Showcasing the best of short films and screenplays from the LGBT community. Screenplay Winner every single month performed by professional actors. Film Festival occurs 3 times a year!
Merritt and Hylan are returning to their high school for their ten year reunion. Friends and roommates, the two complete each other in being completely different; Hylan — a confident, sexually active and adventurous extrovert, and Merritt — a shy, hopeless romantic who is struggling with her sexual identity. Unlike Hylan, Merritt does not enjoy sex or physical intimacy and believes she may be asexual.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Steve Rizzo
Hylan: Hannah Ehman
Merritt: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Driver: Sean Ballantyne
One is confused. One is growing older. One is afraid of settling down. They all take their chances on rodeo weekend amid the dancing, riding, and drinking.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Hannah Ehman
Paul: Geoff Mays
Martin: Steve Rizzo
In 1865, when it was a crime to be queer, a sharpshooting gender outlaw poses as a man so she and her southern belle lover can escape a brutal husband and create a new life as a married couple out in the west.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Sean Ballantyne
Millie: Val Cole
Beth: Hannah Ehman
A murdered artist is given one more day to live, on the condition that he create a painting of pure beauty and destroy his latest work, a sculpture imbued with evil powers.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Hannah Ehman
NIT: Steve Rizzo
MICHAELANGELO: Geoff Mays
THOMMASO: Sean Ballantyne
Various: Julie Sheppard
Various: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Various: Shawn Devlin
Best Short Form Short Film: SON RISE, SON SHINE Best Long Form Short Film: JARDINES Best Direction: WHEN IT PAYS Best Performances: TINA Best Sound & Music: EVERYTHING’S FINE Best Student Film: THE KIKI HOUSE OF VASE
Watch the Audience Feedback Video for each film:
WHEN IT PAYS, 11min., USA Directed by Marisa Bertani From the queer and women run production company, Late Bloomer Pictures. When struggling NYC sci-fi novelist, Erin, goes home for Passover, she must decide whether her family deserves to know a life-changing secret before they find out without her.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
THE KIKI HOUSE OF VASE, 8min., Taiwan Directed by Syrus Sadvandi The Kiki House of Vase is a ballroom house based in Taipei. This is a group of voguers which attend events called “balls.” However, ballroom is more than a space to dance — it’s where people of an LGBT background can find unconditional support and a family regardless of their orientation or gender identity.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
SON RISE, SON SHINE, 10min., USA Directed by Sasha Marie Speer A black man struggles to find his place in the world after not meeting society’s expectations. Son Rise, Son Shine is a short film about the journey of Gerald, a black, gay man, as he interacts with himself and the world from ages 6 to 40. Throughout the film, his 9-year-old self is acting as his inner bully, always telling him that the way he is doesn’t meet who he should be as a black man. That he isn’t good enough. That no one loves him. Through his different ages, we see Gerald struggle, but eventually finally find peace with who he is and his place in the world.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
EVERYTHING’S FINE, 14min,. USA Directed by Christina Hulen A young teacher suffering from trauma induced memory loss finds herself spiraling dangerously out of control as the impending anniversary of the event nears, threatening to destroy her carefully crafted veneer of normalcy, her relationships and her life.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
JARDINES, 26min., USA Directed by Alfredo Torres While waiting in limbo, displaced LGBTQ folks hoping to cross into the United States find support and healing with one another, as they process the heartbreak and joy of a queer family on the move.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
TINA, 14min., USA Directed by Laura Sweeney Our new short film TINA is a heartfelt, story about two people who knew each other back when and are surprised to meet up again. We think viewers will absolutely relate, especially if they’ve ever encountered someone from their past who influenced them at a key juncture in their life, or if they’ve gone searching online for an old friend, teacher, boss, whoever…and been surprised by how much they’ve both changed!
LGBT Los Angeles Film Festival 