Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival 2022

Welcome to the 22nd Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival!

We're back! Join us to WATCH QUEER FILMS—an all-new collection designed to delight and inspire, while maintaining our commitment to highlighting stories of marginalized and underrepresented LGBTQIA+ artists. This year that amounts to 75 lms from 20 countries, each dedicated to unique and authentic storytelling, shining a light on one or more facets of the queer prism.

2022 marks the 22nd year of the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival and the second year in which we present it as a hybrid event featuring dual lm-viewing capabilities: in-person screenings and digital streaming. We are thrilled to return to our new live event home, Kan-Kan Cinema and Brasserie on the near eastside of Indianapolis. Everyone at Kan-Kan has been incredibly supportive. We're grateful that we can share this movie-going experience with our lm-loving community.

Let's remember the benefactor of our proceeds: Indiana Youth Group, best known as IYG. It remains  the longest-running LGBTQ youth organization in the entire country. For more than 30 years, IYG has provided safe spaces and vital support for thousands of LGBTQ youth in our state. To learn more about this critically important organization and why we are honored to continue to support it, please visit IndianaYouthGroup.org.

On behalf of everyone involved—from our hard-working steering committee to the  lmmakers, writers and actors, to all our loyal sponsors, and adoring audiences, we sincerely thank you for supporting the 2022 Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. And now—on with the show!

Matt Mutchmore | Director

Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival

Festival Selection Chairs

Ted Letherer

Petra Fippen

Festival Steering Committee

Michael Barclay

Mickey Rogers

Royce Cole Jr.

Pam Powell Director

Matthew Mutchmore Website

Tracy Robbins Smith

Special Thanks

These six lms are our nominees for the 2022 Best of Festival Awards. The winners are selected by our panel of judges and announced online at the end of the festival.

ESS MCKEE

Artist, Illustrator, and Creator of Things, Teacher at Regeneration Indy, and Designer/Proprietor of Inaz Dezign LLC

SYLVIA THOMAS

Poet, Writer, Actor, Blogger, Activist

DANIEL ARTHUR JACOBSON Programming Director, Kan-Kan Cinema

We stand with the people of color and trans members of our community for justice and equity. As

LGBTQIA+ people, we feel it is vital that we advocate for a world where no one is subject to acts of violence simply for being who they are. Recognizing the importance of representation and visibility, we have chosen to use our platform to highlight marginalized and underrepresented LGBTQIA+ artists. The stories told by these incredibly talented women, transgender, indigenous, people with disabilities, and people-of-color creators are vital, brilliant, and important. We believe in the transformative power of film to create empathy and dialogue for change.

11, 8:00PM—KAN-KAN STREAMING NOVEMBER 14 -15

It started with a cavalcade of nude muscle hunks before it hit the streets in protest! With playful lms like Sex and the Single Gay and Ron and Chuck in Disneyland Discovery, lmmaker and entertainer Pat Rocco’s gay erotica made a splash in the late 1960s and early 70s, with Playboy dubbing him the “King of the Nudies.” Soon after, the pioneer would refocus his radical vision beyond his artistic and sensual portraits of male bodies and onto queer liberation.

In this exploration of Rocco’s work and life—which features lovingly restored versions of some of Rocco’s rarest lms— lmmaker Charlie David sits down with Rocco for exclusive interviews prior to his death in 2018. Ever the good-natured showman, Rocco’s candid talks reveal the daring personality required to create work that valued, desired, and celebrated queer bodies when popular culture labeled them as shameful, revealing this to be a vital record of an unforgettable trailblazer.

Activist, artist, lmmaker, and entertainer Pat Rocco’s legendary career spanned decades, encompassing nude male erotic lms and documentaries that bore witness to crucial moments in queer history, including speeches by Harvey Milk.

Directors: Morris Chapdelaine, Bob Christie | Canada | Documentary | 89 Minutes

MAMA BEARS

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12, 1:00PM—KAN-KAN STREAMING NOVEMBER 14 -15

In Texas, Kimberly overhears her four-year-old Kai praying for God to take her home to Jesus rather than having to live as a boy. In Oklahoma, Sara is bedridden and cries for days after her son Parker comes out. In California, as her daughter Tammi decides to allow herself to nd love with another woman after wrestling with 33 years of religious guilt, Tenita is taking the rst steps to understanding. Across the country, there are over 30,000 “Mama Bears” who work to make the world kinder and safer for LGBTQ children of all ages. While they may come from strict religious upbringings and consider themselves devout Christians, the erce love they have for their queer and trans children is unwavering, pushing them to choose not to be hateful re ections of a loving God.

Director Daresha Kyi is un inching as she points her lens towards families whose faith has been challenged, documenting their journeys with care and empathy. Both intimate and thought-provoking, follow these mamas as they take their own brand of grassroots advocacy across the country, one hug at a time.

Director: Dareshi Kyi | USA | Documentary | 90 Minutes

Christian parents push against ingrained, religion-fueled prejudices to embrace their LGBTQ+ children as they combine faith with activism in this uplifting and vital documentary.

“Best” is always a relative term. The program we call “Best of Shorts” is our annual curation of short lms we think will make for a highly entertaining theatrical experience. From the streets of Taiwan to the back alleys of Paris, from the family table to the spirit world, from terrible dating experiences to an actress exploring the queerness of cinematic devotion, these shorts will take you on a memorable journey with something for everyone to enjoy. The lms that comprise this group can be found individually in the streaming program, but only once as a live event at Kan-Kan.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 13, 3:15PM—KAN-KAN

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12, 7:00PM—KAN-KAN STREAMING NOVEMBER 16 -17

For thirty-something Chrissy, that’s his best judy, Judy, an endearing but perpetually messy ride-or-die who’s always got more than a few cocktails in the tank.

Judy’s been described as many things: a free spirit, a day dreamer, a boy-crazy hot mess. But this is going to be the summer it all comes together for this ambitious, 30-something drag queen/cater-waiter and his best friend, Chrissy. That is, until Chrissy’s priorities suddenly shift, forcing a disillusioned Judy to examine his life and priorities as a queer artist, and rediscover himself in the process or risk becoming an irrelevant solo act, both onstage and off.

In striking black-and-white, director-writer-actor Todd Flaherty imbues Judy’s story with brilliant shades of heart and resilience to transform a misunderstood archetype into a tenacious superstar. Chrissy Judy explores the universal pain of breaking up with your best friends and questions, "What do you do when your chosen family no longer chooses you?"

Every gay guy has that one friend who can’t get their act together, but we can’t help but love them to pieces anyway.

Director: Todd Flaherty | USA | Drama | 96 Minutes

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13, 1:00PM—KAN-KAN STREAMING NOVEMBER 16 -17

As Max searches for meaning, rats turn into people (and back again), Max’s mother practices terrible jokes for an upcoming speech, priests question their faith, and the world on screen spirals into absurdity. Amid the citywide panic, his sisters Lena and Astrid nd themselves struggling with their own personal dramas. At the same time, an unrelated character, Sarah, tries to turn the hysteria to her nancial advantage. Narrating their tales is God who, inspired by the narrator in The Opposite of Sex, is gossipy, manipulative, and a bit of a jerk.

“I thought armageddon had a lot of comedic potential for a story about heartbreak and disappointment,” said director Kevin Hartford. “I set out to make a lm that ipped genre conventions, gayed them up, and made an audience laugh in shock and sympathy. The end result is Lemon Squeezy.” With shades of Todd Solondz and Spike Jonze, Hartford adds a future cult classic to the traditional coming-out narrative.

Devastated after his promposal is casually rejected, high school student Max deals with his grief by turning to religion, only to realize he may have unintentionally triggered a biblical apocalypse.

Director: Kevin Hartford | Canada | Comedy | 81 Minutes

COSMIC THINGS

A scientist creates a companion in the image of a man he's falling out of love with in S1NGULAR. In HIS EYES, Cleo nds the possibilities of genetic manipulation dif cult to resist. A lonely farmer gets inside THE BLACKNESS to redeem his platonic love. Sid resets the day trying to make sure everything is perfect in COMING OUT WITH THE HELP OF A TIME MACHINE. In KEEP/DELETE, two lovers undergo a procedure to have their entire relationship wiped from their brains. An alien telepathically calls for help, causing a grieving man to have hallucinations in STRANDED. Sinvergüenzilla visits Earth determined to experience her “FIRST KISS.”

FEATURE DRAMA

UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS

SUNDAY

13, 6:00PM—KAN-KAN STREAMING NOVEMBER 18 -19

Peter (New Amsterdam’s Matthew August Jeffers), an unemployed, curmudgeonly gay man with dwar sm is 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.

For his surprising and supremely entertaining rst feature, director Juan Felipe Zuleta provides a Lynchian touch to the unlikely duo’s journey—one lled with alien encounters, Perfume Genius songs, unexpected romantic suitors, and a love of 19th century Russian playwrights.

In this surreal, darkly humorous, and inventive American indie, two people whose worlds seem light-years away converge on an impromptu, border-defying road trip to nd their true places in the world…or out of it.

Director: Juan Felipe Zuleta | USA | Drama | 96 Minutes

THURSDAY

17, 7:00PM—KAN-KAN

NOVEMBER 18-19

Prepare to be amazed as all your favorite literary lesbians grace the screen in new interviews and magical archival footage in a superlative documentary that traces the journey of Sapphic writing from the last century.

In Her Words: 20th Century Lesbian Fiction documents the history and impact of lesbian ction from the 1920s through the 1990s. Few pages are left unturned as the story winds from The Well Of Loneliness to queer kids' books, via porn, crime, horror, and the lesbian pulp novel explosion that real-life lesbians radically co-opted. The memories, struggles, anecdotes, and triumphs come thick and fast as Alice Walker, Rita Mae Brown, Jewelle Gomez, and Sarah Waters join a sprawling cast who chart a triumphant literary tale.

Along the way, narrator Lillian Faderman recounts the impact of key world events on LGBTQ history throughout the decades. We learn how these world events helped shape the women's stories, and to what extent the stories were re ections of the authors’ own lives, as they looked for af rmation and their place in the world.

Directors: Lisa Marie Evans, Marianne K. Martin | USA | Documentary | 100 Minutes

A cable news star deals with one-of-a-kind career dilemma in BRUTAL. In A FOX IN THE NIGHT, Lewis puts his guard up when asked by a friend to pick up from his dealer. Cary’s birthday becomes a moment of reckoning in TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW. In TOGETHER/APART, Michael’s dissociations start becoming reality. Two young black men journey towards connection and spirituality in THE SPIRIT GOD GAVE US. Jon struggles to nd the right words in CLOVER. A mischievous teen explores an empty beach house, unaware of the video cameras in KISS ME. In CATALINA, a queer man and his two childhood best friends reunite for a weekend camping trip.

THE LADIES, Emma scrambles to hide an affair with her nosy family. FALLING is the sapphic experience of two people falling in love and falling apart. A straight-laced teen decides to step out of her comfort zone in FRUITY. Maja oats through life until one day a strange woman comes into her life in BLUE HOUR. In BETTER AT TEXTING, a radical feminist and a devout Mormon nd common ground. Ashley ghts to recover from her past trauma in FOREVER WAS NOW. In HIDDEN, Maureen investigates suspicious noises coming from her step-daughter’s bedroom. An angry Latinx dyke in her twenties wants to make the world a better place, but can barely keep her own life together in FERNANDA.

The magical TANK FAIRY deliveres gas to the home a dreamer in need of a glittery godmother. LIPSTICK OF THE BRAVE is a musical journey beyond the gender binary. A queer rapper must outwit his vengeful boss in F^¢K '€M R!GHT B@¢K. CODE

SWITCH illuminates the complexity of gender expression. Eli reluctantly alters their transmasculine identity in HEY MAN. EMBRACE is an animated look at accepting asexuality. HOW NOT TO DATE WHILE TRANS follows the dating life of a black trans woman. Two magnetic lovers traipse around the city in THE MAN OF MY DREAMS. THE ACTRESS in ltrates cinema history, embodying the queerness of cinephilic devotion.

SHORTS

Meet "America's hairstorian" Jeff Ha er INSIDE THE BEAUTY BUBBLE. A queer writer tells the joining a community league in SMALL CONGRATULATIONS. Based on love letters from WWII, THE LETTER MEN is a window into an untold story. SURVIVING VOICES—THE BLACK COMMUNITY & AIDS shows how AIDS still impacts black communities. CANS CAN’T STAND demonstrates how a Louisiana law has been weaponized. THE HOUSE OF LABEIJA continues to provide a safe space for queer people and ball culture in NYC. Learn the true story of NOLA’s last remaining gay leather bar in ORAL HISTORY. Joseph Patton’s closeted 1950s military service is the subject of A LIFE OF HONOR.

NIGHT MOVES

shows the two sides of coming out as a gay man. A middle-aged biker has an encounter with a group of young queer women in A WILD PATIENCE HAS TAKEN

. Lust lurks in a Paris alleyway in FOU DE BASSAN. Ultimate pleasures turn sour in SOS EXTASE. Encounter an impossible KISS in an era where physical contact is strictly forbidden. UP CLOSE shows an animated exhale of earthly hungers. An NYC hustler goes on a call with a much older man in LAST CALL. In BEAUTIFUL STRANGER, Romain is confronted by an obstinate Don Juan. Teenage Guillermo has become an expert at cruising guys at his local mall in DOORS CUT DOWN.

Newlyweds prepare for a pivotal moment in THE INTERVIEW. Two teens meet in the bathroom of a Chinese restaurant in LUCKY FISH. Polina comes out to her family in SHALL WE TALK? A queer Pakistani Muslim woman brings her Puerto Rican partner home for THE SYED FAMILY XMAS EVE GAME NIGHT. Parent and child share a secret in COMING HOME. Hungover Nick must conceal his boyfriend in TOO ROUGH. Richard’s dif cult mother disrupts their REUNION DINNER. A gay cis woman's father is surprisingly happy when she brings her transmasculine partner home in BOIFRIEND. In FOREIGN UNCLE, Sining and his partner accidentally come out while visiting his family in China.

IN NATURE, homosexuality isn't just a human story. A closeted student plans to lose his virginity to a stranger that he meets online in FIRSTS. A comedian is canceled after a controversial video goes viral in THE SKIN YOU DON’T WEAR. A genderqueer Trinidadian woman discovers the power of masquerade within them in TABANCA. BI THE WAY is an intimate animated lm about Amir’s journey as a bisexual cis man. The pandemic and an arranged marriage separates two Indian teenage girls in FRIENDSHIP. A Syrian crane operator works a very dangerous job, where he is able to nd his freedom in WARSHA.

A German wedding goes much differently than expected in TWO-HEADED CALVES.

In MOM, IF I WERE A VAMPIRE, Wen, an insecure teen becomes infatuated with Jo, the new girl in school. Jo and Wen are attacked, but when Wen accidentally tastes the blood of the attacker, her true nature takes over. In THE PARANORMAL COMMUNICATOR, a medium visits the murder site of a woman’s brother to uncover clues of his death, and maybe inadvertently out him. A bisexual man meets an attractive couple to explore the possibilities of life as a UNICORN, a drama free, emotionally non-threatening third. In THE HOUSE SITTERS, Annie agrees to house-sit for her grandma’s mysterious companion. Unfortunately for Annie, things take a sharp left turn.

A RUN FOR MORE

19-20

As a corporate executive, political campaigner, military spouse, and proud Latinx daughter of immigrants, Frankie Gonzales-Wolfe is used to ghting for other people’s causes. But when she decides to campaign as the rst trans woman to run for city council in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas, she faces a different kind of challenge—and this time it’s personal.

Filmed over four years, this moving documentary follows Frankie as she embarks on her 2019 campaign, drawing on the strength she needed when recovering from a pre-transition assault. Now happily married to a loving, supportive husband and surrounded by a loyal team of volunteers and friends, Frankie takes on the ght of her life. Shot in intimate cinema-vérité style, A Run for More follows Frankie’s political and personal journey of discovery throughout her historic campaign, and what she uncovers about herself along the way is as eye-opening as the reactions she receives from the community she hopes to represent.

One woman’s journey to becoming the rst openly elected transgender of cial in Texas, A Run for More immerses viewers in Frankie’s journey as she nds her voice, questions her relationship to the community, and tries to win an election.

Director: Ray Whitehouse | USA | Documentary | 82 Minutes

19-20

Two strangers meet in an apartment for a hookup, but the intention quickly becomes more. Too afraid to follow their hearts, Marcello and Herman decide to play a game, using ancient dice made of stone.

They establish six actions to perform, one for each side of the dice: telling an uncomfortable truth, doing something the other likes, inviting a third person, doing something blindfolded, leaving the apartment, and having sex.

Years go by while the gameplay continues. The con ict between the desire to be together and the fear of yet another failed relationship becomes intensi ed. Will they be able to nd the strength to make choices and break the vicious cycle they have entered or will the game continue until fate decides for them?

Director: Riccardo Tamburini | Italy, Spain | Drama | 100 Minutes

19-20

Millie Blake has always been a perfectionist. A soccer star and straight A student, her main focus is on her future. So receiving a month of community service at a local nursing home, after trying to break up a ght at school—not how she pictured the start of her senior year of high school.

To make matters worse, Millie is stuck at the nursing home with the instigator of the ght: Andy Wellick. She is another senior student, who is outspoken about her identity as a lesbian on the asexual spectrum. Initially, the two girls butt heads, but the tension quickly blossoms into friendship as they learn more about each other. As time goes on and Millie’s friendship with Andy grows into something more, she nds herself trying to nd the courage to nally show her true self to her friends and family. This coming of age, all-inclusive LGBTQ+ lm focuses on the self, sexuality, and how that plays out in one's community.

Director: Sam McCoy | USA | Drama | 80 Minutes