Mariachi to Merman. Sondheim to Cesar Chavez. Decades of Mexican-American/Chicano and LGBTQ history intersect from a personal perspective in story and song. Touching, provocative and hilarious, Guerrero brings his solo play to the screen after nationwide critically acclaimed performances. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

A Night at Switch n’ Play profiles the award winning Brooklyn performance collective Switch n' Play, a group that redefines gender performance by blurring the line between drag and burlesque to create a subversive, reflective, and strikingly queer show.

Screens with the short film "Lavender Disco," which explores a night in the life of sober drag queen Didi Disco.

HIV is the second deadliest disease in human history, and it continues to vie for the prime position. Since its first documented case, the virus has claimed over 30 MILLION lives worldwide. Today, we have the knowledge and the means to prevent new HIV infections and keep HIV patients alive for decades. But we continue to see new infections and AIDS-related deaths because social stigma prevents testing and treatment. New social networking technologies have allowed researchers to understand how social influence can change cultural norms and spread positive behaviors through society. 'A Social Cure' explores these new tools and paints intimate portraits of three heroes--Noku, Simi and Sbu--who live at the epicenter of the virus in African communities where HIV infection rates hover around 30-50%.

The children in a religious family clash with their parents as they prepare for the wake of their brother, Mitchel. Teenage Mason desperately tries to reach his lost identical twin through spiritual means. Precocious preteen Molly meticulously organizes the event expecting everything to go exactly as planned. Megan, their older sister, returns home after a long absence, no longer interested in repressing the truth. Their Baptist grandmother and parents attempt to maintain normalcy when an unexpected stranger, Jameson, arrives -- forcing the family to face secrets and lies around Mitchel's death.

In an alternative universe, a company, AESOP, has developed a pill that ends the aging process, meaning people will not age or die of old age. Unfortunately, there is only enough for 88% of the population, so they must decide who gets and who doesn't. Ruth works at AESOP, helping decide who gets the pill and who doesn't. She meets and falls in love with Marie, and eventually learns that Marie will not be eligible for the pill. The two must make the most difficult decisions of their lives.

Rural Mexico. A young man lives and loves in secret, catching all too brief moments with his childhood friend and lover. It seems everyone and everything is working against them - his selfish mother, his lover’s fiancee, and the traditional community he lives in. Can he break free, and what will it cost him?

Cohibernation is an exploration of bear and bearish gay men in long term relationships and how they live their lives.

Young Lucas lives with his religious aunt in a small country town. Up to now, things have been pretty simple and quiet. But things are about to change. His charitable aunt announces the arrival of another nephew - Mario. Just out of jail, Mario's life has been anything BUT quiet. So when the aunt goes out of town, leaving the boys to their own devices, things can't help but get exciting.

A young homeless man uses online hookups to find places to stay. He becomes a hustler and falls in love with one of his clients. A closeted politician looms in the background of this seedy and poetic slice of gay New York, a torch song for the digital age that explores poverty, sex as currency, users and abusers. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

Fredy Hirsch was born in Germany, a proud Jew and openly gay man he was 19 years old when the Nuremberg Laws were published, he fled from Germany to the Czech Republic which was conquered by the Nazis. He began activities in the Czech Republic as a sports teacher in Jewish youth club, and soon became his students’ object of admiration. With the deportation of the Jews to Ghetto Terezin, Fredy was appointed head of the youth department and dealt with over than 4,000 youth. When he arrived in Auschwitz, Fredy did not succumb to despair. He persuaded Mengele to set up a daycare center for children and youth and granted some 600 children their final moments of happiness. It might be that in Auschwitz, for the first time in his life, Fredy Hirsch didn’t experience Homophobia. He had a lover, he was out and people loved him for all the good he did. Together with members of the underground in Auschwitz, he planned a revolt that never came to pass, following his death, which remains a mystery, and which this film attempts to reveal. The story of Fredy Hirsch is another link in the history of the gay community. The film combines interviews, archival materials and animation.

Israel 2017 | 74 minutes | Hebrew, English, Czech | English subtitles

Director: Rubi Gat

Producers; Rubi Gat, Sahar ben Hur

Editor: Erez Laufer

Original Music: Ido Goldberg

Sound Design: Ronen Nagel

Art Director: Yael Ozsinay

Animation design: Mind The Gap Animation

From the director/producer of FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO comes a new film that continues the conversation about the impact of religious belief on the lives of LGBTQ people. It challenges the far-right’s use of the Bible and the U.S. Constitution to fight against equality for LGBTQ citizens and takes on the horrors of reparative therapy.

Over the past few years, there’s been a great deal of progress towards fairness for LGBTQ people. Since marriage equality became the law of the land in 2015, however, the backlash from the right has been swift and severe.

By telling the stories of families caught up in this conflict and informed by the wisdom of a number of religious and constitutional thinkers, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO shows the way forward through love, reconciliation, and acceptance.

SPONSORED BY THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH PALM SPRINGS

A successful female architect discovers she is the first human being to be pregnant by the process known as parthenogenesis, the body's ability to clone itself. She is abducted by a powerful, all-male faction of the global medical community who fear her condition precurses the end of the male species. She is then abducted by a group of lesbian separatists and taken to an all female utopia where they celebrate her as the great white hope of the separatist movement. Their celebration is short lived as the other side finds out where she is and a full scale attack ensues. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

Jenna agrees to a sexy weekend fling with her materialistic girlfriend Kate and the worldly Mia, but as the night unfolds, Jenna notices discomfiting details about them, and the love triangle starts to crack.

Herland: Creating a Radical Lesbian/Feminist Community is the first film to show the challenges of establishing a radical lesbian/feminist community in the conservative heartland in the 1980s.

A Great Ride: These women are aging with dynamism and zest for life. When they were young, they forged a social movement to come out as true to themselves. Now they face the next daunting challenge - growing old. Their response? Deep friendships, determination, engagement, and quirky death-defying humor.

NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

E. was born on 7 June 1990. E. was beautiful, strong and healthy. But E. vanished on November 14, 2018. And in vanishing, forged Sofia. Now the days go by. The fear, the friends, the brother and the parents - all trying to prove that everything is ‘normal.’ Finally, Sofia flies to Thailand, and on the other side of the world, she is born. This is her journey.

Screens with the short film "Listen." With transgender kids and teens being attacked on all sides right now, 'Listen' gives a rare and intimate insight into some of their daily trials and tribulations.

I'm Moshanty. Do You Love Me? is a documentary profile of the legendary South Pacific music icon and transgender activist, the late Moses Moshanty Tau, as well as other members of the transgender community of Papua New Guinea.

Screens with the short film "Dress Up Like Mrs. Doubtfire." A throwback look of 1993 film "Mrs. Doubtfire" and its cultural impact to drag culture in Hollywood films.

NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

A positive look at the photographic career of Jim French, the creator and photographer behind Colt Studios. Colt Studios helped define generations of gay men on their own personal roads to 'creating' the men they became. For decades, people who appreciated masculine male beauty, turned to Colt. And it was Jim French behind all the images and the 'persona' the company helped create.

Screens with the short film "Into Man's Country." Into Man’s Country delves into the secretive and intimate world of the gay bathhouse during the ‘70s.

In present-day Texas, Maya (Tallie Medel) and her on again, off again girlfriend Jules (Betsy Holt) total their car after a night of backwoods raving and teen mischief. They’re rescued from the wreckage by Freddy (Robert Longstreet), a divorced oil worker whose stoic facade crumbles as he comes to see himself, and his repressed desires, in Maya. As Jules recovers, Maya and Freddy develop a rapport that dulls the debilitating silence of their small-town lives. Together, they subtly encourage one another to chase after what they want the most (or at least figure out what that might be).

Lennard runs away to Berlin and moves into a flat share, along with easygoing Ben and crazy Fine. Yet Lennard has a lot of roommates already…at least in his head: No wonder Lennard can’t make up his mind, with whom he is in love with: Ben oder Fine?

Never comfortable with 'her' body or given name, Kayanna knew since childhood he was meant to be a boy. Struggling deeply with his identity throughout his youth, he adopted a new name - Krow. At 12, Krow began a career as a globe-trotting 'female' fashion model. At 18, Krow embarked on the journey towards physically becoming a man. As Krow grows in confidence in his new body, he returns to his career in the fashion industry, taking his first job as a male model on the runway at Paris Fashion Week. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

When a young gay lawyer arrives on Fire Island to explore his sexuality, he becomes witness to a murder after being mugged, and then drugged. A stranger helps him to safety, but he soon discovers his savior may be friends with the killer.

Little Miss Westie follows two transgender siblings as they navigate puberty, school, family and transitioning during the Trump era. When Ren competed in the Lil Miss Westie Pageant as, perhaps, the first out trans-girl; her older brother, Luca, coached her on posing, make-up, and talent. He knew his stuff because he competed six years ago when he was living as a girl. This film offers a rare window into the lives of two very young gender pioneers.

A group of middle-aged friends comes together to say goodbye to one of their own. As gifts from their dead friend go missing, they try to figure out what they mean to each other now and if and how they will go on. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

WORLD OF PRIDE FEATURE: For decades Holland has been known as one of the LGBTQ-friendliest countries in the world. But how did gay emancipation develop in the Netherlands? How did this country get from executing sodomites in the 18th century to being the first in the world to legalize gay marriage in 2001? And are the Dutch really as tolerant as is claimed? Monument of Pride tells the uncensored story of the 'pink revolution' in the Netherlands. The film pays tribute to the 30 year old Homomonument in Amsterdam and to everyone who has fought for the freedom we often take for granted.

The Short Film, Rainbow Voices of Aotearoa New Zealand, will play with this feature.

Nicole Conn, director and writer of classic romances including A PERFECT ENDING and ELENA UNDONE, presents her new film MORE BEAUTIFUL FOR HAVING BEEN BROKEN. FBI agent McKenzie escapes to the picturesque ranch town of Mervielle in the aftermath of losing her mother and spiraling down a path of erratic behavior. There, she meets Freddie, a young wheelchair-bound boy with special needs and his mother, Samantha. McKenzie develops an unexpected relationship with Samantha that turns fiercely passionate and intimate. MORE BEAUTIFUL FOR HAVING BEEN BROKEN stars Zoê Ventoura as McKenzie, Kayla Radomski as Samantha and Cale Ferrin as Freddie.

Two best friends from Berlin win a trip to Greece. On their excursion, they get lost on an island, spend the night together in a cave and dream a mystical dream. The next day, everything has changed. Are the Greek Gods to blame?

DC Bureaucrat by day, drag queen by night, Muffy Blake Stephyns follows her dream of leading a group of vibrant performers on a crusade for the community. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

Peter Abano’s milestone birthday will go down in history as one of the most awful, and wonderful. He finds himself newly single, depressed and ready to give up. That is, until a younger mysterious stranger appears. The lessons he will learn are: Friends are everything, it’s never too late to find love – and brunch is sacred.

Campy and homoerotic, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 has often been called the gayest horror film that Hollywood's ever made. For one young actor, it was a true nightmare, as the homophobic backlash effectively ended his film career — and banished him into Garbo-like exile. This defiant documentary tells the triumphant tale of the "revenge of first male scream queen," while also cautioning today’s LGBTQ community that the nightmare isn’t over. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

Life is not always easy. These filmmakers have captured compelling tales that illustrate the struggles many people face in their daily lives. Good learning here. The films include Conversia, Found Footage, Giving Up the Moon, Limp and Penny Girl. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

The films in the X Chromosome shorts set deal with issues common to women - mostly young women - but their experiences are universal, sometimes funny, and fascinating! The films include Foreign, Fruit Fly, LABRYS, Misdirection and Ruby. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

This international batch of short films is all about PRIDE, and includes A Non Binary Story: Reencuentro, Dogana/Chapti, Double Dads and One Queer Teen: My Rainbow Family, Love is simply love, The Name of the Son, Thrive and Voguing to Dancehall.

These shorts are all about some sort of disfunction...from simple misunderstandings to life and death situations. Take a peek at Broken Sunflower Hearts, Brunch Before Baptism, Happy Together, Nancy, Pulse, The Best Man and The Summer House.

This set of shorts is so important, and so compelling, we decided to repeat them. Today's political climate is unlike any other. These shorts offer a sobering look at today's headlines, and include A Big Fat Taiwanese Same-Sex Wedding Banquet, BENT: The Documentary, Rainbow Voices of Aotearoa New Zealand and The Most Hateful Small Town? NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

Five great Short Films for women start our Friday line-up - ANNELER GÜNÜ - MOTHER'S DAY, ITALY & (THIS IS) WATER, Searc(her), The Love Letter, Zoe & Bryn

Today's political climate is unlike any other. These shorts offer a sobering look at today's headlines, and include A Big Fat Taiwanese Same-Sex Wedding Banquet, BENT: The Documentary, Rainbow Voices of Aotearoa New Zealand

and The Most Hateful Small Town?

Perspective is a funny thing. It can completely change your opinion, give you new insights or scare you to death. These game changers include Another feather in her bonnet, Hoosier, Radio City Lounge, The Gay Rub: A Documentary, THE JEALOUS SEA and You Say Hello

OMG! You are in for so much fun with this set of shorts. They cover a wide spectrum of subjects with one thing in common: OMG! Films include Engaged, MICHAEL AND MICHAEL ARE GAY, Next Level Shit, Rubber Dolphin, ruok, THE HANDYMAN, This Isn't Me and Window Shopping. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

Coming out continues to fascinate us, stress us out, and create a plethora of anxious, sometimes funny, situations. Our coming out shorts include: Dominant Chord, how to be o.k., LOLO, Moving Day, Pretty Boys, Scout's Oath, See You Next Summer, Team Marilyn and THE DISTANCE

Sometimes you just want to watch a scary movie. In this case, we've got six of them for you. Some funny, others a bit eerie, and some downright scary. The films include Come In, HOMOCIDE, Killer Date, PIECES, OR A WEST HOLLYWOOD CLUB CALLED RAGE, The Curse and The Office is Mine. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

These shorts have a common cultural thread, influenced by Asian filmmakers and/or Asian stories. They include JEFF, Kiko's Saints, Madhuri, Running at midnight, U for Usha and Unconditional

In Six Characters In Search Of A Play, Shores is inspired by Pirandello’s classic play to bring you six characters inspired by his real-life encounters that haven’t quite made it into one of Shores’ plays, films or TV shows. In 90 minutes, the audience will hear the truth behind how he collected these eccentrics, then he will portray them in classic Shores’ monologue style.

When he was an infant, he suffered from the 'Spider Mites of Jesus' (his mother couldn't pronounce spinal meningitis). This caused mental challenges that resulted in his lifelong illiteracy. At 13, he began selling his body on the streets as a drag prostitute. When he was arrested, he took a dump in the back of the police car, leading the cops to give him the moniker: Dirtwoman. Since then he's run for mayor, gotten kicked out of the inauguration of America's first black governor (Douglas Wilder), posed for his own pin-up calendar (weighing in at 350 pounds), offered crabs from his crotch for a GWAR video and hosted the annual Hamaganza fundraiser that provided 'Hams for the Hamless.' When he died last year at 65, it was on the front page, top-of-the-fold of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and was featured nationally on NPR.

The most popular LGBT webseries in history with over 52 million YouTube views is now a feature film. TRACI LORDS stars as an evil cosmetics mogul bent on acquiring an Encino gym which she believes sits atop a magical fountain. But the handsome hunks in towels will do anything to save their beloved steam room from her evil clutches. Available in “CinemaScent” (with scratch & sniff cards).

Anjelica Huston narrates this documentary, which is a sometimes surreal exploration of the spectacularly dreamlike world of Salvador Dali’s protégé, Steven Arnold, and his strikingly creative and influential body of work filled with occult rituals, Hollywood camp, and surrealist art nouveau whimsy. Featuring interviews with his friend Ellen Burstyn, and taken from more than 70 hours of original and archival footage, the film includes rare footage of Holly Woodlawn. Director and first-time filmmaker, Vishnu Dass digs deeply into the decadent, countercultural and inspiring life of this little known multimedia queer artist.

Screens with the short film "The Making of Panthera." The Making of Panthera is a character-driven documentary short about 25-year-old Brooklyn-based drag queen Panthera Lush, whose awe-inspiring creations are the product of hundreds of painstaking hours spent at the sewing machine.

Thanks to Hank is a feature film about Hank Wilson, the fiercest gay activist you never heard of. In San Francisco in the 1970s, Hank was the Johnny Appleseed of gay liberation. Everywhere he went, new organizations sprang up. He founded or co-founded the first gay teachers association, the first out gay democratic club, the first AIDS activist organization, and much more. The AIDS Candlelight Vigil he put together, five years before the formation of ACTUP (he was a founder of ACTUP too) is now the International AIDS Candlelight memorial, which takes place in 1,200 community organizations in 150 countries. But what really set Hank apart was his commitment to poor. He spent two decades running a 150-room SRO hotel as an unfunded hospice for the indigent dying of AIDS.

Dr. Jason Holden, early 50s, is in danger of losing his family, because of a tragic automobile accident. He becomes a piano accompanist at a local ballet studio and falls in love with Brandon Wykowski, 27, a troubled dancer.

This powerful narrative feature traces the relationship between Tina, a young Latinx trans woman, and Eliana, her grandmother, as they navigate Tina's transition and struggle to build a life for themselves as undocumented immigrants in New York City.

Lola controls her personal life with the same ruthless efficiency she uses to optimize profits in her job as a business consultant. But when a tragic event forces the past back into her life, Lola's grip on reality seems to slips away.

South Africa, Free State region, isolated stronghold to the Afrikaans white ethnic minority culture. In this conservative farming territory obsessed with strength and masculinity, Janno is different, secretive, emotionally frail. One day his mother, fiercely religious, brings home Pieter, a hardened street orphan she wants to save, and asks Janno to make this stranger into his brother. The two boys start a fight for power, heritage and parental love. SPONSORED BY HERE TV.

In the 1980's, a group calling itself First Friday sprung fully formed from the imaginations of a group of Lesbians living in Roanoke,Virginia. It was the Reagan years and the Moral Majority was just down the road. Regardless of the political climate and spurred on by the pure serendipity of finding each other, the lesbians of First Friday created safe space, threw fantastic events and built a community of lasting friendships that remain to this day.

Screens with the short film "Nice Chinese Girls Don't!" which introduces us to Kitty Tsui, a multihyphenate poet-writer-activist-artist-and-bodybuilder who immigrated to San Francisco from China in the Vietnam war era.

NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

A powerful examination of the global refugee crisis from the overlooked perspective of LGBT asylum seekers, UNSETTLED follows four brave individuals from Africa and the Middle East who have fled homophobic violence sanctioned by their home countries and families of origin. Beginning anew, Cheyenne and Mari (Angolan), Subhi (Syrian), and Junior (Congolese) face immense barriers to securing work, housing, and legal assistance. Fighting isolation and depression, they share stories that form an unflinching picture of nearly insurmountable challenges. NOTE: SCREENS AT MARY PICKFORD THEATRE

UnUnited follows the fight for LGBTQ inclusion in the United Methodist Church. Although this major United States denomination has struggled with its policy for years, its worldwide congregation seems no closer to changing its doctrine of non-inclusion despite the fact that many of its American and European churches are welcoming of LGBTQ+ people.

Screens with the short film "Cognitive." What if growing up in the church led you to believe you weren't going to grow up at all?

Thanks to @ReelKev, his friends at REVRY, HERE TV and your own votes, we are proud to bring back some favorites from the past few years with exciting new episodes. "Don't Suck" proved it didn't suck so we'll see more. "Daddyhunt" is sexier than ever in its third season. New episodes are also on hand from Emmy nominated "The New 30" as well as "Coffeehouse Chronicles," "Her Story" (more noteworthy now that Angelica Ross became a household name with "Pose"), "#Adulting" and more from "The Gay Husbands of San Francisco." We also get another episode of HERE TV's "Now What?" and celebrate the 5 year anniversary of one of the original web series, the sexy "From HERE on OUT."

@ReelKev returns with web series - but this year with a twist. This intimate screening of three popular shows are in active crowdfunding campaigns. You can come enjoy the shows - and perhaps make an investment in the shows' futures - and get a lot of great perks for your monies. Some perks might be exclusive to Cinema Diverse attendees. We will screen "Some Kind of Wonderful," which takes place in Palm Springs and was popular at last year's festival but seeks to make more fun local episodes. "Vent & Chester," which is truly the odd couple of muscle bears with comedian Peter Bisuito and Jeffrey Roberson (Varla Jean Merman out of drag). Then there's "Status Updates," a modern post-breakup story that has already won awards for best new web series.

@ReelKev introduces us to a slew of new shows from the web - from "Danny the Manny" to "Stupid Idiots" to "Tiny Nuts" to "Single Man Problems" - no stone has been unturned finding noteworthy content. We will see the first episode of the Emmy winning "After Forever" as well as some brand new shows from coast to coast: LA's "How It All Began" to "The New York Effect." @ReeKev has spent the past year on every platform and has managed to get quality shows from YouTube, Amazon and our friends at HERE TV and REVRY and has a few surprises up his sleeve.

Where Justice Ends deals with two important and timely topics of social justice — conditions within the U.S. prison system and the injustices that befall transgender people encountering the law. Told through the words of transgender inmates and experts, and narrated by the Tony award-winning stage, screen and TV actor Brian Stokes Mitchell, Where Justice Ends casts a light on one of the most hidden social injustices in our country.

Screens with the short film, LIMP. LIMP follows Sean, a young gay man with cerebral palsy as he navigates dating with a disability in New York City.

Based on Tim Realbuto's critically acclaimed Off-Broadway play, YES tells the story of washed up child star Patrick Nolan, whose life was ruined when he was involved in a scandal involving a minor. Years later, Patrick becomes entranced with a 17-year-old student, who he decides to mentor. What begins as an innocent acting lesson turns into something much more intimate between two surprisingly common minds.