A showcase of the best LGBTQ+ films in the world today.
AUDIENCE AWARDS: (from the Audience Feedback Festival):
Best Feature Film: WHITE SHADOW
Best Short Film: SEPARATE ROADS
Best Documentary: ACTING UP! – Forty Years of HIV Activism
Best Direction: TRAPPED
Best Visual Design: RIPPLE
Best New Media FilM: PORSCHE-OPHILE
Best Performances: REDLINING
Best Story: TOUCH ME, PLEASE!
Best Music Video: BULLYING
Best Micro-Short Film: THIS SIDE UP
WHITE SHADOW, 98min., Singapore
Directed by Gloria Chee, Eileen Cheng
An untimely diagnosis of a terminal illness sends Ren Jie into a tailspin. Determined to experience love in the limited time she has left, Ren Jie sets out to give her all to Kai Ting, a premature widow still grieving the tragic death of her husband. Through her relentless pursuit, Kai Ting eventually softens. The two friends who have known each other for decades experience the most powerful emotion – love. A moving journey ensues – two individuals learning to trust, communicate, be brave, and vulnerable, but neither are prepared for the agony and heartache in their inevitable separation.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-white-shadow
Separate Roads, 14min., Canada
Directed by Shalina Saleira
When former high school sweethearts Daniel and Tyler meet again years after a painful breakup, they’re forced to confront the scars of their past – including Tyler’s attempt to ‘cure’ his love through religious conversion therapy. They try to bury the hatchet and find closure, but old wounds may be too deep to heal.
https://www.instagram.com/separate.roads.film
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-separate-roads
Acting Up! – Forty Years of HIV Activism, 10min., UK
Directed by Nathaniel J Hall, Georgiana Ghetiu
Staff, volunteers, and activists reflect on forty years of Manchester-based HIV charity George House Trust in this powerful short documentary.
https://instagram.com/nathanieljhall
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-acting-up
TRAPPED, 18min,. USA
Directed by Cece King
Two women are trapped inside an elevator and learn more about one other than they were ready for.
https://www.instagram.com/trappedtheshortfilm
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-trapped-lgbt
RIPPLE, 13min., China
Directed by Juecheng Yuan
On a film set inside an empty swimming pool at night, a young transgender performer is pushed to reshape her body and identity for the camera. As the director struggles between his own vision and external pressure, the performance gradually drifts away from her understanding of the character. Under constant observation—by the camera, the crew, and the system around her—her body becomes a site of negotiation. As reality and performance begin to fracture, the film exposes the violence embedded in the act of looking, and the cost of being seen.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-ripple
PORSCHE-ophile: la Porsche Verte de ROZY, 9min., Canada
Directed by James Newman
Rozy, a 68-year-old transgender, abandons American muscle cars for a Porsche Boxster. After purchasing two used Porsches, he fulfills his dream by traveling to Stuttgart to pick up a brand-new Boxster GTS, dressed in her favorite fetish outfit.
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-porrche-ophile
REDLINING, 18min., USA
Directed by Jason Stuart
REDLINING is about a black & white family who live on the same property during the 1970s in the Georgia REDLINING era. The film explores the themes of generational wealth, prejudice, homosexuality, women’s rights and the legacy of discrimination in the American South. Who gets to live where? What happens when the parents pass? Who gets the house? And why?
https://www.instagram.com/thejasonstuart
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-redlining
TOUCH, ME, PLEASE!, 8min., USA
Directed by Xinran Wendy Tong
A 50-year-old woman with Parkinson’s disease, PEACOCK, applies to receive her first sexual service from Hand Angel NICKY. After Peacock’s sister leaves, they secretly meet at Peacock’s home for the first time to plan for the service…
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-touch-me-please
BULLYING, 3min., France
Directed by Christophe Madrolle
“Bullying” is a work that poignantly and symbolically addresses the devastation caused by psychological and physical violence experienced at school.
https://www.instagram.com/ChristopheMadrolle
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-bullying
THIS SIDE UP, 4min., USA
Directed by Alex J. Bledsoe
“This Side Up” is a short film that documents the interior lives of art handlxrs and their experiences in the art world. Set in the Bay Area and contextualized by the voice of contemporary art curator Eungie Joo, this film features Adrian Clutario and Nahkoura Mahnassi as they explore the ways that their identities as LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC people intersect with their roles behind the scenes of museums and art galleries. The film also brings into view the international scale of the art world, with appearances from art handlxrs located in Los Angeles, New York, and Mexico City.
https://www.instagram.com/arthandlxrs
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-this-side-up
LGBT Los Angeles Film Festival 