examines Marsh’s death—and her extraordinary life—in his new film.
THE FABULOUS ALLAN CARR - Directed by Jeffrey Schwarz (2017) USA, 90min
Armed with a limitless Rolodex and a Benedict Canyon enclave with its own disco, Allan Carr threw the Hollywood parties that defined the 1970s. A producer, manager, and marketing genius, Carr built his bombastic reputation amid a series of successes including the mega hit musical film Grease and the Broadway sensation La Cage Aux Folles, until it all came crashing down after he produced the notorious debacle of the 1989 Academy Awards.
THE FEELS - Directed by Jenee LaMarque (2017) USA, 90min
Andi (Constance Wu) and Lu (Angela Trimbur) are excited to celebrate their upcoming wedding with a joint bachelorette weekend in wine country. On the first night, the brides and their friends get wasted, and Lu admits to everyone that she’s never had an orgasm. This admission comes as a complete surprise to Andi and derails the weekend in unexpected and poignant ways. It causes everyone to reflect on trust, love, and their journeys to experiencing their first orgasm.
GOD'S OWN COUNTRY - Directed by Francis Lee (2017) UK, 104 min
Johnny Saxby works long hours in brutal isolation on his family’s remote farm in the north of England. He numbs the daily frustration of his lonely existence with nightly binge-drinking at the local pub and casual sex. When a handsome Romanian migrant worker arrives to take up temporary work on the family farm, Johnny suddenly finds himself having to deal with emotions he has never felt before. An intense relationship forms between the two which could change Johnny’s life forever.
REBELS ON POINTE - Directed by Bobbi Jo Hart (2017) Canada | Italy | Japan | USA | UK, 90min
Rebels On Pointe is the first-ever, cinéma vérité documentary film celebrating Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo -- the all male, drag ballet company founded over 40 years ago on the heels of New York's Stonewall riots. The company has performed in over 500 cities and 33 countries, and has a cult following around the world. The film juxtaposes exclusive, behind-the-scenes access and intimate, character-driven stories of its dancers, highlighted by amazing performances shot around the world. Rebels On Pointe ultimately celebrates our shared humanity through universal themes of identity, dreams, family, love, loss, determination and resilience... proving that a ballerina is not merely a woman dancing, but an act of revolution in a tutu.
THE RING THING - Directed by William C. Sullivan (2018) USA, 120min
When Sarah accidentally proposes to her girlfriend in Provincetown, she finds herself at odds with her partner's expectations of their future. The mix-up sends both women on different journeys of marital exploration. Sarah, a documentary filmmaker, begins interviewing same-sex couples in an attempt to overcome her fear of divorce. Kristen, who's ready to tie the knot, sees a future version of her life with Sarah where career and passion threaten to pull the women apart.
SATURDAY CHURCH - Directed by Damon Cardasis (2017) USA, 90min
Ulysses, a 14-year-old-boy exploring his gender and sexuality finds refuge in a program for homeless LGBTQ youth in a welcoming church basement. What many critics are calling a cross between Moonlight and La La Land, Saturday Church provides whimsical musical interludes grounded in the challenging reality of street life for LGBTQ youth of color in New York City.
TOM OF FINLAND - Directed by Dome Karukoski (2017) Finland | Sweden | Denmark | Germany | USA, 115min
Award-winning filmmaker Dome Karukoski brings to screen the life and work of one of the most influential and celebrated figures of twentieth century gay culture. Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds post-war Helsinki rampant with homophobic persecution, and men around him being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specializing in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work – made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.
THE UNTOLD TALES OF ARMISTEAD MAUPIN - Directed by Jennifer M. Kroot (2017) USA, 90min
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin examines the life and work of one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, following his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels have inspired millions to claim their own truth. Jennifer Kroot’s documentary about the creator of Tales Of The City moves nimbly between playful and poignant to laugh-out-loud funny. With help from his friends (including Neil Gaiman, Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis, Sir Ian McKellen and Amy Tan), Maupin offers a disarmingly frank look at the journey that took him from the jungles of Vietnam, to the bathhouses of 70’s San Francisco, to the front line of the American culture war.
THE WOUND - Directed by John Trengove (2017) South Africa | Germany | Netherlands | France, 88min
Xolani, a lonely factory worker, joins the men of his community in the mountains of the Eastern Cape to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood. When a defiant initiate from the city discovers his best kept secret, Xolani’s entire existence begins to unravel.
SHORT FILMS:
Better Known As Peaches Christ - Directed by Jeff Dragomanovich (2016) USA, 4min
Drag icon Peaches Christ offers a rare, intimate glimpse into her process of transformation, and describes the path from stifled teen to brazen cult hero.
A Doll’s Tales - Directed by Jonathan Wysocki (2016) USA, 10min
Haunted by Spielberg’s Jaws since childhood, a filmmaker discovers why the movie affected him so deeply.
I STAND STILL: a love poem - Directed by Carlos Daniel Flores (2017) USA, 6min
Two women must confront each other and question the strength of their relationship when one of them can’t get herself to come out to her parents.
Little Potato - Directed by Wes Hurley, Nathan M. Miller (2017) USA, 13min
An autobiographical short about a boy growing up gay in the Soviet Union, his mail-order-bride mom, and their adventurous escape to America.
Love the Sinner - Directed by Jessica Devaney, Geeta Gandbhir (2017) USA, 17min
Love the Sinner is a personal documentary essay exploring the connection between Christianity and homophobia in the wake of the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
The Mess He Made - Directed by Matthew Puccini (2017) USA, 11min
A man spends 15 minutes waiting for the results of a Rapid HIV test in a small-town strip mall.
New Deep South: House of JXN - Directed by Lauren Cioffi (2017) USA, 9min
New Deep South is a webisode documentary series exploring the vibrant and multifaceted queer culture that is emerging in the American South.
Seeking: Jack Tripper - Directed by Quinlan Orear (2017) USA, 15min
Seeking: Jack Tripper is a short romantic comedy about a gay married couple who try to have a threesome in an attempt to reignite the spark in their relationship.
Swim - Directed by Mari Walker (2017) USA, 10min
As summer draws to a close, a young trans girl finds freedom in a secret midnight swim.
TRANSaction: stepping out of the closet - Directed by Bridget Galaty (2017) USA, 6min
The simple act of shopping for clothes poses a challenge for these transgendered teenagers.
2107 CINEMAQ SPONSORS:
Argonaut Wine & Liquor, Out Front, Mike’s Camera, Will LaBahn, Denver Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Debt Free Guys/Queer Money, GLBT Community Center of Colorado, One Colorado, Relish Catering & Events, Scientific Cultural & Facilities District, Casa Noble, Robert Mondavi Private Selection, Svedka.
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Chatelin Bruno 
