Reverend’s Preview: Get Your Flicks On at the 2010 Q Film Festival

As a first-time member of the programming committee for the Long Beach Q Film Festival — or for any film festival, for that matter — it was a daunting task to go through nearly 100 submissions from all over the world for this year’s fest, which will run October 7-10 at the Art Theater and The Center Long Beach. Having done so, I can assure readers that the 8 feature films and 23 shorts to be screened over those four days are the absolute best of the best and not to be missed.

Here’s a full rundown of the festival schedule:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7th
7:00 PM: A MARINE STORY at the Art Theatre. The Long Beach premiere of this timely drama about a lesbian officer discharged from the military under the flawed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was a multiple award-winner at this summer’s Outfest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. It will be preceded by the world premiere of a music video, MARRY ME, by Long Beach-based filmmaker Camrin Pitts, and followed by Q&A with filmmakers and cast members.
8:15-10:15PM: OPENING NIGHT PARTY at The Center Long Beach.
9:15 PM: UNDERTOW (CONTRACORRIENTE) at the Art Theatre, preceded by the MARRY ME music video.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8th
5:00 PM: Transgender Program at The Center Long Beach with the feature THY WILL BE DONE, a powerful documentary about a transgender woman striving to become an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. It will be preceded by the moving short film REMEMBER ME IN RED and followed by Q&A with filmmakers and local clergy members.
7:00 PM: MEN IN BRIEFS: PROGRAM 1 at The Center Long Beach, featuring the short films JOHNNY & LYMAN: A LIFE TOGETHER, an inspiring documentary; GAYSHARKTANK.COM, a hilarious exposé of hooking up in the Internet age featuring Coco Peru among other familiar faces; A MACHINE BELOVED, a hard-to-describe but extremely stylish sci-fi romance; and REMEMBER ME IN RED. Seating in The Center’s screening room is limited, so the program will be repeated at 9:00 pm.
9:00 PM: Repeat of MEN IN BRIEFS: PROGRAM 1 at The Center Long Beach.
11:30 PM: The big-screen Long Beach premiere of ZMD: ZOMBIES OF MASS DESTRUCTION at the Art Theatre. I was fortunate to catch this horror-comedy, in which a gay couple must lead the effort against an uprising of the undead, at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. It’s smart, gory, funny and totally gay.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9th
1:00 PM: Bisexual Program at the Art Theatre with the feature ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME…, compiled from the acclaimed web series, and followed by Q&A with the filmmaker and cast members.
2:15 PM: MEN IN BRIEFS: PROGRAM 2 at the Art Theatre, featuring the remarkable gay-themed short films BEDFELLOWS, LITTLE LOVE, YOU CAN’T CURRY LOVE, 306 and OUTPOST, followed by Q&A with filmmakers and cast members.
3:30-5:30 PM: SHORTS PARTY at The Center Long Beach
4:30 PM: WOMEN’S SHORTS Program at the Art Theatre, featuring the extraordinary lesbian-oriented films MS. THING, MEESKEIT, ORDINARY GIRL, OUR WEDDING, DOOR PRIZE, A SQUARE WITH THREE SIDES and CRIED SUICIDE, followed by Q&A with filmmakers and cast members.
7:00 PM: SWIMMING WITH LESBIANS, a revealing feature documentary about the GLBT community on the East Coast of the US, at The Center Long Beach, preceded by the short film DOOR PRIZE.
9:00 PM: OUT IN THE SILENCE, an award-winning feature documentary, at The Center Long Beach, preceded by the short film NOCHE SIN LUNA and followed by Q&A with the filmmakers.
11:30 PM: Special community viewing of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE with guest host Jane Lynch on the big screen of the Art Theatre. Admission is free; donations to support The Center Long Beach will be accepted.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10th
12:40 PM: ON THESE SHOULDERS WE STAND, the award-winning feature documentary about the early years of LA County’s GLBT community, at the Art Theatre, followed by Q&A with director Glenne McElhinney and participants.
2:45 PM: LAUGH YOUR SHORTS OFF Program at the Art Theatre, featuring the hysterical short films CHICO’S ANGELS: 24ISH; CRIED SUICIDE; PURGATORY, INC.; RUBDOWN; PRETTY and GO GO REJECT, and followed by Q&A with the filmmakers and cast members.
5:00 PM: ROLE/PLAY, the festival’s Closing Film, at the Art Theatre. This gay, romantic drama about a closeted soap opera star and a leader in the same-sex marriage movement who meet at a Palm Springs resort has gained attention at festivals from coast to coast. Writer-Director Rob Williams and stars Matthew Montgomery and Steve Callahan plan to attend.
6:30 PM: CLOSING NIGHT PARTY at The Center Long Beach, featuring the ROLE/PLAY filmmakers and cast members.

Q Film Festival ticket prices range from $5-$15 for individual screenings and parties. An All Fest pass, which allows admission into all screenings and parties, will cost $120. An All Film pass, allowing admittance into all screenings but not parties, is $85. Tickets and passes are available for purchase through The Center Long Beach website as well as through the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride website.

Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride, Inc., producer of the annual Long Beach LGBT Pride Festival and Parade, is co-presenting this year’s Q Film Festival with The Center Long Beach for the first time. All net proceeds from the festival will benefit The Center Long Beach and Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride. For additional information about the festival or individual films, please visit the Q Film Festival's official site.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.