QUEER AS US SHORTS PROGRAM
Saturday, August 24, 2024 at 6:00 PM
SHORTS PROGRAM | 104 min
General Admission $10 | Student + Children $8

ASH WEDNESDAY
SHORT NARRATIVE | 17 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Grace O'Brien

When queer Catholic schoolgirl Bridget gets her period during Ash Wednesday Mass, she embarks on an odyssey with best friend Erin to find a tampon and make it back in time to get their ashes - or else they're suspended.

Director, Grace O'Brien

SOUL TIES
MUSIC VIDEO | 4 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Tiffaney Shanelle Thompson

"Soul Ties," is a captivating journey through Nejma Nefertiti's evolving artistry, exploring women's narratives in Hip Hop. The story delves deep into themes of love and soul connections, featuring 80 Empire on the hook.

Director, Tiffaney Shanelle Thompson

As an all around creative and entertainer, Hip-Hop artist, producer, engineer, photographer, videographer, director, editor, artist mentor, actor, and writer, Nor Kin4life effortlessly manages many hats.

AND YOU ARE...?
SHORT NARRATIVE | 18 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Alicia Coppola

And You Are...? is the most unlikely of buddy films: Lynn, a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer's only has the past to prove she exists. Her grandson Max, desperately wants to erase his past as it never proved his true existence.

Director, Alicia Coppola

Alicia Coppola is an actress, author, director, podcaster, producer, and writer with an illustrious career in entertainment spanning more than 30 years that includes starring and guest and recurring roles in numerous television series and appearances in feature, short and documentary films.

In 2018, Alicia wrote, directed, and starred in Between Us, a short film inspired by her book. Between Us has won Best Comedy/ Dramedy at the 2018 London Independent Film Festival, Best Short Narrative at the 2019 Artemis Women in Action Film Festival, and Best Short Narrative at The 2019 MyHero International Film Festival.

Alicia got her start in show business as a hostess on MTV’s inaugural game show Remote Control, working alongside the likes of Colin Quinn, Denis Leary, and Adam Sandler, while attending New York University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Anthropology and Philosophy.
Shortly after graduating, the Huntington, Long Island native originated the role of Lorna Devon on NBC’s long-running daytime drama Another World, for which she was twice-nominated for the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Younger Leading Actress, and won the award in 1993.

Alicia has starred in television series such as CBS’s Jericho, TNT’s Bull, NBC’s Cold Feet, and Trinity, to name a few. She has had recurring roles on CBS’s, NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles, ABC FAMILY’s Nine Lives Of Chloe King, and USA’s Common Law, among many other shows. She is highly recognizable for her roles on FX’s Sons Of Anarchy, CBS’s Criminal Minds, the iconic role of Talia Hale on MTV’s Teen Wolf, the Star Trek Voyager favorite Lt. Stadi, CBS’s CSI and Two And A Half Men, NBC’s Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Crossing Jordan, Showtime’s Shameless, USA’s Suits and the feature film National Treasure 2: Book Of Secrets and We Are Your Friends. Alicia was also profiled in the critically acclaimed Showtime documentary That Gal Who Was in That Thing, which chronicled the lives of several actresses who discuss the challenges they face in balancing their careers with the demands of their personal lives.

Alicia recently reprised her roles as FBI Special Agent Rand on NCIS Los Angeles and as Wanda Taylor on OWN’s All Rise. She co-starred in Lena Dunham’s critically acclaimed HBOMax Series Genera+ion. Alicia also appears in the highly regarded Paramount+ Television Series from Marc Cherry Why Women Kill, and also has starred as Dr. Ana Castillo in the CBS summer action/adventure blockbuster series Blood & Treasure and appeared as Meghan Conway of FOX’s Empire.

Alicia has also had a successful voice-over career as the tag voice of Acura, the voice of Kikkoman, Publix, the trailer of Pedro Almodovar’s Volver, and as “She Hulk” in the Iron Man games, to name just a few.

Among her considerable talents, Alicia is also an accomplished comedy writer and performer who has appeared regularly at Burbank’s Flappers Comedy Club and has even headlined her own show at New York City’s iconic comedy venue Carolines on Broadway.

A self-published author, Alicia’s book Gracefully Gone was released in 2013. It chronicles a decade-long dialogue with her father Matt as he lay dying from brain cancer and her struggles to grow up within that murky shadow. Gracefully Gone is a fusion of two journals, her father’s writings from his 1980 diagnosis until his 1983 remission and Alicia’s three-year journal as she cared for him until his passing.

Alicia is the creator, host, and producer of the BootStrapBitch Podcast, leading lively, entertaining, and inspirational discussions with notable personalities.

Alicia enthusiastically shares her love of and experiences in acting with young hopefuls as a professor at UCLA’s Professional Acting School.

Alicia contributes her talents and support to a variety of non-profit organizations and causes that deal with the LGBTQ+ youth community, aspiring actors, and family grief counseling among other interests.

She is the Co-Founder of TRANSMissionMoms, an organization created to increase sensitivity and awareness of medical providers and educators who work with LGBTQ+ youth. Alicia also sits on the Advisory Board of The Lollipop Theater Network bringing blockbuster films, celebrities, and artists to ill children in hospitals across the nation. She is a Global Ambassador for The Elizabeth Kübler Ross Foundation and sits on the Board of Directors for HealGrief and Actively Moving Forward (AMF).

Alicia currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their three children.

PARKER AND THE GREEN DRESS
SHORT NARRATIVE | 23 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Kristen Wolf

A queer teen is torn between prom dreams and the fear of disappointing her grandmother. A chance encounter with an elderly woman, who harbors her own hidden truth, sparks a journey of mutual discovery. Together they confront the secrets that shape their lives. Can they embrace their truths before time runs out?

Director, Kristen Wolf

Kristen Wolf is an award-winning novelist and filmmaker. Her short films have been Official Selections at over 60+ festivals worldwide. Sparkle, her debut, won multiple awards including Toronto International Women Film Festival's Best LGBTQ+ Short, Phoenix Film Festival's Best LGBTQ+ Directed Short, WorldFest Houston Best Short Film Finalist and Paris' La Femme International Film Festival's Best Female Director.

Most recently she was selected as a 2024 Emerging LGBTQ+ Voice by Lambda Literary.

Her debut novel, The Way: A Girl Who Dared to Rise, was hailed by The OPRAH Magazine as “A Title To Pick Up Now!” Her second novel, Escapement: An Exquisite Tale of Love and Passion, earned multiple honors including the IPPY, IAN, NIEA and BIBA awards.

Wolf also served as an executive producer on the queer breakout documentary, Beyond the Aggressives (NYT Critic's Pick, GLAAD Outstanding Documentary Award winner, streaming now on Paramount+ w/ Showtime), and as co-producer on the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Broadway hit, A Strange Loop.

SAFETY STATE
SHORT NARRATIVE | 15.5 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Jeanette L. Buck

In the dystopian near future, a gay and a lesbian couple form an unlikely friendship as they flee the midwest for safety in New England.

As rights are being rolled back and travel bans are going into effect, Shay and Quincy decide to leave their home in Ohio and travel East to a safety state where it is safe and legal to be queer. They meet up with another couple, Jacob and Michael, so together they can pose as straight married couples. Quincy takes an instant dislike to her new "husband", Jacob, as she resents depending on the men and pretending to be straight. As they face different threats on their journey, they form an unlikely friendship.

Director, Jeanette L. Buck

Jeanette Buck is an independent writer and director in film and theater. She is 2023 recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Award for Excellence in Media. Her critically acclaimed feature film debut Out of Season, was honored at the Los Angeles Outfest where she received the Outstanding Emerging Talent award. The film was screened in film festivals nationally and internationally, and was theatrically distributed and released. Her short films Quiet on Set, Heather Has Four Moms, Lie Together, Kiss on the Bosphorus, and Texting: A Love Story have screened at 100s of festivals, including Cineffable Paris Int'l Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival, San Francisco Frameline, LAOutfest, NewFest, BFI Flare- London LGBT Film Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival, and New York NewFest. There Are No Strangers, her autobiographical one-woman play, premiered in Washington DC at Theater J. Theater directing credits include: Rhinocerous, Beautiful Thing, Gretty Good Time, Open Hearts, Father John says a Hail Mary, Miracles, and Swimming to America. http://jeanettebuck.com/

LESBOPHILLIA
SHORT NARRATIVE | 15 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Michelle West

When free-as-a-bird bisexual Eliana questions giving up the "D" at her ex-boyfriend's funeral, her girlfriend Chase must decide how far she’s willing to go for love.

Director, Michelle West

Michelle is an award-winning Los Angeles-based director whose work confronts societal norms. Her most recent short, Lesbophilia, won "Best in Show" at Wicked Queer in Boston. Her 2022 short, Cosmic Love, won "Best Womens Empowerment Film" at the San Diego International Film Awards. Michelle is also in post-production on her period drama short, Lineage. She's a member of the Directors Guild of America, Women in Film, and Alliance of Women Directors. www.itsmichellewest.com

SIX DAY FIANCÉE
SHORT NARRATIVE | 11.5 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Roland William Boyden, Katrina Guzmán, and Katrina Guzmán

What if you had just six days to pull off your own wedding, from the first minutes of planning to the final "I Do"s? Oh, and if you fail.... you'll be separated forever.