Festival shorts to watch free online

Three of the shorts from this year’s Queer Women of Color Film Festival and five from this year’s Frameline are available to watch for free on Vimeo or YouTube.

In addition, I’m Your Venus is now on Netflix, and Come See Me in the Good Light is coming soon to AppleTV+.

QWOCFF

• 💖 The Aunties, documentary, dir. Charlyn Griffith-Oro & Jeannine Kayembe-Oro, 2023, USA, 6 min., (watch on YouTube)
  
  
• 👏 Memories on Rewind, narrative, dir. Lynette Esparza, 2025, USA, 3 min., (watch on YouTube)
  
  
• ⚠️🙂 Your Next Door Neighbours, narrative/episodic, dir. Ana Jimenez, 2023, Canada, 8 min., in Spanish with full English subtitles, (watch on YouTube)

Frameline

• ⚠️🔞😑 27, narrative, dir. Flóra Anna Buda, 2023, France/Hungary, 11 min., in Hungarian (screened in the “Saturday Morning Cartoons” shorts program) (watch on Vimeo) Flora Anna Buda
  
  
• 👎🌎 Br00dm0ther’s e-Fable, narrative, dir. Zijing Zhao, 2024, UK, 8 min., 🌎 North American premiere (screened in the “Alien Extravaganza” shorts program) (watch on Vimeo) Broodmother's e-Fable
  
  
• ⚠️👏🇺🇸 Dr. XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology, dir. El Jaunts, 2024, UK, 14 min., 🇺🇸 U.S. premiere (screened in the “Truth Be Told” shorts program) (watch on Vimeo)
  
  
• ⚠️👏 The Holly King, narrative, dir. Tim O’Leary, 2025, USA, 10 min. (screened in the “Scared Shortless” shorts program) (watch on Vimeo)
  
  
• ⚠️👏 Munchies, narrative, dir. Brittany Alexia Young, 2025, USA, 11 min. (screened in the “Scared Shortless” shorts program) (watch on YouTube)
  
  

Frameline49 index of films

Final tally: I saw all ten shorts programs (except a handful of shorts that were not availalble for advance screening), plus the two streaming-only shorts programs. I saw 55 out of 72 feature-length programs, and in total 67 out of 72 short films.

The list is broken down by category: feature-length documentaries, narrative features, documentary and non-fiction shorts, and narrative shorts. Each title links to the Film Queen Review write-up, which provides further links to Frameline, IMDb, social media, and other related info. Some films are listed more than once under different variations of the title. The short films are listed alphabetically; for a list divided into the groupings as screened at Frameline, see the index of Frameline49 shorts programs.

See also the list of Frameline49 films I did not review.

Frameline49: films not reviewed

I saw as many films as possible, and then some, but I still didn’t manage to see all of them. Here are the ones I missed. 

The symbols:
⚠️ content advisory,
🔞 not suitable for minors,
🌐 world premiere,
🌎 North American premiere,
🌊 West Coast premiere
🏆 Frameline49 jury award for best documentary feature (honorable mention)

The first link is to the Frameline page, followed by a link to the IMDb page.

Frameline49 Streaming Details

I’m about to head out to the last in-person screening of Frameline49, but we don’t have to say goodbye just yet. The Digital Screening Room has a very limited selection of the films from the in-person festival. The choices are few, but they chose quite well — most of them I rate “must see.”

Note that Frameline added two streaming-only compilation shorts programs, “Wild Combination” and ”Queer Quartet,” with shorts from various in-person programs.

Twinless

Twinless 💖, dir. James Sweeney, 2025, USA, 100 min.
Saturday, June 28, 2025, 8:30 pm, Herbst Theatre
🏳️‍🌈 Queer Premiere

Twinless

A Mother Apart

A Mother Apart 💖💔❤️‍🩹💝, dir. Laurie Townshend, 2024, Canada, 89 min.
Thursday, June 26, 2025, 3:30 pm, Roxie Theater
and available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 to 30, 2025

A Mother Apart

Row of Life

Row of Life 💖, documentary, dir. Soraya Simi, 2025, USA, 82 min.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 3:30 pm, Roxie Theater
also available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 to 30, 2025

Row of Life

gen_

gen_ [note the underscore at the end] 💖, documentary, dir. Gianluca Matarrese, 2025, France/‌Italy/‌Switzerland, 104 min., in Italian and English with English subtitles (note: you must manually turn on the subtitles)
Monday, June 23, 2025, 3:30 pm, Roxie Theater
also available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 to 30, 2025

gen_: Dr. Maurizio Bini

Lakeview

Lakeview 👏, dir. Tara Thorne, 2024, Canada, 100 min.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 6:00 pm, New Parkway (Oakland)
🇺🇸 U.S. premiere
also available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 to 30, 2025

Lakeview

If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart Into Your Mouth and Smile

If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart Into Your Mouth and Smile (Wenn du Angst hast nimmst du dein Herz in den Mund und lächelst) 💖, dir. Marie Luise Lehner, 2025, Austria, 87 min., in German, German Sign Language, and English, with full open captions in English
Friday, June 27, 2025, 3:30 pm, Roxie Theater
🌎 North American premiere
🏆 Winner: 2025 Berlinale, Teddy Award (jury) and CICAE Art Cinema Award (Forum section) — among other honors

If You Are Afraid…
Wenn du Angst hast…

Trans Memoria

Trans Memoria 💖, dir. Victoria Verseau, 2024, Sweden/France, 72 min., in Swedish, French, and English, with full English subtitles throughout
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 4:30 pm, Roxie Theater
available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 to 30, 2025

Trans Memoria

Night Stage (Ato Noturno)

Night Stage (Ato Noturno) ❓, dir. Filipe Matzembacher & Marcio Reolon, 2025, Brazil, 119 min., in Portuguese with subtitles
Saturday, June 28, 2025, 5:45 pm, Herbst Theatre
🌎 North American premiere
⚠️ content advisory: graphic violence

Night Stage (Ato Noturno)

Long story short: I thought the last film by this duo (which actually won the Teddy at the Berlinale; this one was only nominated) was awful, so I decided not to spend my precious Pride Weekend time on this one. Here’s my review of Hard Paint (Tinta Bruta) from 2018.

• IMDb • trailer • official website •

Only Good Things (Apenas Coisas Boas)

Only Good Things (Apenas Coisas Boas) 💩, dir. Daniel Nolasco, 2025, Brazil, 104 min., in Portuguese with English subtitles
Friday, July 27, 2025, 8:15 pm, Roxie Theater
🇺🇸 U.S. premiere
⚠️🔞 content advisory: violence, brief explicit sex

Only Good Things (Apenas Coisas Boas)

TL;dr: Don’t waste your time. Note: the rest of this review may contain spoilers.

Assembly

Assembly 💖, dir. Rashaad Newsome & Johnny Symons, 2025, USA, 98 min.
Friday, June 27, 2025, 5:45 pm, Herbst Theatre
available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 to 30, 2025

Assembly

WICKET

WICKET 💖, dir. Lily Plotkin, 2025, USA, 75 min.
Friday, June 27, 2025, 5:45 pm, Roxie Theater
🌐 World premiere

WICKET

A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint

A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint 💖, dir. Oriel Pe’er, 2025, USA, 86 min.
Thursday, June 26, 2026, 8:30 pm, Herbst Theatre
🌐 World premiere

Deeper Love: The Story
of Miss Peppermint

Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

Some Nights I Feel Like Walking 👏, dir. Petersen Vargas, 2024, Philippines/‌Singapore/‌Italy, 103 min., in Tagalog with English subtitles
Thursday, June 26, 2025, 8:30 pm, Roxie Theater
available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 to 30, 2025
⚠️ content advisory: graphic drug misuse, disturbing themes

Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

It’s Dorothy!

It’s Dorothy! 💖, dir. Jeffrey McHale, 2025, USA, 100 min.
Thursday, June 26, 2025, 6:00 pm, Roxie Theater

It’s Dorothy!

Jean Cocteau

Jean Cocteau 💖, documentary, dir. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, 2024, USA, 94 min., in English and French
Thursday, June 26, 1:00 pm, Vogue Theatre

Jean Cocteau
© Boris Lipnitzki

Lucky, Apartment (럭키, 아파트)

Lucky, Apartment (럭키, 아파트) (also known as Leogki, apateu) 👏, dir. Kangyu Garam (강유가람), 2024, South Korea, 96 min., in Korean with subtitles
Thursday, June 26, 2025, 1:00 pm, Roxie Theater
🇺🇸 U.S. premiere
⚠️ content advisory: homophobic language
🏆 honorable mention: 2025 Frameline Best First Narrative Feature jury award

Lucky, Apartment (럭키, 아파트)

Diciannove

Diciannove 😐, dir. Giovanni Tortorici, 2024, Italy/UK, 108 min., in Italian with English subtitles, some parts in English without subtitles
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 7:45 pm, Roxie Theater
⚠️ content advisory: flashing lights, drug/alcohol abuse, talk of self-harm

Diciannove

Drive Back Home

Drive Back Home 💖, dir. Michael Clowater, 2024, Canada, 100 min.
Thursday, June 26, 2025, 5:30 pm, Herbst Theatre
⚠️ content advisory: homophobic violence

Drive Back Home

#300Letters (#300cartas)

#300Letters (#300cartas) 💖, dir. Lucas Santa Ana, 2025, Argentina/UK/Germany, 91 min., in Spanish with English subtitles
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 8:30 pm, Vogue Theatre
⚠️ content advisory: simulated sexual activity

#300Letters (#300cartas)

Coming Attractions: An Orgy of Gay Erotic Movie Trailers

Coming Attractions: An Orgy of Gay Erotic Movie Trailers 🥱, dir. Elizabeth Purchell, 2025, USA, 76 min.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 10:00 pm, Roxie Theater
🌐 World premiere
(preceded by the short 🙂 GANGBANG; see below)
🔞⚠️ content advisory: the main feature contains abundant explicit sex

Coming Attractions: An Orgy
of Gay Erotic Movie Trailers

Perro Perro

Perro Perro 💖 dir. Marco Berger, 2025, Argentina, 101 min., in Spanish with English subtitles
Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 5:45 pm, Vogue Theatre
🌐 World premiere

Perro perro

Touch Me

Touch Me 👏, dir. Addison Heimann, 2025, USA, 100 min.
Monday, June 23, 2025, 7:45 pm, Roxie Theater
⚠️ content advisory: disturbing images

Touch Me

Sandbag Dam

Sandbag Dam (Zečji nasip) 👏, dir. Čejen Černić Čanak, 2025, Croatia/‌Lithuania/‌Slovenia, 88 min., in Croatian with subtitles
Saturday, June 21, 2025, 3:30 pm, Vogue Theatre
⚠️ content advisory: homophobic language

Sandbag Dam (Zečji nasip)

Skinny Love (Einskonar ást)

Skinny Love (Einskonar ást) 👏, dir. Sigurður Anton, 2024, Iceland, 92 min., in Icelandic with English subtitles, but large portions in English without subtitles
Monday, June 23, 2025, 6:00 pm, Vogue Theatre
🌎 North American premiere
also available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 to 30, 2025

Skinny Love

A Night Like This

A Night Like This 👏 (also known as On a Winter Night), dir. Liam Calvert, 2025, UK, 97 min.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 8:00 pm, Vogue Theatre
⚠️ content advisory: discussions and depictions of self-harm, homophobic language

A Night Like This

In the Best Interests of the Children

In the Best Interests of the Children 💖, dir. Frances Reid, Elizabeth Stevens, & Cathy Zheutlin, 1977, USA, 53 min. (newly restored)
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 4:00 pm, Vogue Theatre
(screens with Lesbian Custody in the in-person screening only)
also available in the Digital Screening Room

In the Best Interests of the Children

Lesbian Custody

Lesbian Custody 💖, dir. Samuael Topiary & Molly Skonieczny, 2025, USA, 18 min.
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 4:00 pm Vogue Theatre
(screens in person before 💖 In the Best Interests of the Children)
also part of “Queer Quartet Streaming Shorts” in the Digital Screening Room

Lesbian Custody

I’m Your Venus

I’m Your Venus 💖, dir. Kimberly Reed, 2024, USA, 85 min.
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 6:00 pm, Roxie Theater
🏆 winner: 2025 Frameline Best Documentary Feature jury award

I’m Your Venus
Venus Xtravaganza’s two families meet

To Live, to Die, to Live Again (Vivre, mourir, renaître)

To Live, to Die, to Live Again (Vivre, mourir, renaître) 💖, dir. Gaël Morel, 2024, France, 104 min., in French with subtitles
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 3:30 pm, Vogue Theatre

To Live, to Die, to Live Again
(Vivre, mourir, renaître)
photo ©2024 ARPSelection

We are Faheem and Karun

We are Faheem and Karun, 💖 dir. Onir, written by Fawzia Mirza & Onir, 2024, India, 75 min., in Kashmiri, Hindi, Urdu, English, and Malayalam, with full open captions for the hearing impaired
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 6:00 pm, Vogue Theatre
🌎 North American premiere

We are Faheem and Karun

Thesis on a Domestication (Tesis sobre una domesticación)

Thesis on a Domestication (Tesis sobre una domesticación) 💩🙄🥱👎, dir. Javier van de Couter, 2024, Argentina/Mexico, 113 min., in Spanish with English subtitles
Saturday, June 21, 2025, 8:30 pm, Roxie Theater
⚠️ content advisory: transphobia, explicit sex

Thesis on a Domestication
(Tesis sobre una domesticación)

Baby

Baby 💖, dir. Marcelo Caetano, 2024, Brazil/‌France/‌Netherlands, 106 min., in Portuguese with English subtitles (small portions in English without subtitles)
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 8:30 pm, Vogue Theatre
⚠️ content advisory: themes of assault, R-rated depictions of sex

Baby

Outerlands

Outerlands 👏, dir. Elena Oxman, 2025, USA, 100 min.
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 6:00 pm, New Parkway, Oakland
Friday, June 27, 2025, 12:45 pm, Vogue Theatre

Outerlands

Silent Sparks (愛作歹)

Silent Sparks (愛作歹) 👍, dir. Ping Chu, 2024, Taiwan, 79 min., in Mandarin and Min Nan with English subtitles
Friday, June 20, 2025, 6:00 pm, Roxie Theater
available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 – June 30, 2025

Silent Sparks (愛作歹)

Note: the short film Like What Would Sorrow Look (愁何狀) precedes the in-person screening, but is not available in the Digital Screening Room and was not available for advance review.

The Nature of Invisible Things (A natureza das coisas invisíveis)

The Nature of Invisible Things (A natureza das coisas invisíveis) 💖, dir. Rafeala Camelo, 2025, Brazil/‌Chile, 90 min., in Portuguese with subtitles
Friday, June 20, 2025, 3:30 pm, Roxie Theater
🏳️‍🌈 Queer premiere
🏆 winner: 2025 Frameline Best First Narrative Feature jury award

The Nature of Invisible Things
(A natureza das coisas invisíveis)

Queer Quartet (streaming shorts)

“Queer Quartet” (streaming-only shorts program)
available in the Digital Streaming Room, June 23 to June 30, 2025
(each short also screens in person in the festival, but not together as a group)

Another compilation program of shorts for streaming only:

• Unholy 🙂, dir. Daisy Friedman, 2025, USA, 13 min., theater screening in the “Outside Voices: New Leaders in Queer Cinema Supported by Colin Higgins Foundation” shorts program, Film Queen Review
  
  
• Lesbian Custody 💖, dir. Samuael Topiary & Molly Skonieczny, 2025, USA, 18 min., theater screening with 💖 In the Best Interests of the Children
  
  
• You Don’t Have to Like Me 💖, dir. Safiyah Chiniere, 2023, USA, 10 min., theater screening in the “It’s a Family Affair” shorts program, Film Queen Review;
  (also screened at QWOCFF 2024)
  
  
• Māhū: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter 💖, dir. Lisette Marie Flanary, 2025, USA, 30 min., screened separately with a live performance, Film Queen Review

Mahu: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter

Sauna

Sauna 💖, dir. Mathias Broe, 2025, Denmark, 103 min., in Danish, English, and Swedish with subtitles
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 6:00 pm, New Parkway, Oakland
⚠️ content advisory: transphobia

Sauna

Valencia

Valencia 🫤, dir. Aubree Bernier-Clarke, Silas Howard, Cheryl Dunye, et al., 2013, USA, 106 min.
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 3:30 pm, Roxie Theater
followed by a walking tour with Michelle Tea herself, hence the program title “(Return to) Valencia”
film available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 to 30, 2025

Valencia

The Meatrack (1970)

The Meatrack 🫤, dir. Mike Thomas, 1970, USA, 65 min.
Thursday, June 26, 2025, 3:30 pm, Vogue Theatre
🌐 World premiere of the 4K restoration
⚠️ content advisory: homophobia, frontal nudity, graphic sex scenes 🔞

The Meatrack (1970)

Jimpa

Jimpa 💖, dir. Sophie Hyde, 2025, Australia/Netherlands/Finland, 123 min., in English with small portions in Dutch or Finnish with subtitles
Wednesday, June 18, 2025, 7:00 pm, Toni Rembe Theater

Jimpa
photo: Mark De Blok; cropped from original

Between Goodbyes

Between Goodbyes 💖, dir. Jota Mun, 2024, USA/South Korea, 96 min., in English, and in Korean and Dutch with English subtitles
Thursday, June 19, 2025, 3:30 pm, Roxie Theater

Between Goodbyes

Carpobrotus

Carpobrotus 👏, dir. Simon Frenay, 2024, France, 22 min., in French with English subtitles
screens before Queerpanorama, Sunday, June 22, 2025, 6:00 pm, Vogue
part of the “Wild Combination” shorts program in the Digital Screening Room

Carpobrotus

Four Mothers

Four Mothers 💖, dir. Darren Thornton, 2024, Ireland/UK, 89 min.
Saturday, June 21, 2025, 6:00 pm, Vogue Theatre

Four Mothers

Queerpanorama

Queerpanorama (眾生相) 👏, dir. Jun Li, 2025, Hong Kong/USA/China, 87 min., in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Persian/Farsi, and Thai, with subtitles only for the Mandarin dialogue
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 6:00 pm, Vogue Theatre
(preceded by the short film Carpobrotus; see separate review)
⚠️ content advisory: sexually explicit content 🔞

Queerpanorama

Really Happy Someday

Really Happy Someday 💖, dir. J. Stevens, 2024, Canada, 90 min.
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 1:00 pm, Vogue Theatre, 🇺🇸 US Premiere
(screens with the short Tessitura, reviewed separately)

Really Happy Someday

River of Grass

River of Grass 💖, dir. Sasha Wortzel, 2025, USA, 83 min.
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 3:30 pm, New Parkway, Oakland

River of Grass

Room Temperature

Room Temperature 💩🙄🥱😑, dir. Dennis Cooper & Zac Farley, 2025, USA/France, 92 min.
Friday, June 20, 2025, 8:30 pm, Roxie Theater
⚠️ content advisory: disturbing themes

Room Temperature

Tessitura

Tessitura 👏, dir. Lydia Cornett & Brit Fryer, 2025, USA, 18 min.
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 1:00 pm, Vogue Theatre
(screens before the feature film Really Happy Someday)
🏆 winner: 2025 Frameline Best Documentary Short jury award

Tessitura

Wild Combination Streaming Shorts

“Wild Combination” (shorts program)
available in the Digital Screening Room only
(each short screens in person, but not together as a group)

For each film, the first link is to the Frameline page for that specific short. The second link is to the Film Queen Review entry containing my full review.

• A Bird Hit My Window and Now I’m a Lesbian 👏 (from “Outside Voices”), dir. AJ Dubler & Carmela Murphy, 2024, USA, 8 min.
  🏆 winner: 2025 Colin Higgins Foundation award
  
  
• Carpobrotus 👏 (reviewed separately, paired with Queerpanorama, FQR entry), dir. Simon Frenay, 2024, France, 22 min.
  
  
• Baba, I’m Fine 💖 (from “Outside Voices”), dir. Karina Dandashi, 2025, USA, 13 min.
  
  
• Who Raised You? 👍 (from “It’s a Family Affair”), dir. Dani Guzman, 2025, USA, 10 min.
  
  
• Orgy Every Other Day 👍 (from “Queer Quickies”), dir. Samuel Döring, 2024, Germany/USA, 13 min.

QWOCFF 2025 wrap-up and streaming encore

Three days, 49 films (five shorts programs and two feature-length documentaries), glow-in-the-dark bowling (sorry I had to skip out on that part!) and a reception for the 25th anniversary of QWOCMAP (the organization). That’s a wrap on the 21st annual Queer Women of Color Film Festival.

QWOCFF delivered again with consistently high-quality films on a range of topics. I can’t say that I loved every film, but even the few I didn’t much care for were okay, and there were 17 shorts plus both features that I rated as “must see,” and only 7 shorts I rated anything less than “highly recommended.”

If you see something in the program that you really want to see, don’t despair just yet: there will be a streaming encore in mid-September, so get on the QWOCMAP mailing list to get all the details.

QWOCFF 2025 Closing Night: We’re Here, We’re Queer

“We’re Here, We’re Queer” (shorts program)
Closing Night Screening
Sunday, June 15, 2025, 7:00 pm, Presidio Theater, 99 Moraga Ave., SF
⚠️ content advisories: (see individual listings below)

(This program is a mix of short documentaries, narrative shorts, and other works.)

• I AM GLITCHING 👏, narrative, dir. Salma Parra, 2024, Germany, 7 min., no dialogue
• The Talk 👏, documentary, dir. Ella Saini, 2022, Canada, 4 min.
• Why I Give Up Perfectionism 👏, dir. Mecedes Lindsay, 2025, USA, 2 min.
• ⚠️ OMANG 💖, documentary, dir. Durvie Morake, 2023, Botswana, 30 min.
• ⚠️ HAIR: Empowering Expression 👏, documentary, dir. Bianca Langlois & Zaniyyah Johnson, 2025, USA, 6 min.
• Mother of the Closet 💖, narrative, dir. Chidera Orazulike & Yliana Roland, 2024, USA, 11 min.
• To Speedy with Love 👏, dir. Kenny Cuello, 2025, USA, 5 min.
• My Favorite Plankton 🙂, dir. Jasmine Liang, 2025, USA, 4 min.
• ⚠️ Bathroom Attendant 👏, narrative, dir. Gabriella Mykal, 2024, USA, 5 min.
• LOLO 💖, narrative, dir. Ana Gabriela Gutiérrez Salgado, 2024, Mexico, 15 min., in Spanish with English subtitles

QWOCFF 2025 Centerpiece: Unapologetic Legacies

“Unapologetic Legacies” (shorts program)
Centerpiece Screening
Sunday, June 15, 2025, 12:00 noon, Presidio Theater, 99 Moraga Ave., SF
⚠️ content advisories: (see individual listings below)

• ⚠️ Mi Ofrenda 👏, narrative, dir. Melba Martinez, 2024, USA, 5 min., in English, Spanish, and Spanglish with full English and Spanish subtitles
• The Boy Who Cheated Death 🙂, narrative, dir. Pipou Phuong Nguyen, 2025, France, 5 min., no dialogue
• Trance 🫤, dir. Bahr Tama, 2025, USA, 6 min., no dialogue
• ⚠️ Eternal 👏, narrative, dir. Lusi Wang & Lazuli Trujano, 2025, USA, 6 min.
• ⚠️ GHOST TOWN 🫤, dir. Sophia Leál, 2025, USA, 5 min.
• ⚠️ I’m Dead, Right? 💖, narrative, dir. J. Mehr Kaur, 2024, USA, 15 min.
• ⚠️ Sister Salad Days 💖, narrative, dir. Adesola Thomas, 2023, USA, 18 min.
• ⚠️ FORever feroshUS 💖, narrative, dir. Naya Ryan Rashad, 2024, USA, 13 min.
• Don’t Cry for Me, All You Drag Queens 💖, documentary, dir. Kristal Sotomayor, 2023, USA, 9 min.
• ⚠️ To Build a Monument 👏, documentary, dir. Laissa Alexis, 2024, USA, 11 min.

QWOCFF 2025 Centerpiece: Queer Mischief

“Queer Mischief” (shorts program)
Saturday Centerpiece Screening
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 7:00 pm Presidio Theater, 99 Moraga Ave., SF
⚠️ content advisories: (see individual listings below)

• ⚠️ Play it Like it’s ’54 👏, dir. Nova Duarte Martinez, 2024, USA, 12 min., in English and Yue Chinese (Cantonese) with full English subtitles
• ⚠️ In This Moment 🙄, dir. Chicahua Zipactonal Martínez & Neka Cecilia Knowles, 2024, USA, 38 min.
• ⚠️ Your Next Door Neighbours 🙂, dir. Ana Jimenez, 2023, Canada, 8 min., in Spanish with full English subtitles
• Dirty Dance Heartbreak 👏, dir. Ginger Yifan Chen, 2025, USA, 4 min.
• ⚠️ Troubled Connexxxions 👏, dir. E’Niyah Wilson, 2025, USA, 6 min.
• ⚠️ Cape Town Royalty Programme 💖, dir. Max Fouchee, 2023, South Africa, 7 min.
• ⚠️ Swallow It 💖, dir. Eden Savage, 2024, USA, 10 min.
• ⚠️ Me Porto Bonita 🫤, dir. Cecilia Romo, 19 min., in English and Spanish with full English subtitles

QWOCFF 2025 Featured Screening: Standing Above the Clouds

Standing Above the Clouds 💖, dir. Jalena Keane-Lee, 2024, USA, 82 min.
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 5:00 pm Presidio Theater, 99 Moraga Ave., SF

Standing Above the Clouds

QWOCFF blurb: Through the stories of Indigenous mothers and daughters who have sustained the largest political movement in modern Hawaiian history, this film explores intergenerational healing and the social and emotional labor of retaining ancient ceremonies in a rapidly modernizing world.

“Best social impact documentary” at hotdocs 2024; “Best made-in-Hawai‘i feature documentary” at the Hawai‘i International Film Festival 2024, “People’s choice” at the Māoriland Film Festival 2025.

Despite the presence of 13 telescopes atop Mauna Kea, each project promising to be the last one, each promising to be environmentally responsible and then releasing toxic chemicals into the soil, scientists wanted to build a massive new telescope, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), with a mirror 100 feet in diameter, housed in a building 18 stories tall. Some of the local native Hawai‘ians decided they had had enough, and began protests that successfully stalled the project until finally, just a few days ago, the National Science Foundation dropped funding for the TMT, putting the plans in indefinite suspension.

I will admit to a certain degree of split loyalties. Building a 30-meter telescope would truly advance science tremendously, increasing our understanding of the entire universe, and Mauna Kea is uniquely well suited as a location for that telescope. But at the same time, the disregard for the indigenous population over many decades, even by their own state government, is shameful. If a way can be found to move forward on the Thirty Meter Telescope, it will have to be arm in arm with the native Hawai‘ians, not over their entrenched objections.

Standing Above the Clouds is a powerful documentary about the ability of people to organize for a cause they hold dear, a cause with resonances not only throughout Hawai‘i and the Pacific islands, but for indigenous communities worldwide. It’s a must see.

• IMDb • trailer • watch the 2019 documentary short • official website •

QWOCFF 2025 Centerpiece: Think Global, Act Local

“Think Global, Act Local” (shorts program)
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 12:00 noon, Presidio Theater, 99 Moraga Ave., SF
⚠️ content advisories: (see individual listings below)

• ⚠️ WIPEOUTS 💖, documentary, dir. Nesrine Majzoub, 2024, USA, 14 min.
• ⚠️ What Would You Tell Your Past Self? 👏, dir. Nyah Renee Edington, 2025, USA, 9 min.
• ⚠️ (Invisible) Ultra Violet 👏, narrative, dir. Beli Sullivan, 2024, USA, 5 min.
• ⚠️ Ardent Dissonance Harmonic Discord (Super Emotional) 👏, dir. Emily Park, 2025, USA, 4 min.
• Memories on Rewind 👏, narrative, dir. Lynette Esparza, 2025, USA, 3 min.
• ⚠️ Where do we go? 👏, dir. Shabnam Singla, 2025, USA, 5 min.
• Miss you 👏, dir. Yen-Vy Ngo, 2023, USA, 6 min.
• ⚠️ silence as resistance 👏, dir. Xahej Bajipura, 2025, USA, 8 min., in English and Hindi with full English subtitles
• ⚠️ Land’s End/토지의 끝 👏, dir. haejin bang, 2025, USA, 8 min., in Korean and English with full English subtitles
• ⚠️ Self Portrait 👏, dir. Sage Tran, 2024, USA, 7 min.
• ⚠️ and the wind answered 💖, dir. Peace Waters, 2025, USA, 7 min.
• PARAMITA 💖, dir. Kirthi Nath, 2023, USA, 24 min.

QWOCFF 2025 Opening Night: Liberatory Black Futures

“Liberatory Black Futures” (shorts program)
Friday, June 13, 2025, 7:00 pm Presidio Theater, 99 Moraga Ave., SF
⚠️ content advisories: (see individual listings below)

• The Aunties 💖, documentary, dir. Charlyn Griffith-Oro & Jeannine Kayembe-Oro, 2023, USA, 6 min.
• ⚠️ Absolve at the Water 👏, experimental documentary, dir. Maia Helvy, 2023, USA, 2 min.
• RENEGADES: Celestine Tate Harrington: Building a Legacy 💖, documentary, dir. Cashmere Jasmine, 2024, USA, 13 min.
• ⚠️ Ready for War 👏, experimental dance, dir. Yvonne Onakeme Etaghene, 2025, USA, 8 min.
• Come Dance with Me 💖, experimental dance, dir. nwaọ, 2024, USA, 8 min.
• ⚠️ KULTUR 💖, experimental narrative, dir. Asari Aibangbee, 2023, USA, 20 min.
• ⚠️ Chestbound 💖, narrative, dir. Janine Anne Uyanga, 2024, USA, 18 min.