Denver’s premier gay film festival, CinamaQ returns this year from July 18 through 22 with 21 films plus a shorts screening. Now in its ninth year, the Denver Film Society event aims to showcase only the best of LGBTQ+ cinema. While celebrating queer film, the festival also pays tribute to gay modern and historical figures like McQueen at this year’s festival — a documentary and portrait of the life of fashion designer and icon Alexander McQueen. “CinemaQ continues to be the most powerful and provocative look at the state of queer cinema across the globe,” chief programmer, Keith Garcia said in a press release.
CinemaQ kicks off on July 18 with an opening night screening of The Miseducation of Cameron Post, a film based on the novel by the same title that tells a tale of a young woman forcibly placed into gay conversion therapy. The film stars Chloe Grace Moretz (Carrie, Let Me In, The 5th Wave, If I Stay) but Moretz isn’t the only star featured on this year’s CinemaQ lineup. Paul Rudd stars in the closing night film Ideal Home and Molly Shannon tackles a comedic role of Emily Dickinson in Wild Nights With Emily. Other film screenings at CinemaQ includes documentaries about a gay Holocaust survivor (On My Way Out: The Secret Life of Nani and Popi), trans members of the armed forces (Transmilitary) and another that chronicles the history of the oldest LGBT charity organization in the world (50 Years of Fabulous). The festival lineup also features a shorts package, a “High Fashion Party” after the screening of McQueen and more.
Check out the full 2018 CinemaQ Lineup below as provided by Denver Film Society. Passes are on sale now with individual tickets released June 19. For more information or to purchase your pass go here.
THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST
Directors: Desiree Akhavan / USA
Screens Wednesday, July 18 at 7 p.m.
Based on the celebrated novel by Emily M. Danforth, The Miseducation of Cameron Post follows Cameron (Chloe Grace Moretz) as she is sent to a gay conversion therapy center after getting caught with another girl in the back seat of a car on prom night.
Opening night – Reception immediately following the film in Henderson’s Lounge.
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1985
Director: Yen Tan / USA
Screens Thursday, July 19 at 7 p.m.
Inspired by the award-winning short film of the same name, 1985 follows Adrian (Cory Michael Smith), a closeted young man returning to his Texas hometown for Christmas during the first wave of the AIDS crisis.
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WE THE ANIMALS
Director: Jeremiah Zagar / USA
Screens Thursday, July 19 at 9 p.m.
Based on the celebrated Justin Torres novel, We Are the Animals is a visceral coming-of-age story propelled by strikingly layered performances from its astounding cast, elements of magical realism, and unbelievable animated sequences.
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QUEERAMA
Director: Daisy Asquith / UK
Screens Friday, July 20 at 4:00pm
Queerama is a film created from the treasure trove of BFI archive. The story traverses a century of gay experiences, encompassing persecution and prosecution, injustice, love and desire, identity, secrets, forbidden encounters, sexual liberation and pride.
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HARD PAINT
Director: Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon / Brazil
Screens Friday, July 20 at 7 p.m.
Set in Brazil’s southern city of Porto Alegre, the film focuses on a socially repressed young man who only comes out of his shell during chatroom performances, when he strips and smears neon paints on his lithe body. Winner of the prestigious Teddy Award for best LGBTQ film at the Berlinale Film Festival.
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DYKES, CAMERA, ACTION!
Director: Caroline Berler / USA
Screens Friday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Filmmakers Barbara Hammer, Su Friedrich, Rose Troche, Cheryl Dunye, Yoruba Richen, Desiree Akhavan, Vicky Du, film critic B. Ruby Rich, Jenni Olson, and others share moving and often hilarious stories from their lives and discuss how they’ve expressed queer identity through film.
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SHORTS PACKAGE
Screens Saturday, July 21 at 2 p.m.
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THE LAYOVER
Narrative Short / Director: Ashley Connor, Joe Stankus / USA
After being delayed at the airport, a flight attendant hurries home to commemorate a meaningful anniversary.
ARE WE GOOD PARENTS?
Narrative Short / Director: Bola Ogun / USA
When Lauren and Bill’s 14-year-old daughter says she’s going to her first dance with her classmate Ryan, they welcome the news with excitement…and hesitation. Lauren and Bill always assumed their daughter was gay, in the same way that most parents assume their child is straight (until given notice).
THE THINGS YOU THINK I’M THINKING
Narrative Short / Director: Sherren Lee / Canada
A black male burn-survivor and amputee goes on a date with a regularly-abled man. After the bar, they go back to his apartment, where he faces his demons as he attempts to experience intimacy for the first time since his accident, ten years ago.
THE SERMON
Narrative Short / Director: Dean Puckett / UK
In an isolated church community in the English countryside, a powerful hate preacher prepares to deliver a sermon to his flock, but his daughter has a secret that could destroy them all.
I LIKE GIRLS
Narrative Short / Director: Diane Obomsawin / Canada
First love is an intoxicating experience, but with it can come excruciating awkwardness, unrequited emotions, and confusing issues of identity. In her trademark playful style, Quebec cartoonist and animator Diane Obomsawin, a.k.a. Obom, adapts her latest graphic novel for the screen.
ON MY WAY OUT: THE SECRET LIFE OF NANI AND POPI
Documentary Short / Director: Brandon Gross, Skyler Gross / USA
Having survived the Holocaust, Nani and Popi raised a family in America, endeared themselves to a wide circle of friends, and built a successful business. Now at age 95, a deeply-held secret is revealed: Popi is gay, and finally free to explore his identity and seek the companionship he craves.
TRANSMILITARY
Director: Fiona Dawson, Gabriel Silverman / USA / Jordan
Screens Saturday, July 21 at 4:30 p.m.
Around 15,500 transgender people serve in the U.S. military (notably the largest transgender employer in the U.S.), where they must conceal their gender identity because military policies ban their service. TransMilitarychronicles the lives of four individuals (Senior Airman Logan Ireland, Corporal Laila Villanueva, Captain Jennifer Peace & First Lieutenant El Cook) defending their country’s freedom while fighting for their own.
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MCQUEEN
Director: Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui / UK
Screens Saturday, July 21 at 7 p.m.
A personal look at the extraordinary life, career and artistry of Alexander McQueen. Through exclusive interviews with his closest friends and family, recovered archives, exquisite visuals and music, McQueen is an authentic celebration and thrilling portrait of an inspired yet tortured fashion visionary.
Centerpiece – High Fashion Party immediately following the film in Henderson’s Lounge.
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WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY
Director: Madeleine Olnek / USA
Screens Saturday, July 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Molly Shannon plays Emily Dickinson in the dramatic comedy Wild Nights with Emily. The poet’s persona, popularized since her death, became that of a reclusive spinster – a delicate wallflower, too sensitive for this world. This film explores her vivacious, irreverent side that was covered up for years — most notably Emily’s lifelong romantic relationship with another woman.
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GOOD MANNERS
Director: Marco Dutra, Juliana Rojas / Brazil
Screens Saturday, July 21 at 9:30 p.m.
Set in São Paulo, the film follows Clara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of the city who is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana to be the nanny of her soon to be born child. Against all odds, the two women develop a strong bond, but a fateful night marked by a full moon changes their plans.
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EVERY ACT OF LIFE
Director: Jeff Kaufman / USA
Screens Sunday, July 22 at 12 p.m.
Every Act of Life profiles world-renowned playwright Terrence McNally’s pioneering 5-decade career in the theater, focusing on the struggle for LGBT rights and his pursuit of love and inspiration at every age. Featuring Angela Lansbury, F. Murray Abraham, Larry Kramer, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, Stanley Tucci, and many more.
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EDWARD II
Director: Derek Jarman / UK
Screens Sunday, July 22 at 2:15 p.m.
In this version of Christopher Marlowe’s Elizabethan drama, Plantagenet king Edward II hands the power-craving nobility the perfect excuse by taking as lover besides his diplomatic wife, the French princess Isabel, not an acceptable lady at court but the ambitious Piers Gaveston, who uses his favor in bed even to wield political influence – the stage is set for a palace revolt which sends the gay pair from the throne to a terminal torture dungeon.
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50 YEARS OF FABULOUS
Director: Jethro Patalinghug / US
Screens Sunday, July 22 at 4 p.m.
50 Years of Fabulous recounts the rich history of the Imperial Council, the oldest LGBT charity organization in the world. Founded in San Francisco by renowned activist, drag queen and performer José Sarria, the Council has helped shaped LGBT life and social history in San Francisco and beyond throughout the last five decades. Sarria was also the first openly gay man to run for political office in the United States in 1961.
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IDEAL HOME
Director: Andrew Fleming / USA
Screens Sunday, July 22 at 7:15 p.m.