“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 π
- ⚠️In This Moment, dir. Chicahua Zipactonal MartΓnez & Neka Cecilia Knowles, 2024, USA, 38 min. π
- ⚠️Your Next Door Neighbours, dir. Ana Jimenez, 2023, Canada, 8 min., in Spanish with full English subtitles π
- Dirty Dance Heartbreak, dir. Ginger Yifan Chen, 2025, USA, 4 min. π
- ⚠️Troubled Connexxxions, dir. E’Niyah Wilson, 2025, USA, 6 min. π
- ⚠️Cape Town Royalty Programme, dir. Max Fouchee, 2023, South Africa, 7 min. π
- ⚠️Swallow It, dir. Eden Savage, 2024, USA, 10 min. π
- ⚠️Me Porto Bonita, dir. Cecilia Romo, 19 min., in English and Spanish with full English subtitles π«€
Play it Like it’s ’54, dir. Nova Duarte Martinez, 2024, USA, 12 min., in English and Yue Chinese (Cantonese) with full English subtitles π
⚠️ content advisory: homophobia, racism, state violence
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| Play It Like It’s 54 |
QWOCFF blurb: In 1950s San Francisco, a young Chinese-American steps into the city’s first lesbian bar.
In a sweet tribute to early queer bars, when police raids were still a common feature, we visit Mona’s 440, the first lesbian bar in San Francisco. Well done, worth seeing. Highly recommended.
• IMDb • trailer • official website • Instagram: @PlayItLikeIts54Film •
In This Moment, dir. Chicahua Zipactonal MartΓnez & Neka Cecilia Knowles, 2024, USA, 38 min., in English and ASL with full English subtitles π
⚠️ content advisory: language
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| In This Moment |
QWOCFF blurb: A polyamorous trans Latina navigates the world to find the love she needs and deserves.
Love is a polyamorous transwoman, living with one of her boyfriends, Rickey, while maintaining a long-distance relationship with Kai. The relationship with Rickey is coming apart, but Love is afraid that Kai might be a mirage. She meets Jay and immediately feels a strong connection. Her bitchy friend Catalina does her best to screw up Love’s life, leaving us to wonder why anyone would be friends with Catalina, given that the character is not shown with any redeeming qualities whatsoever. She’s nasty, judgmental, and invasive.
Unfortunately, the whole story is paced far too slowly, stepping over the line from giving the scene space to breathe and dragging the scene out. Catalina is the most puzzling character, but some of the other interactions just didn’t ring true. On the whole, it was unsatisfying. Not recommended, in spite of the interesting scene with a conversation in ASL.
• IMDb • trailer • official website • Chicahua Zipactonal Martinez •
Your Next Door Neighbours, dir. Ana Jimenez, 2023, Canada, 8 min., in Spanish with full English subtitles π
⚠️ content advisory: homophobia
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| Your Next Door Neighbours |
QWOCFF blurb: A Latina mother struggles to accept her quirky family before a dinner with grandma.
This short film is a pilot for a sitcom, complete with a laugh track. It has some clever ideas, but unfortunately the execution is rather unpolished. Some of the acting looks like a high school class play. Still, it’s amusing, so I’ll give it a “recommended.”
• IMDb • trailer • official website • watch on YouTube •
Dirty Dance Heartbreak, music video, dir. Ginger Yifan Chen, 2025, USA, 4 min. π
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| Dirty Dance Heartbreak |
QWOCFF blurb: An Asian woman’s alter egos come out during therapy.
Music video for a song by Nobody’s Girl, who also had a music video, π Can I Have Her Number, in last year’s QWOCFF. This year’s entry is a catchy number, with some very entertaining visuals, definitely worth seeing. Highly recommended. Look for it on Vevo soon.
• IMDb (director) • trailer • official website • Instagram: @VyVerseMedia @GingerYChen @ItsNobodysGirl • Artist Nobody’s Girl on YouTube •
Troubled Connexxxions, dir. E’Niyah Wilson, 2025, USA, 6 min. π
⚠️ content advisory: partial nudity, explicit descriptions of sex
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| Troubled Connexxxions |
QWOCFF blurb: A disabled Black phone sex operator has a zany session with a white client.
If it has the ring of truth, that’s because it’s based on lived experience. As the filmmaker notes, sex work is real work, and should be respected and valued, whether it’s in person, online, or over the phone. That said, the scenario shown in this short might be enough to dissuade you from doing phone sex work.
It’s worth seeing, though, for the window into a world that is too often hidden in the dark corners of society. Highly recommended. Note: there is explicit sex talk, but not explicit sexual activity, shown in this short. It is not suitable for pre-teens, but should be okay for mature teens.
• IMDb • trailer • official website • allyship resources [π on an adult site] •
Cape Town Royalty Programme, dir. Max Fouchee, 2023, South Africa, 7 min. π
⚠️ content advisory: displacement
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| Cape Town Royalty Programme |
QWOCFF blurb: A Black woman scrambles to thwart a misleading ad marketing Cape Town to wealthy Europeans.
Come buy an apartment and price the locals out of the neighborhood! Exploit their labor for pitiful wages! A Black woman is filming for an ad campaign to sell luxury Cape Town apartments to wealthy foreigners, but she finds the reality of what she is doing intruding into the pitch, going off script in some very amusing ways. It’s got some pointed social commentary, but also a sense of humor. Must see.
• IMDb • trailer • official website • watch online for free [with registration] • Instagram: @SoundCameraDala •
Swallow It, dir. Eden Savage, 2024, USA, 10 min. π
⚠️ content advisory: drug use, language
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| Swallow It |
QWOCFF blurb: A broke, overworked Black production assistant bets it all on a high-stakes pool competition.
Do you dream about zebras? Dae does, but also needs money for rent right away, working as a P.A. on a couple of different jobs, but goes out for drinks with coworkers and finds out about a pool tournament with a grand prize of … just what they need for rent money! Of course, the plot takes some surreal twists and turns from there, but I don’t want to spoil it. Very amusing, well done, twisted in a good way. Must see.
• IMDb • trailer • official website • Instagram: @edenn420 •
Me Porto Bonita, dir. Cecilia Romo, 2024, USA, 19 min., in English and Spanish with full English subtitles π«€
⚠️ content advisory: grief
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| Me Porto Bonita |
QWOCFF blurb: For two Latinas, a joyride through Sacramento escalates into an adventure of revenge and exposed secrets.
Valentina (left) is still moping about her relationship with Elle, so Lorena (right) picks her up for a ride around Sacramento to do a bit of thrift store shopping, get some food, get some revenge, and spill some tea.
Unfortunately, I found neither of the main characters likable, and the story was more irritating than funny, on top of which the thrift store scene went on much longer than it should have. It was great fun to film, I’m sure, but not nearly as much fun to watch. Not recommended.
• IMDb • trailer • official website •
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