22nd North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Fest Starts Thursday

One of the nation’s most respected festivals for LGBTQ cinema for more than two decades, the North Carolina Gay + Lesbian Film Festival (NCGLFF) returns to the Carolina Theatre of Durham this Thursday through Sunday (August 10-13) with 148 films from 24 countries, including 126 shorts and 22 features.

Ten-Passes, which enable guests to choose 10 film screenings at NCGLFF, and tickets to individual screenings are on sale now at the Carolina Theatre box office, ncglff.org and carolinatheatre.org for $85 and $10 respectively. go on sale Friday, July 21 for $85

The Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau named the NCGLFF a Signature Event for Durham, the highest honor bestowed on a cultural event or attraction by the organization. The second largest gay, lesbian and transgender film festival in the Southeast, NCGLFF has attracted thousands of filmmakers, artists and fans to downtown Durham each year since it was founded in 1995 as the Q Film Fest. The festival was dubbed the NCGLFF in 1996.

The 2017 NCGLFF will feature four days of curated cinematic excellence celebrating gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer life. Select films will be part of the NCGLFF Apres-Fest and re-screen Monday, August 14 through Thursday, August 17.

Among the most-anticipated films selected for this year’s festival:

• Opening Night Film!
  HELLO AGAIN (US, 105 min.)
  Where does sex end and love begin? When do fantasy and reality diverge? Bringing together stars of stage and screen, Tom Gustafson (Were the World Mine) brings us the highly anticipated gender-bending film adaptation of Michael LaChiusa’s 1994 musical, Hello Again, inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s landmark play Der Reigen and Max Ophüls’s subsequent Oscar-nominated film, La Ronde. Martha Plimpton leads a star-studded cast that also includes Cheyenne Jackson, T.R. Knight, Rumer Willis, Jenna Ushkowitz, and the most lauded performer on Broadway, six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald.
• Women’s Centerpiece Film!
  SIGNATURE MOVE (US, 80 min.)
  In wrestling, the right signature move can take years to develop. And thirty-something Zaynab — a closeted, Muslim lawyer who takes up wrestling — quickly learns that she lacks the right technique and experience…on and off the mat.
• Men’s Centerpiece Film!
  A VERY SORDID WEDDING (US, 109 min)
  It’s 2015, 17 years after family matriarch Peggy tripped over G.W.’s wooden legs in Sordid Lives, and life has moved into the present for the residents of Winters, Texas. In the wake of the Supreme Court decision in favor of marriage equality, the Sordid saga continues.
• AFTER LOUIE (US, 101 min.)
  After Louie explores the contradictions of modern gay life and history through Sam (Alan Cumming), a man desperate to understand how he and his community got to where they are today. As an AIDS activist and member of ACT UP in the 1980s and 90s, Sam witnessed the deaths of too many friends and lovers. Battle-wounded and struggling with survivor’s guilt, Sam now resents the complacency of his former comrades and derides what he sees as the younger generation’s indifference to the politics of sex, and of death.
• DICKINSON AVENUE: THE (MOSTLY) TRUE STORY OF THE PADDOCK CLUB (US, 90 min)
  The Paddock Club was the first place in eastern North Carolina where LGBT people could be themselves. Whether it was hosting a small gathering of friends, or a Broadway-sized drag pageant; for 30 years it was home to a lot of people, and they always thought it would be there. Opened in 1973, it survived the brutal homophobia of the south, the AIDS crisis, the gay-coming-of-age that was the 90s, and when it finally closed in December of 2003, it was one of the longest-running, continually operating LGBT businesses in America.
• THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON
  Marsha P. Johnson was a pioneering LGBT+ rights campaigner in New York City from the 1960s onwards. She was a key figure in the 1969 Stonewall riots, and was known for her kindness and charitable nature as much as she was known for her striking drag looks. Marsha died in 1992 at the age of 46. Her body was found floating in New York’s Hudson River. While Marsha’s death was ruled a suicide, her friends have been trying to re-open the case to discover the truth.
• Free Family Film — SATURDAY, AUGUST 12
  Starting at 9 a.m., families are encouraged to stop by our lobby for fun, games and table activities. Free popcorn and soda will be provided to all who attend. The film starts at 11 a.m.
  THE LAND BEFORE TIME (1988, G, 70 min.)
  A group of orphaned dinosaurs, led by young brontosaurus Littlefoot, set out on a journey to the legendary Great Valley in this animated children’s adventure. The group of ancient beasts faces countless challenges along the way, including vicious predators and harsh nature.

All films will screen at the Carolina Theatre, using the historic venue’s 1,000-seat Fletcher Hall; the 226-seat Cinema One and the 49-seat Cinema Two.

In addition to the film programming, NCGLFF will feature three invitation-only events: a VIP OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION on Thursday, August 10 in the Connie Moses Ballroom; an ARTISTS LUNCHEON on Saturday, August 12 in the Connie Moses Ballroom and an ARTIST/DONOR CLOSING NIGHT RECEPTION on Sunday, August 13 in the Connie Moses Ballroom.

NEW THIS YEAR

NCGLFF guests who don’t want to miss any of the festival’s films can purchase sandwiches from Durham’s own Toast Paninoteca at the Carolina Theatre’s concession stands. On the menu: Italian Herb-Roasted Ham with house dill pickles, dijon, and provolone; Chicken Salad Sandwiches; Egg Salad Sandwiches; Chicken Salads; Peanut Butter and Jelly and Side Salads.

As it has since 1995, the North Carolina Gay + Lesbian Film Festival will once again screen the very best in LGBTQ cinema at the historic Carolina Theatre in downtown Durham from Aug. 10-13. Don’t miss it