SHORTS PROGRAMS

Scary Monsters And Super Creeps

THURSDAY | JULY 20 | 9:45PM | DGA 2

Imagine, if you will, a world where people are demonized for the people they sleep with or what they do with their bodies. Imagine a world where the lives of queer people were made materially more difficult by the hatred and closed-mindedness of the world around them. It seems too silly to be true, too overwrought —and yet these short films explore the ways queer people, queer stories, and queerness itself can inspire the fantastical, the otherworldly, and the nightmarish. From a ghost out to ruin a couple’s domestic bliss, to a terrifying tale based on a monster from Dominican folklore, to a sex doll who takes more than it can give, this collection of films stretch the limits of what queer stories can be.

Do Digital Curanderas Use Eggs In Their Limpias? (Dir. Roberto Fatal) 14 Min. Gianna (Dir. Kait Schuster) 11 Min. He Watches (Dir. Joshua Conkel) 14 Min. IMOAN (Dir. Catherine Kelleher) 13 Min. Interdimensional Pizza Portal (Dir. Aron Kantor) 5 Min. original skin (Dir. Mdhamiri á Nkemi) 12 Min. The Ciguapa (Dir. Blaine Morris) 14 Min. You Can Stay Over (If You Want) (Dir. Zach Siegel) 11 Min.

SEX! NOW THAT WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION…

SATURDAY | JULY 15 | 9:30PM | DGA 2

Perhaps you’ve heard the question asked recently: why aren’t movies horny anymore?! While sensuality and eroticism haven’t totally disappeared from movie screens, there’s no question that the push toward mass appeal in mainstream cinema nowadays has massively depleted onscreen portrayals of a crucial component in adult relationships: sex! In this collection of erotically-charged shorts, we’ll explore stories that intricately weave sexual connection into the fabric of their narratives, proving that a great sex scene is not gratuitous or extraneous to the plot...it’s necessary! And good! Provocative and frank depictions of human sexuality have long been celebrated in queer cinema, and the filmmakers in this block carry on that torch proudly with humor, heart, bawdiness, and even a little melancholy. Enjoy!

Come Clean (Dir. Sal Bardo) 13 Min. Cowboy, Choker, Harness & Heart (Dir. Nicolas Blanco, Julia Ponce Diaz) 8 Min. Dilating For Maximum Results (Dir. Nyala Moon) 14 Min. Priorities (Dir. Tamara Lucarini Cortés) 18 Min. Puck (Dir. Rebecca Ozer) 12 Min. SoftSign (Dir. Victoria Uchitel) 24 Min. Wet Hair (Dir. Julian Dieterich) 6 Min.

She Works Hard For The Money

It’s the oldest job in the world–and it’s also the queerest. Stories of sex workers and sex work are too often reduced to familiar narratives of tragedy or redemption. But we’ve all seen enough financial advice columns detailing how best to sell feet pics on OnlyFans to know that’s not true (haven’t we…?). This short film program mines the humor, nuance, banality, and—of course—labor of sex work to showcase sex workers as they are: from people striving to maintain in a late-capitalist nightmare world, to ambitious young doms out to impress their bossy headmistress, to naturalistic portraits of sugar babies, to young cam-girls suddenly desperate when the Feds seize her safest means of income.

SATURDAY | JULY 15 | 1:30PM | REDCAT

Blond Night (Dir. Gabrielle Demers) 17 Min. Daddy Issues (Dir. Matt Campanella, Stephanie Chloé Hepner) 5 Min. GiveItToMe (Dir. Courtney Hope Therond) 9 Min. Lady Los Angeles (Dir. Antonia Crane) 14 Min. Side Hustle (Dir. Abby Harri) 15 Min. The Audition (Dir. Chels Morgan) 16 Min. Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie (Dir. Nicole Bazuin) 10 Min.

Soulful Whimsy

FRIDAY | JULY 21 | 5:00PM | DGA 1

This BIPOC-centered cinematic score evokes introspection, magick, and irreverence. Always leaning toward joy and authenticity, These poignant stories span generations with a sprinkling of sparkle and a dash of sexy. These fantastical and fanciful shorts—from the heartwarming story of a young adult trying to protect her gender nonconforming nephew, to an uplifting portrait of chosen family in New York’s drag and ballroom scene, to a baby who leaves a precious gift in the most unexpected place—will have your eyes watering and your heart swelling with queer joy.

Curated by Outfest Fusion Storytelling Artist-in-Residence Dalila Ali Rajah

Adore (Dir. Beth Warrian) 11 Min. El Dance-Off (Dir. Nicolás Keller Sarmiento) 13 Min. Her Curve (Dir. Stacy Jill Calvert, Jaclyn Chessen) 6 Min. Hex the Patriarchy (Dir. Anne Brashier) 6 Min.

I Am Poem (Dir. Maite Bonilla) 15 Min. MnM (Dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon) 15 Min. Sis (Dir. Miranda Haymon) 14 Min. Wonders (Dir. Huriyyah Muhammad) 16 Min.

The Subtle Power Of The High Femme

SUNDAY | JULY 16 | 2:00PM | REDCAT

Though it is often policed inside and outside of queer spaces, femininity holds a reverent power. This collection of narrative and documentary films shows us how precious and powerful those who have chosen to wield this power can be. Society may have told them that their exultant femininity is a liability, but the high femmes in these films know that all they need to do is bat their eyes, coo their voice, strut their stuff—and the room is theirs. Easy.

Curated by Outfest Fusion Multidisciplinary Artist-in-Residence Star Amerasu

An Avocado Pit (Dir. Ary Zara) 20 Min. Dismantle Me (Dir. Max Disgrace) 13 Min. House of Tulip (Dir. Cydney Tucker) 23 Min.

I Guess... (Dir. Star Amerasu, Aimee Hoffman) 5 Min. Smooth (Dir. Sepand (Sepi) Mashiahof) 20 Min.

Your Body Changes Everything

We want, therefore we are. Our desires define us. They shape the way we move through the world, and the way the world interacts with us. But because of the complexity and nuance of queer life, these feelings are often forced just out of grasp, into a space of fleeting, transforming impermanence. We yearn, and it redraws our very relationship with the objects of our desires, as well as our memories of what and how we want. These films offer an intrinsic investigation into our queer desires that, inflected with culture, tradition, timing, spaces between, imagination, and nationhood, help us see ourselves anew.

SUNDAY | JULY 16 | 11:30AM | REDCAT

Dear Pierangelo (Dir. Antti Holma) 8 Min. Mooncake (Dir. Rraine Hanson) 11 Min. Thaw (Dir. Alex Bush) 17 Min. The Sketch (Dir. Tomas Cali) 10 Min. When There Were Trees (Dir. Shahin Gorgani) 22 Min.

默 (To Write from Memory) (Dir. Emory Chao Johnson) 18 Min.

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