FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Denver Film Media Contacts:
Ambriehl Turrentine, Marty Schechter
July 11, 2022
ambriehl@denverfilm.org, marty@schechterpr.com
DENVER – Denver Film announced the line-up for its 14th Annual CinemaQ Film Festival, opening August 11 and running through August 14 at the Sie FilmCenter, 2510 E. Colfax Ave. This year’s festival, which encompasses a robust lineup of 14 films, will also include recognition of actor, director, writer and producer, Colman Domingo with the Festival’s first CinemaQ – LaBahn Ikon Film Award.
The CinemaQ Film Festival, presented by William LaBahn, returns to in-person screenings at the Sie FilmCenter with the August 11 Opening Night presentation of “The Sixth Reel,” a hilarious whodunnit starring Charles Busch as Jimmy, a movie collector who stumbles upon a long-lost film from Hollywood’s Golden Age and must deliver it to the right hands before it is lost forever. Busch will be in attendance for a post-film Q&A and will deliver a special introduction for the subsequent presentation of queer cult classic “Psycho Beach Party.” The Festival will conclude on August 14 with a closing presentation of the documentary “Loving Highsmith,” an intimate portrait of the life of best-selling novelist Patricia Highsmith and her quest for identity.
“It has been far too long since we’ve been able to celebrate the films of CinemaQ together inside the welcoming arms of the Sie FilmCenter, and I can safely say that this year’s festival will be well worth the wait,” said Sie FilmCenter Artistic Director Keith Garcia. “A bumper crop of fantastic films, fantastic guests, and surely what will be a fantastic audience ready to engage and partake in a rich lineup of stories and personalities, well representative of our queer community at large.”
In addition to the diverse film lineup, this year’s festival includes Q&As with filmmakers, receptions and the special presentation of the CinemaQ – LaBahn Ikon Film Award on Friday, Aug. 12 to Colman Domingo for his “tremendous contributions to LGBTQIA+ culture and advancement” through his work in film and entertainment.
Domingo, whose film credits include: Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, Assassination Nation, First Match, Lucy in the Sky, Selma as Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Lincoln directed by Steven Spielberg, three films directed by Spike Lee, including Miracle At St. Ana, Red Hook Summer and Passing Strange, Freedomland directed by Joe Roth, True Crime directed by Clint Eastwood, and The Birth of a Nation.
In addition, he recently wrapped production for Higher Ground’s “Rustin” in which he plays his first lead role in the biopic centered on influential civil rights and gay rights activist Bayard Rustin. He is currently in production on Warner Bros.’ “The Color Purple.” He will be playing “Mister,” opposite Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia Taylor, Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey, Corey Hawkins, and H.E.R. The film is being produced by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders. In addition, Domingo wrote, produced and starred in the animated short film, “New Moon,” based on his play A Boy and His Soul which premieres at Outfest LA beginning July 14.
On the small screen, he is known for his long-term television series roles as Ali in Euphoria, as well as the role of Victor Strand in Fear of the Walking Dead.
Festival organizers will honor Domingo by sharing highlights of his career and a moderated Q&A with the actor followed by a reception at the Sie FilmCenter.
Q&As will follow presentations of “The Sixth Reel” on Thursday, August 11 at 7 p.m., “Jeannette” on Friday, August 12 at 4:30 p.m., “Mama Bears” on Saturday, August 13 at 2:15 p.m., and the shorts program on Saturday, August 13 at 4:45 p.m.
“Yes, it’s critical that we are back in-person for CinemaQ this year and to have the opportunity to continue our long-term community outreach efforts. We’ve created space for LGBTQ filmgoers and filmmakers, and we’re expanding the visibility of this truly unique programming to a general filmgoing audience,” said William LaBahn who, with Artistic Director and Programmer Keith Garcia, has worked tirelessly to heighten the profile of the festival and build the CinemaQ brand. “In addition to an amazing lineup of films and events, I’m truly honored and looking forward to celebrating Colman Domingo in person as the winner of our first CinemaQ – LaBahn Ikon Film Award.”
Founded in 2009, the CinemaQ Film Festival was created to leverage the power of film to celebrate queer voices, queer visions, and queer visibility. The four-day festival is designed to showcase the best in new and classic LGBTQ+ cinema from around the world to Colorado audiences with this year’s lineup featuring screenings of brand new restorations of the 1975 comedy drama Saturday Night at the Baths and the 1983 documentary Vestida De Azul.
Festival passes are $50 for Denver Film Members/$70 Non-Member. Individual film tickets are $8.25 for Denver Film members/$13.25 non-member and are available at denverfilm.org.
Click to see the full schedule and purchase tickets and passes.
THE SIXTH REEL
Directors: Carl Andress, Charles Busch
Opening Night – Thursday, August 11, 7 p.m.
When the death of a close friend unearths the long-thought lost final reel of a classic undiscovered film, Jimmy (Charles Busch of Psycho Beach Party and Die, Mommie, Die!) and his social circle of obsessive collectors become entangled in an outrageous adventure to deliver it to the right hands before it is lost forever.
Includes post-film Q&A with co-writers / co-directors Charles Busch and Carl Andress
PSYCHO BEACH PARTY (2000)
Director: Robert Lee King
Thursday, August 11, 9:45 p.m.
Chicklet is a sixteen-year-old tomboy who’s desperate to be part of the in-crowd of Malibu beach surfers. She’s the typical American girl – except for one little problem: her personality is split into more slices than a pepperoni pizza.
With a special introduction by writer and star Charles Busch
JEANNETTE
Director: Maris Curran
Friday, August 12, 4:30 p.m.
Queer, single mother, and bodybuilder Jeannette Feliciano – a survivor of the Pulse Nightclub shooting – believes that with strength comes an ability to show love even more. Taking a vérité approach, director Maris Curran works to create a window into one woman’s life—her strained relationship with her mother, her identity as a lesbian and mother to her teenage son, and her roots in Puerto Rico—in the aftermath of trauma.
Includes post-film Q&A with co-subject of the film Yvens Carrenard
YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER
Directors: Mark Slutsky, Sarah Watts
Friday, August 12, 7 p.m.
When lesbian teen Jaime is sent to live in a Jehovah’s Witness community, she falls hard for a devout Witness girl, and the two embark on an intense affair with consequences that will reshape the rest of their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS
Director: Juan Felipe Zuleta
Saturday, August 13, 12 p.m.
Peter is a flamboyant, misanthropic dwarf hiding from the world in his shabby New York City apartment. But an unexpected visit from his upbeat—and possibly unhinged—neighbor Winona forces him out of his shell and onto an impromptu road trip. Their destination? What she believes to be the site of an upcoming alien visitation in the wilderness of rural Canada. On their increasingly surreal odyssey, Peter and Winona will encounter bickering lesbian cosplayers, shroom-addled survivalists, and even extraterrestrial highway cops. But the further they go and the more their trauma comes to light, it becomes clear that the only thing more nerve-wracking than being abducted is being alone in the universe.
MAMA BEARS
Director: Daresha Kyi
Saturday, August 13, 2:15 p.m.
Spread across the country but connected through private Facebook groups, they call themselves “mama bears” because while their love is warm and fuzzy, they fight ferociously to make the world kinder and safer for all LGBTQ+ people. Mama Bears is an intimate exploration of two conservative, Christian mothers who have become fierce advocates for LGBTQ+ people – and a young lesbian whose struggle for self-acceptance exemplifies why the mama bears movement is so vital.
Includes post-film Q&A with director Daresha Kyi
SHORTS PROGRAM
Saturday, August 13, 4:45 p.m.
Films and presentations include Leaf Lieber’s My Dear Boy, Matt Nadel, and Megan Plotka’s CANS Can’t Stand, Christine Zivic’s D for Daughter, Hannah Saidiner’s My Parent Neal, Arun Fulara’s My Mother’s Girlfriend, Hao Zhou’s Frozen Out, Jackson Kroopf, and Nasir Bailey’s Nasir, and Matt Porter’s Unicorn.
Includes post-film Q&A with directors Leaf Lieber, Matt Nadel, and Christine Zivic
FRAMING AGNES
Director: Chase Joynt
Saturday, August 13, 7:00 p.m.
After discovering case files from a 1950s gender clinic, a cast of trans actors turn a talk show inside out to confront the legacy of a young trans woman forced to choose between honesty and access. Framing Agnes uses re-enactment and genre-blurring storytelling techniques to breathe new life into previously unknown people who redefined gender in the midcentury.
ALL MAN: THE INTERNATIONAL MALE STORY
Directors: Bryan Darling, Jesse Finley Reed
Saturday, August 13, 7:30 p.m.
Narrated by Matt Bomer and featuring an all-star cast of celebrity stylists, fashion influencers, and comedic actors, All Man: The International Male Story is a nostalgic and colorful peek behind the pages and personalities of International Male, one of the most ubiquitous and sought-after mail-order catalogs of the ’80s and ’90s, and a journey across three decades of the catalog’s unlikely but lasting impact on fashion, masculinity, and sexuality in America.
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE BATHS (1975)
Director: David Buckley
Saturday, August 13, 9:40 p.m.
Hailed as “a great guilty pleasure that provides a peek at a nostalgic era of pre-AIDS gay liberation” by CinemaQueer, Saturday Night at the Baths follows a piano player trying to make it in the big city who re-examines his attitude toward the gay lifestyle after taking a job at the Continental Baths, one of New York’s most notorious gay hangouts. He finds that more than his attitudes shift.
New restoration!
BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY
Director: Jeffrey Schwarz
Sunday, August 14, 12 p.m.
Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley, two young songwriters and romantic partners, find themselves caught in movie star Gloria Swanson’s web when she hires them to write a musical version of Sunset Boulevard.
WILDHOOD
Director: Bretten Hannam
Sunday, August 14, 12:15 p.m.
A rebellious two-spirit teenager runs away from home to find his birth mother and reclaim his Mi’kmaw heritage.
VESTIDA DE AZUL (1983)
Director: Antonio Giménez Rico
Sunday, August 14, 2 p.m.
Spain, 1983. Several transgender sex workers that work the Madrid streets discuss their personal experiences. The camera follows their daily lives and lifts the lid on their vital and personal histories.
New restoration!
LOVING HIGHSMITH
Director: Eva Vitija
Closing Film – Sunday, August 14, 4:30 p.m.
Though most of Patricia Highsmith’s novels were adapted for the big screen, including Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley and the partly autobiographical Carol, Highsmith herself was forced to lead a double life and had to hide her vibrant love affairs from her family and the public. Focusing on her quest for love and her troubled identity, Loving Highsmith is a unique look at the life of American novelist Patricia Highsmith based on her diaries and notebooks and the intimate reflections of her lovers, friends and family.
Members of the press interested in covering the CinemaQ Film Festival may contact Ambriehl Turrentine at ambriehl@denverfilm.org or Marty Schechter at marty@schechterpr.com.
Sponsors
Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Consulate General of Canada, Eldorado, Elevate Yoga, Ken’s Print and Graphics, Ratio Beerworks, SCFD, The Center on Colfax, Visit Denver, Vizzy Hard Seltzer, William LaBahn
About Denver Film
Founded in 1978, Denver Film is a membership-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural institution that produces film events throughout the year, including the award-winning Denver Film Festival and the popular, summertime series Film on the Rocks. With a vision to cultivate community and transform lives through film, Denver Film provides opportunities for diverse audiences to discover film through creative, thought-provoking experiences.
The permanent home of Denver Film, the Sie FilmCenter is Denver’s only year-round cinematheque, presenting a weekly-changing calendar of first-run exclusives and arthouse revivals both domestic and foreign, narrative and documentary – over 600 per year, all shown in their original language and format. Denver Film’s one-of-a-kind programs annually reach more than 200,000 film lovers and film lovers-in-training.
