TWIST Heads Into Pac Place For Final Weekend Of Strong LGBTQ Films

Robin Campillo; 2017; France; 140 min. in French with English subtitles

A blaring air horn signals an immediate sense of urgency at the start of writer-director Robin Campillo’s epic, heart-wrenching love story of courageous, resilient people who fought for our very existence.

Based on his life as an ACT UP activist in the early ’90s, Campillo draws on his personal relationships and experiences fighting pharmaceutical companies for the release of new life-saving protease inhibitor drugs against the backdrop of fear and indifference from thegeneral public and government.

The camera whirls from intense and shocking scenes of demonstrations to moments of pure dance-floor elation and unabashed gay sex, fading nicely to quieter moments focusing on two activists at the heart of the film: alluring Nathan and young, brash Sean (Argentine actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart in a fearless, star-making performance), who quickly fall for each other. Full of authentic dialogue and details—as witnessed in the meetings where they finger-snap instead of clap to save precious moments— BPM pulsates with every frame.
Its exquisitely crafted finale left journalists in stunned silence at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix, Queer Palm, and Film Critics’ Awards.

This intensely moving documentary illuminates the complexities of a life caught between deep faith, the strictures of the Catholic Church’s “Missio”

Months after they broke up, Gunnar receives a strange phone call in the middle of the night from his ex-boyfriend, Einar. He sounds distraught…

When Leo isn’t throwing fish guts at his day job in a cannery or caring for his twin sister, he moves gracefully from stage to ring as both an aspiring drag queen and promising boxer…

Filmmaker Hui-Chen Huang confronts the past and her feelings about how she was raised by her lesbian mother in this award-winning film…

Wear your onesies, bring your blankies, and come early to enjoy the vegan-friendly cereal bar for an assorted mix of adorable, mature, and passionate animated films.

Twenty-one-year-old Lucia suffers from panic and anxiety attacks. But her chance meeting with a budding young artist opens Lucia’s eyes to new possibilities…

“Jesus is dead,” declares Iyay, the matriarch of the family, igniting this delightfully absurd and utterly charming road comedy. Jesus is her estranged husband…

When Kristen misinterprets a ring Sarah shows her as the beginning of a marriage proposal, it reveals a couple in vastly different places in their relationship…

After a rare illness left him a quadrilateral amputee, Will Lautzenheiser reshaped his life with pure optimism, gallows humor, and the support of his family and partner Angel…

How do young girls explore their identity? In secret? By trying it out? These are questions explored by filmmaker Ingrid Veninger in this feminine coming-of-age film…

The seven-year itch sneaks its way into the relationship between Sjors and “Pep” in the form of a nubile boy named Cas…

Framed by home movies of his middle-class Pakistani family in the 80s, the director exposes his personal struggle to understand what it means to be gay, South Asian, and Muslim.

A single text message is all it takes to arrange an orgy, especially if it’s a pool party at a giant mansion. Thank goodness there’s a place to cool off…

Check out the latest work from our Reel Queer Youth program, the TWIST 3-Day Filmmaking Challenge, and Blanket Fort Films Motion Picture program.

Teenagers Thor and Christian are always together, but the summer becomes turbulent when Thor gets a girlfriend and Christian struggles with his romantic feelings…

CLOSING NIGHT! “Transvisionary gender obliviator” Billy Bloom (a pitch-perfect Alex Lawther, THE IMITATION GAME) decides to run for homecoming queen despite hordes of conservative classmates devoted to football and Jesus. Supporting performances by Bette Midler, Abigail Breslin, AnnaSophia Robb, John McEnroe, and Laverne Cox.