Welcome to your Dirty Thirties, aGLIFF. Austin’s queer film festival is celebrating a milestone year this week with events kicking off today and running through Sunday. But how to choose between 54 shorts, 39 feature films, and a bunch of great events? Funny you should ask, because we’ve got answers.
Opening Night Party
Thu., Sept. 7, 9pm, Amala FoundationWhat better way to start the weekend than to fangirl/boy over the people who made the movies you’re about to watch?
A Date for Mad Mary
Fri., Sept. 8, 7pm, Alamo South LamarFinally! The 2016 Irish dramedy starring Seána Kerslake comes to Texas at last. Readers should know, this writer loves all things Ireland, but especially Irish queers with a rap sheet struggling to save a friendship amidst the shitshow that is life.
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
Sat., Sept. 9, 1pm, Alamo South LamarLGBTQ rights wouldn’t be where they are today without Johnson – a rioter at Stonewall and co-founder of Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries with Sylvia Rivera. This doc looks into Johnson’s suspicious death in 1992 and her contribution to the queer rights movement.
Awards Party & Torrey Pines Austin Premiere
Sat., Sept. 9, 5:30pm, Alamo South LamarJurors announce the 2017 film award winners before the showing of Clyde Petersen’s stop-motion feature of a queer punk’s coming-of-age while Seattle’s queer pop-punk band, Your Heart Breaks, plays live. Bonus: A short from this summer’s Queer Youth Media Project precedes the screening.
Saturday Church
Sat., Sept. 9, 6pm, Alamo South LamarA musical twist on coming out queer and trans from the eyes of a 14-year-old.
Signature Move
Sat., Sept. 9, 6:30pm, Alamo South LamarThis lezzie POC love comedy is just so cute, y’all.
Tom of Finland
Sat., Sept. 9, 8pm, Alamo South LamarIf there was a “Welcome Out Package” given to gaybies, Finland’s art would be in it. See the story of the man behind the iconic homoerotic drawings of uniformed men.
Tom’s Saturday Night party
Sat., Sept. 9, 10pm, Oilcan Harry’sAustin’s longest operating gay bar hosts a “sexy” afterparty tribute with the dudes of GoGo ATX modeling Package Menswear – available for purchase, naturally.
After Louie
Sun., Sept. 10, 3:15pm, Alamo South LamarAlan Cumming stars in Vincent Gagliostro’s first full-length film that takes on the not-so-small feat of bridging the gap between AIDS survivors of the Eighties epidemic and the generations who’ve followed. Told through the eyes of a love story.
Closing Night Film: Becks
Sun., Sept. 10, 6pm, Alamo South LamarWrap the fest with this award-winning queer women dramedy about love, family, and heartbreak. Plus, Lena Hall (Becks) will be there with the film’s directors, Daniel Powell and Elizabeth Rohrbaugh.
The Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival runs Sept. 7-10, at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. For more info, and to purchase badges and passes, visit www.agliff.org.
This article appears in September 8 • 2017.