The “Sweet 16” Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival announces Gala events.

Oh, boy…it’s almost October which means it’s time for the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival to begin taking over our lives for 10 days, October 14-23. It’s the 16th anniversary of the beloved festival which means it’s now old enough to drive and kiss boys and wear make-up! (Or, kiss girls and wear mullets, as the case might be…)

The official line-up announcement and ticket sales don’t begin until next week, but the folks at Three Dollar Bill Cinema, the producers of the festival, got antsy and let us know what they have scheduled for the big gala events: Opening, Closing and the two Centerpiece events. Check’em out!

Opening Night – DIRTY GIRL

Andre Meyers is one of the stars of "Leave It On The Floor".

A model queer activist and poet, Jesus (Maximillian Davis) prides himself in his work with the Seattle LGBT community. At the same time, Jesus is having unprotected sex and cheating on his long-time partner Johnny (Samonte Cruz). Jesus’s world implodes when he discovers that he is HIV positive, forcing him to confront his innermost fears, his relationship with his ex-boyfriend, and a future living with HIV. Faced with the unknown, Jesus is pulled from the brink of self-destruction by Sister Alysa Trailer (Brian Peters), a drag nun who leads him down a path of self-discovery.

The 70's were a time of change in SFO's Castro District...a shot from "We Were Here" the HIV documentary screening at SLGFF 16.

Rachel Brister, the Executive Director of Three Dollar Bill Cinema believes the 30th anniversary of the LGBT community living with HIV/AIDS has provided SLGFF an opportunity to highlight a series of films related to this still very important issue. “It is profound and almost unbelievable to me that HIV and AIDS have been in existence for 30 years,” she says.  “It is rare that we have one film to present on the subject of HIV and AIDS, but this year we have five. I am very proud we will be screening this series  with the help and support of HIV30: Take Action Seattle, a collaboration of Seattle HIV/AIDS organizations working together to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the epidemic.”