Only in LA
Screenings & Events
Festivals, Special Guests, Retrospectives and more "one night only" queer cinema screenings.
Feb
17
February
17
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February
17
&
7:30 pm
Welcome to the West Coast Underground
Academy Museum
The Academy Museum expands their "Outside the Mainstream" exhibit with this all 16mm screening of bold voices in 1960s and 1970s underground cinema on the West Coast. Included in tonight's program are films by queer trailblazers Barbara Hammer, Curt McDowell, and more.
Feb
9
February
9
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February
9
&
7:00 pm
Celebrate Los Angeles LGBT History!
A Program of Rare Short Films
Philosophical Research Society
Programmer Gregorio Davila presents a program of rarely-seen LGBT films from the 1960's & 70's from local Los Angeles filmmakers Matt Spero, Pat Rocco and Richard Jay Silverthorn! See a slice of the city's queer (and cinematic) history in this historic library.
Feb
9
February
9
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February
9
&
7:00 pm
Skin Deep
Actors Maryam Zaree and Jonas Dassler
Laemmle NoHo 7
Winner of the 2022 Queer Lion at Venice, this twisted German gender-bending body-swapping horror finally gets a US release. One week only at Laemmale NoHo, and the film's stars Maryam Zaree and Jonas Dassler join for a special Q&A at the first screening.
At first glance, Leyla and Tristan are a happy couple. When they travel to a mysterious island, a game of identities begins that changes everything – their perception, their sexuality, their entire selves. But not only their relationship threatens to break up. They may even never be who they used to be again …
Feb
8
February
8
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February
8
&
7:00 pm
You Can't Stay Here
Guillermo Diaz & Todd Verow
Laemmle Glendale
This 1990s cruising serial-killer thriller from Todd Verow and Guillermo Diaz kicks off its theatrical run with a very special Q&A with the director, star, and other cast members. You Can't Stay Here follows this special screening with a limited special engagement.
Rick, a photographer, witnesses the brutal murder of a gay man in Central Park. With the cops taking little interest in the crime, a dangerous and sexy game of cat and mouse ensues between Rick and the killer, Adam.
Feb
4
February
4
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February
4
&
7:30 pm
Orlando, My Political Biography
2220 Arts + Archives
Woolf’s Orlando follows the centuries-spanning life of a young nobleman who awakens to find that they a woman. Almost a century after its publication, Paul B. Preciado claims that fiction has become reality and Orlando’s story lies at the root of all contemporary trans and non-binary life.
Feb
2
February
2
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February
2
&
2:00 pm
The Matrix Matinee
New Beverly Cinema
When The Matrix came out in 1999, nobody thought it was a queer movie--but directors Lily and Lana Wachowski have come out as trans (and made the wildly queer series Sense8). Watching the Matrix today shines a new light on its epic battles for liberation and authenticity.
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
Jan
30
January
30
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January
30
&
7:15 pm
She is Conann
Advance Screening
Alamo Drafthouse
Ahead of the film's limited release, check out an advance screening of this epic queer feminist re-telling of the story of Conan the Barbarian. Across multiple lives and traveling across time, this dreamy lesbian barbarian queen hacks her way into her own version of the legend.
Traveling through the abyss, underworld dog Rainer recounts the six lives of Conann, perpetually put to death by her own future, across eras, myths and ages. From her childhood, a slave of Sanja and her barbarian horde, to her accession to the summits of cruelty at the doors of our world.
Jan
29
January
29
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January
29
&
7:15 pm
Jawbreaker
Alamo Drafthouse
Part of the Alamo's "Queer Film Theory 101," Jawbreaker is a 1999 cult classic from out director (and LA native) Darren Stein. Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, and Julie Benz star as a trio of popular high schoolers who accidentally murder their best friend on her birthday.
When an exclusive clique of teenage socialites accidentally murder their best friend on the morning of her birthday, the three girls responsible conspire to hide the truth.
Jan
28
January
28
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January
28
&
8:00 pm
To Die For
Vidiots Eagle Theater
Gus Van Sant's first major studio picture, a black comedy about an aspiring TV journalist who isn't afraid to commit some murders to advance her careers. Nicole Kidman stars, with Joaquin Phoenix and Matt Dillon, in this scathing satire bound for cult classic status.
Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.
Jan
28
January
28
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January
28
&
7:30 pm
Brokeback Mountain
Academy Museum
The Academy Museum hosts a retrospective screening of 2005 Oscar smash Brokeback Mountain. Brokeback won Oscars for Screenplay, Directing, and Score--in addition to its nominations for Best Picture, Cinematorgraphy, and cast Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michelle Williams.
Rodeo cowboy Jack and ranch hand Ennis are hired as sheepherders in 1963 Wyoming. One night on Brokeback Mountain, they spark a physical relationship. Though Ennis marries his longtime sweetheart and Jack marries a fellow rodeo rider, they keep up their tortured, sporadic love affair for 20 years.
Jan
27
January
27
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January
27
&
3:40 pm
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Alamo Drafthouse
If Saltburn left you feeling a need for more homoerotic social-climbing thrillers, check out the unavoidable comparison--based on the novel by lesbian icon Patricia Highsmith (whose other novels became Carol, Strangers on a Train, and more).
Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.
Jan
27
January
27
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January
27
&
2:00 pm
Tomboy
Vidiots Eagle Theater
The winner of the Teddy Award at the 2011 Berlinale, this French coming-of-age film from Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Woman on Fire) follows a 10 year-old who leads a new life as a boy after moving to a new neighborhood.
A French family with two daughters, 10-year-old Laure and 6-year-old Jeanne, moves to a new neighborhood during the summer holidays. With her tomboy ways, Laure is immediately mistaken for a boy by the local kids and passes herself off as Mickaël.
Jan
26
January
26
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January
26
&
8:30 pm
The Watermelon Woman
Videotheque
Screening as part of Videotheque's "Video Store Days" series featuring 1990s video stores -- Cheryl Dunye's milestone 1996 film The Watermelon Woman is a must-see, a fresh, witty film that has gone from being debated in Congress to part of the Criterion collection.
Cheryl, a young black lesbian, works a day job in a video store while trying to make a film about a black actress from the 1930s known for playing the stereotypical “mammy” roles relegated to black actresses during that period. This was the first feature film directed by an “out” black lesbian.
Jan
26
January
26
-
January
26
&
27
7:15 pm
The Matrix
Alamo Drafthouse
When The Matrix came out in 1999, nobody thought it was a queer movie--but directors Lily and Lana Wachowski have come out as trans (and made the wildly queer series Sense8). Watching the Matrix today shines a new light on its epic battles for liberation and authenticity.
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
Jan
21
January
21
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January
21
&
6:30 pm
Funny Girl
New Beverly Cinema
If all the backbiting Broadway gossip about the stage revival has you asking what's so special about Funny Girl, come see Barbra Streisand in her Oscar-winning turn as Fanny Bryce (the namesake of Fanny's restaurant at the Academy Museum) in the 1968 Willam Wyler film.
The story of the life of comedienne Fanny Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of the Lower East Side, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, including her marriage to and eventual divorce from her second husband, Nick Arnstein.
Jan
17
January
17
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January
17
&
7:30 pm
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Vidiots Eagle Theater
Petra von Kant is a successful fashion designer -- arrogant, caustic, and self-satisfied. She mistreats Marlene (her secretary, maid, and co-designer). Enter Karin, a 23-year-old beauty who wants to be a model. Petra falls in love with Karin and invites her to move in.
Jan
17
January
17
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January
17
&
2:10 pm
All About My Mother
Alamo Drafthouse
This compassionate, sprawling melodrama follows Manuela after the death of her 17 year-old son Esteban. She sets out in search of Esteban's father, now a trans woman named Lola, who is sick with AIDS. It's the kind of film only Almodóvar can make, lurid and lovely and memorable.
Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.
Jan
15
January
15
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January
15
&
7:00 pm
Rustin
Egyptian Theatre
A special MLK Day screening of Rustin, with a pre-recorded introduction from Barack Obama. Come see out star Colman Domingo's SAG Award-nominated performance as Bayard Rustin, the architect of the 1963 March on Washington.
Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.
Jan
13
January
13
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January
13
&
7:00 pm
Housekeeping for Beginners
Goran Stolevski
Los Feliz 3
Join director Goran Stolevski (2022's romantic hit "Of An Age)" for a sneak preview of his latest film Housekeeping for Beginners, which won the Queer Lion at Venice in 2023. This is a sneak preview screening, RSVPs are free but do not guarantee a seat -- arrive early.
Dita never wanted to be a mother, but circumstances force her to raise her girlfriend’s two daughters, tiny troublemaker Mia and rebellious teen Vanesa. A battle of wills ensues as the three continue to butt heads and become an unlikely family that must fight to stay together.
Jan
13
January
13
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January
13
&
5:00 pm
An Evening with Colman Domingo
Colman Domingo & Natasha Lyonne
Hammer Museum
Out actor Colman Domingo, star of "Rustin" and "The Color Purple," joins Film Independent for a special evening discussing his life and career, with Q&A moderated by actress Natasha Lyonne ("But I'm a Cheerleader"). Don't miss this free event!
Jan
13
January
13
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January
13
&
4:20 pm
All About My Mother
Alamo Drafthouse
This compassionate, sprawling melodrama follows Manuela after the death of her 17 year-old son Esteban. She sets out in search of Esteban's father, now a trans woman named Lola, who is sick with AIDS. It's the kind of film only Almodóvar can make, lurid and lovely and memorable.
Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.
Jan
11
January
11
-
January
11
&
7:30 pm
Justin Torres at the Hammer
Justin Torres
Hammer Museum
Out writer Justin Torres' first novel "We The Animals" was turned into a queer coming-of-age Sundance smash film starring Raul Castillo in 2018. His 2023 novel "Blackouts" just won the National Book Award. Join him for a free reading from his work at the Hammer Museum.
Jan
11
January
11
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January
11
&
7:00 pm
2023 Project Involve Short Films
DGA Theater
Project Involve is Film Independent's artist development program for filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds. Every year a new cohort of fellows come together to develop short films that showcase their talents. Join this free screening to see the shorts produced this year.
Jan
9
January
9
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January
9
&
7:00 pm
Safe
& May December
Egyptian Theatre
New Queer Cinema auteur Todd Haynes (Carol, Far From Heaven) has enjoyed a rich collaboration with actress Julianne Moore over the years, having worked together on five feature films. Two of them, new release May December and 1995 classic Safe screen together at the Egyptian.
Carol, a typical upper middle-class housewife, begins to complain of vague symptoms of illness. She “doesn’t feel right,” has unexplained headaches, congestion, a dry cough, nosebleeds, vomiting, and trouble breathing. Her family doctor treats her concerns dismissively and suggests a psychiatrist. Eventually, an allergist tells her that she has Environmental Illness.
Jan
8
January
8
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January
8
&
7:00 pm
The Kids Are All Right
& Poor Things
Mark Ruffalo
Aero Theater
Mark Ruffalo joins in person for a screening of his latest Poor Things--but the second film on the double bill is Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right, where he plays the sperm donor to a lesbian couple. Can we ask for a triple feature with The Normal Heart?
Two women, Nic and Jules, brought a son and daughter into the world through artificial insemination. When one of their children reaches age, both kids go behind their mothers' backs to meet with the donor. Life becomes so much more interesting when the father, two mothers and children start to become attached to each other.
Jan
6
January
6
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January
6
&
7
6:30 pm
Giant (35mm)
New Beverly Cinema
The last film James Dean made before his untimely death, this lavish Technicolor epic is packed with queer icons. Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and Sal Mineo co-star in this frontier saga following a generation of cattle ranchers and oilmen in Texas.
Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She marries Benedict, but she is shocked by the racial bigotry of the White Texans against the local people of Mexican descent. Rink discovers oil on a small plot of land, and while he uses his vast, new wealth to buy all the land surrounding the Benedict ranch, the Benedict's disagreement over prejudice fuels conflict that runs across generations.
Jan
6
January
6
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January
6
&
11:40 am
All of Us Strangers
Andrew Scott
AMC Burbank 16
Join out star Andrew Scott in person for a screening of All of Us Strangers, now playing in theaters. Scott stars with Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy in this buzzy film about a writer who spends his days with the ghosts of his parents while romancing his new neighbor.
One night, screenwriter Adam, in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, has a chance encounter with his mysterious neighbor Harry that punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As Adam and Harry get closer, Adam is pulled back to his childhood home where he discovers that his long-dead parents are both living and look the same age as the day they died over 30 years ago.
Jan
5
January
5
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January
5
&
10:00 pm
Broken Embraces
Los Feliz 3
Another film in American Cinematheque's celebration of Rodrigo Prieto, this one directed by out director Pedro Almodóvar. It's not Almodóvar's first film to be about an actress, or to star Penelope Cruz, or to deal with themes of love and illness--but each film is a unique gem.
Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.
Dec
30
December
30
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December
30
&
7:00 pm
Brokeback Mountain
Los Feliz 3
American Cinematheque hosts a retrospective of Mexican cinematograher Rodrigo Prieto's work, including Brokeback Mountain, for which Prieto was nominated for an Oscar. Fun fact: he also has a brief cameo in the film, as a hustler who hooks up with Jake Gyllenhaal's character.
Rodeo cowboy Jack and ranch hand Ennis are hired as sheepherders in 1963 Wyoming. One night on Brokeback Mountain, they spark a physical relationship. Though Ennis marries his longtime sweetheart and Jack marries a fellow rodeo rider, they keep up their tortured, sporadic love affair for 20 years.
Dec
26
December
26
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December
26
&
7:30 pm
Female Trouble
Vidiots Eagle Theater
Missed the John Waters series at the Academy Museum this fall? You can still check out the exhibit--and then come to Vidiots to see Female Trouble, the 1974 camp classic starring Divine as mass murderer Dawn Davenport.
The life and times of Dawn Davenport, showing her progression from bratty schoolgirl to crazed mass murderer - all of which stems from her parents' refusal to buy her cha-cha heels for Christmas.
Dec
25
December
25
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December
25
&
1:00 pm
Carol Brunch
Alamo Drafthouse
Spend your Christmas with Carol, complete with the Alamo's special brunch menu.
In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
Dec
22
December
22
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December
22
&
23
7:00 pm
Tangerine
Los Feliz 3
A new queer Christmas classic, Tangerine follows trans workers Sin-Dee and Alexandra on a holiday odyssey across Los Angeles. Shot on a micro budget on three iPhones, Tangerine is a triumph of scrappy indie can-do--that led to Gotham and Spirit awards for co-star Mya Taylor.
It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.
Dec
13
December
13
-
15
December
13
&
7:30 pm
Carol
New Beverly Cinema
Make it a Todd Haynes Christmas! First up, lesbian period drama Carol follows Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in the repressed world of 1950s high society New York City (at Crhistmas). Then you can stream his latest, May December on Netflix.
In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
Dec
13
December
13
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December
13
&
7:00 pm
Auntie Mame
Egyptian Theatre
If you know a gay man over 50, you've probably heard this film quoted endlessly. "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!" is one of many pearls of wisdom from Rosiland Russell as Mame, a progressive woman of the 1920s who takes in her orphaned nephew.
Mame Dennis, a progressive and independent woman of the 1920s, is left to care for her nephew Patrick after his wealthy father dies. Conflict ensues when the executor of the father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle and tries to force her to send Patrick to prep school.
Dec
2
December
2
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December
2
&
7:30 pm
Cassandro
& Y Tu Mamá También
Gael García Bernal & America Ferrera
Aero Theater
Gael Garcia Bernal joins in person for two queer films, with Q&A moderated by America Ferrera. First up is the newest, Cassandro, about an out gay wrestler in the hyper-macho world of 1980s lucha libre wrestling. Playing second is 2001 road trip classic Y Tu Mamá También.
The true story of Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso that rises to international stardom after he creates the character Cassandro, the “Liberace of Lucha Libre.” In the process, he upends not just the macho wrestling world but also his own life.
Dec
1
December
1
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December
1
&
7:30 pm
Derek Jarman’s Blue
Academy Museum
A special screening of Derek Jarman's Blue for World AIDS day, presented by the Academy Museum and LACMA. Made after Jarman lost his vision to AIDS, there is no picture in this film, just a solid blue field, and narration from close collaborators including Tilda Swinton.
Against a plain, unchanging blue screen, a densely interwoven soundtrack of voices, sound effects and music attempt to convey a portrait of Derek Jarman's experiences with AIDS, both literally and allegorically, together with an exploration of the meanings associated with the colour blue.