Sissy Sammy in the Land of WEHO 90069 is the tale of Sammy, a feminine acting boy from Compton
who ends up in West Hollywood after a knock on the head trying to find his way back home.

Arriving in West Hollywood with only a duffle bag and beat up suitcase, Derrick unexpectedly wanders into a public men’s room and is greeted by the evocative stares and mischievous smiles of the men inside.
Hesitant, yet curious to explore the carnal cruising further, Derrick enters a large stall at the end of the room. He is thrust into a magical time capsule; the stall encompasses the sights and sounds that celebrate 30 years of West Hollywood.

Rosa, an immigrant from El Salvador, works in West Hollywood as a nanny to Vivienne. Stroller rides become encounters with the socioeconomic structures that maintain the large portion of laborers in West Hollywood invisible to the residents.

“Reinas de Los Angeles” narrates the oral hystories of trans women and drag queen performers who bring to life the stages of Latino gay bars in Los Angeles. This film showcases the work, lives, and gender identity formation and expression, of the queens of Los Angeles from the ’80s to present day.

JT as well as many other ACT UP members have paved the way for any person with HIV or AIDS to freely go into a hospital or HIV/AIDS organization to get tested, treated, or get help with medication.

The HomoFiles is a California Community Stories project featuring the stories of gay girls and lesbians who came out primarily in the 40s, 50s and 60s (pre-Stonewall) and how the lesbian bar was essential to the process. Essential, not because it was simply a place to drink or socialize, but because for these women who had nowhere else to go where they could be themselves, the bar was like “coming home.”

Growing up poor, Chicano, a woman and a lesbian in mid 20th century East L.A., Nancy Valverde’s life was a constant uphill battle, complicated by the fact that she preferred the comfort of men’s clothes; a “misdemeanor crime” which she was routinely arrested for. Now at age 83 Nancy’s lifelong defiance and resilience to maintain her self identity as a butch lesbian, has garnered her legendary status in the Los Angeles LGBTQ community. Nancy From East Side Clover is part of an upcoming feature length documentary about the rich Gay history of the Los Angeles area entitled L.A. A Queer History – 2016.

Set to launch on National AIDS Awareness Day, Young City at War will feature the dramatic and poignant story of West Hollywood’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in its early days. Through in-depth interviews an important chapter of community history will be preserved and made available online for current residents, LGBTQ youth, and the broader public.

A year in the life of trans Latina teenager, Zoey Luna and her mom Ofelia and their struggles for acceptance at her middle school and the challenges of being a teenager in a conservative hetero normative world.

A group of long-time friends gathering in a West Hollywood house becomes a study in gay community, its relationship to time and place, and its connection to the idea of home. A documentary portrait of friendship as a potent force in our lives.

Author/historian Stuart Timmons teamed up with multimedia performance artist/director Jason Jenn, along with their assembled cast and crew to create the Stuart Timmons’ City of West Hollywood LGBTQ History Mobile Tour for One City One Pride’s LGTBQ Arts Festival “WeHo@30”. Stuart began developing a walking tour of WeHo in 2007, but was interrupted when he experienced a stroke in January 2008. Finally brought to fruition in 2015, this version has been reimagined with various costumed performers stationed along the route, sharing the information in a fun and festive manner for touring participants. The live event on June 6 was documented and constructed into a short film of highlights to share some of the excitement from that day and West Hollywood’s rich and wondrous LGTBQ history.

Why are lesbians the biggest consumers of wallet chains
in the country? Chained! is a fun, humorous romp through
the lives of these quirky lesbians who define themselves
by their chains.

A video of photographs showing Pride Parades in West Hollywood including photos from 1987 to present. This video will have some inspirational music as and have a duration between 5 and 10 minutes.

WEHO Architecture, History, and Culture
40 West Hollywood buildings of architectural and historical significance are photographed and highlighted on an interactive digital map.

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles is one of West Hollywood’s greatest successes. Here’s its history, Music with a Mission, told through the video archive, from early rehearsals in Plummer Park to global achievements today. See snippets of Bill Clinton, Lily Tomlin, Jennifer Holliday and many more guest stars, composers and politicians. View the chorus in Russia, in Estonia, and the Hollywood Bowl. Learn about the “It Gets Better” tour that brings its anti-bullying message to vulnerable youths across the country, plus GMCLA’s youth chorus, and AMP, the Alive Music Project that brings music to thousands of public school students. From its home office in West Hollywood, GMCLA wishes the city a Happy 30th Anniversary with this video of thanks.

L.A. A Queer History is a celebration and reclamation of Los Angeles’ LGBTQ legacy pre-Stonewall. Telling the story of how these largely unknown individuals, artists and organizations shaped not only Queer culture but the world at large, paving the way for the Stonewall Riots, Gay Liberation and Marriage Equality.

In The Bubbies, a group of Russian and Ukrainian immigrant Jewish friends come together to welcome a newly retired delicatessen worker with a gorgeous singing voice into their West Hollywood community chorus.

The City of West Hollywood is located in the heart of metropolitan Los Angeles. It is like no other city in the world, incorporated in 1984 by a unique collaboration of people including LGBT activists and advocates for affordable housing, West Hollywood is a robust urban center instilled with idealism, creativity, and innovation. It is also home to a thriving community of nearly 4,000 people from the former Soviet Union — this represents approximately 11 percent of the City’s population of 35,000 people. Over the past 30 years the City has worked closely with members of its Russian-speaking community to collect their stories and compile an oral history with dozens of interviews. Each personal account shares common themes regarding the immigration experience — repression, struggle, hope, bravery, and survival. Celebrating 30 Years of Russian Culture, along with the City’s compilation of oral histories will allow future generations the opportunity to share in this important part of our City’s history.

WEHO Architecture, History, and Culture
40 West Hollywood buildings of architectural and historical significance are photographed and highlighted on a digital map.

Shana Mabari, Jack Brogan, Andrew Campbell and Peter Mays.
Video documenting “Illumetric,” Shana Mabari’s Art on the Outside public art project for the City of West Hollywood – covering conception, fabrication, installation, and tenure on Santa Monica Blvd. including footage from West Hollywood celebrations and events throughout the year.
www.shanamabari.com

SEEfest, the South East European Film Festival, began as a project in West Hollywood in 2002. In 2015 this trailer was made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of SEEfest and takes us on a journey through many cultures of the Los Angeles County. Some of the Festival venues featured in the trailer include the Writers Guild Theater, Laemmle’s theaters, Goethe-Institut, the West Hollywood Library, Billy Wilder theater at the Hammer Museum, the UCLA Bridges theater as well as a selection of Los Angeles landmarks: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Park, the Mother of Humanity statue by sculptor Nigel Binns in Watts, Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, the Urban Light assemblage sculpture by artist Chris Burden at the grand entrance to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Santa Monica pier, entrance to the Vermont metro station, Mariachi Plaza, the Culver hotel, Beverly Boulevard, Bar Lubitsch, Korea and Thai towns, little Ethiopia, murals in Boyle Heights, King Fahad Mosque, and the Russian Orthodox church in little Armenia.

West Hollywood is home to an eclectic array of landmarks including, among many, the Schindler’s House on Kings Road, a masterpiece designed by one of the great modern architects of the 20th century, Rudolph Schindler. He and fellow architect Richard Neutra emigrated to California where they were able to finally realize their revolutionary ideas. The Schindler House in West Hollywood, built in 1921, is today a designated historical landmark. Since 1994 it serves as the MAK Center for Art and Architecture.

The new West Hollywood Library, designed by architects Steve Johnson and Jim Favaro and opened in 2011, sits across the gigantic blue, green and red buildings of the Pacific Design Center, by architect Cesar Pelli. Along with many galleries, such as the distinguished Louis Stern Fine Arts, they are in the center of the West Hollywood Design District, the cultural destination located at Melrose Avenue, Robertson Boulevard and Beverly Boulevard, featuring high-caliber design, art, fashion, beauty, dining, and more — including the famed film industry hangout est. 1964, Dan Tana’s Restaurant, which celebrated its 50th anniversary with a celebrity-studded party in October 2014.
By SEEfest Productions

Did you know there were giant, hand painted billboards advertising classic albums of the 60s, 70s & 80s? This week The Vinyl Geek interviews photographer & author of the book Rock ’N’ Roll Billboards of the Sunset Strip, Robert Landau.

Moving from one country to another is always challenging, but what happens when immigrants leave behind one economic and political system for a wholly different one? From Red State to Golden State recounts the immigrant experiences of several Jewish families as they leave the Eastern Bloc for the American West.