SATURDAY, SEPT 30, 2023 \\ 11:00 AM \\ 🔷 VISTA THEATER \\ 4 short films: Women on Watch (image), Pussy Love, Forgiving Charity, Fernanda

SATURDAY, SEPT 30 \\ 11:00 AM \\ 🔴 FCC THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY RICHARD FINN GREGORY \\ SOUTH AFRICA \\ ENGLISH, ARABIC, SWAHILI \\ ENGLISH SUBTITLES \\ 87 MINS \\ ✝️☪️ RELIGIOUS FILM SERIES \\ THE RADICAL is an intimate portrait of the world’s first openly gay imam. Muhsin Hendricks was a fashion designer in South Africa, who struggled to reconcile his sexuality with his faith. He studied in Pakistan to become an imam—a religious leader—so that he could understand Islam more deeply. After deciding that he had to be truthful to himself and the world, he came out in 1995, and established the radically-inclusive mosque in Cape Town that gave rise to the global queer Muslim network. Today, Hendricks leads a devoted group of LGBTQ+ Muslims and allies, based in a working-class neighborhood of the city. He decides to take his work to where it is needed most: the East African communities living under anti-LGBTQ+ laws. The film provides first-person accounts of growing up queer in a society caught between the liberalism of the South African Constitution and the conservativeness of its cultures and history. In the wider African context, it chronicles individual journeys to acceptance amidst the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights on the continent. This film contains descriptions of homophobic violence.

Saturday, Sept 30, 2023 \\ 🔴 FCC THEATRE \\ ✝️☪️ RELIGIOUS FILM SERIES \\ Religious Film Series includes access to all three films + interview with 1946’s Edward Oxford + local religious leaders panel moderated by Paul Swearengin. \\ 11:00 AM \\ The Radical: Muhsin Hendricks is the world's first openly gay imam. Despite opposition, he established a radically inclusive mosque in Cape Town. Now, he fights for LGBTQ Muslims to be embraced in the countries where their existence is outlawed.\\ 1:00 PM \\ 1946: The MistranslationThat Shifted Culture: Researchers trace the origins of the Christian anti-gay movement to a mistranslation of the Bible in 1946. \\ 3:00 pm \\ Interview with 1946’s Edward Oxford and Local Religious Leaders Discussion moderated by Paul Swearengin, “Unconventional Pastor Paul” \\ 4:30 PM \\ Wonderfully Made: As religious discrimination against LGBTQ+ people intensifies in the US and abroad, a team of creatives upends 1700 years of religious iconography by producing photo art depicting Jesus as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

SATURDAY, SEPT 30, 2023 \\ 12:00 PM \\ 🌈 TOWER THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY JASON KARMAN \\ CANADA \\ ENGLISH \\ 120 MINS \\ Everyone wants something from high school senior Jake: his father is pushing him to try out for the basketball team—an abandoned dream of his own—and his girlfriend wants to take their relationship to the next level. But it’s not until Aleks, an openly gay teen with a love for basketball, moves in across the street that Jake begins to struggle with his own desires. To get closer to Aleks, Jake devotes himself to making the basketball team—only to realize it’s not basketball he really wants. Meanwhile, Jake finds out that his father is having an affair, which leaves him questioning his entire family foundation. Distraught and confused, Jake pulls away—until he’s finally outed as gay. With the truth in the open, Jake and his father come to terms with the reality of their relationship and expectations for each other. At last able to find the courage to be himself, Jake is ready to face the future with his family and friends by his side.

SATURDAY, SEPT 30 \\ 1:00 PM \\ 🔴 FCC THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY SHARON “ROCKY” ROGGIO \\ USA \\ ENGLISH \\ 92 MINS \\ ✝️☪️ RELIGIOUS FILM SERIES \\ 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture is a feature documentary that follows the story of tireless researchers who trace the origins of the anti-gay movement among Christians to a grave mistranslation of the Bible in 1946. The film chronicles the discovery of never-before-seen archives at Yale University which unveil astonishing new revelations, and casts significant doubt on any biblical basis for LGBTQIA+ prejudice. Featuring commentary from prominent scholars as well as opposing pastors, including the personal stories of the film’s creators, 1946 is at once challenging, enlightening, and inspiring. This film discusses homophobia. Please Join Us After the Film for a Discussion with 1946's Ed Oxford and Local Religious Leaders Moderated by Paul Swearengin, “Unconventional Pastor Paul”

SATURDAY, SEPT 30, 2023 \\ 1:30 PM \\ 🔷 VISTA THEATER \\ 7 short films: Aikane (image), Raizes, Queen Bees, Stone, Bound: A Film on Liberation Through Rope Bondage, Lemon, Sanaa - Seductress of Strangers

SATURDAY, SEPT 30 \\ 2:00 PM \\ 🌈 TOWER THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY JOSEPH AMENTA \\ CANADA \\ ENGLISH, TAGALOG \\ ENGLISH SUBTITLES \\ 87 MINS \\ Three queer adolescent friends living in the underbelly of Toronto, each reveling in the newfound freedom of their summer break. Julien, a runaway, has been taken in by Dawn, a trans woman who has adopted the role of guiding him through the challenges of being a young queer carving out a place for himself in the world. Julien, alongside his youthful gang, is determined to sneak into a local gay club this summer, yearning for the experience behind its forbidden walls. Otis, a timid boy, follows Julien with intrigue and adoration for his effortless irreverence, while Tony, a bright young trans girl brings spirit and optimism to the group. Julien, Otis, and Tony succeed in their nightlife mission by stealing the wallet of a man that Dawn seems to know intimately. However, when Dawn fails to return home later that night, the trio band together to find her. Untrusting of authority, they hatch a plan to confront the man whose wallet they stole, ultimately setting fire to the double life he leads. As Julien sinks deeper and deeper into his guilt, a brutal discovery reveals how much darker the journey for truth really is. This film includes adolescent drinking, language, homophobia, homicide, implied sexual violence/rape, drugs, sex and sex work.

SATURDAY, SEPT 30 \\ 4:00 PM \\ 🌈 TOWER THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY ERYNN DALTON \\ USA \\ ENGLISH \\ 80 MINS \\ Set in the steamy, spooky underworld of New Orleans, Big Easy Queens is 80 minutes of pure queer horror with original musical numbers, voodoo, zombies, drag queens, and campy neo-giallo delight soaked in blood, gristle, and glitter, oh my. In this righteous "glam horror" extravaganza, Big Easy Queens follows Minnie Bouvèé, Mob Queen of the Quarter, and her rivalry with her arch-nemesis, Poodles Makenzie. After Minnie Bouvèé has Poodles Makenzie's crew brutally slaughtered, she braces for the blowback; what she doesn't expect, however, is to be stalked by a creepy masked figure who leaves behind bouquets of gardenias and terrifying notes. Is this Poodles' revenge, or the work of Minnie's estranged sister who stole her man years ago and has suddenly reappeared in her life? This film includes satirical violence, murder, and gore. Q&A with Terry Hardacre and Miss Bouvèé of Big Easy Queens immediately following, in the Reel Pride Lounge.

SATURDAY, SEPT 30, 2023 \\ 5:30 PM \\ 🌈 TOWER THEATRE \\ 4 short films: Thirty-Nine in the Desert (image), Oral History, The Haunted Baby Carriage from Hell, Shafted

SATURDAY, SEPT 30 \\ 4:30 PM \\ 🔴 FCC THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY YUVAL DAVID \\ USA \\ ENGLISH \\ 95 MINS \\ ✝️☪️ RELIGIOUS FILM SERIES \\ Jesus is one of the most well-known figures in history. Since he roamed the hills of Palestine 2000 years ago, billions of people from myriad nations have followed his teaching that all are welcome and that every person is created to love and be loved. Yet despite the many ethnicities and identities of his followers, Jesus almost always has been depicted in paintings, sculptures, and film as a white, blond-haired, blue-eyed, cisgender male. The film makers seek change by shattering centuries of religious imagery and iconography that always depicts Jesus the same way. They brought together and led a team of creatives of unique talent to create photo art of nine models of diverse ethnicities, races, genders, and sexual and gender identities depicting Jesus as one of them. Never before has the world seen a Black or Latinx or Asian or female or gay or lesbian or non-binary or transgender Jesus praying for peace for all peoples; beaten senseless, as so many LGBTQ+ have been; or crowned with thorns and hanging on a cross, bleeding the colors of the rainbow. This film discusses homophobia related violence.

SATURDAY, SEPT 30, 2023 \\ 4:30 PM \\ 🔷 VISTA THEATER \\ DIRECTED BY V.T. NAYANI \\ CANADA \\ ENGLISH, TAMIL, MOHAWK, PERSIAN, FRENCH \\ SUBTITLED \\ 87 MINS \\ Two young women navigate love for the first time. Kawenniióhstha, half-Iranian and half-Mohawk, has just moved to Toronto, to pursue her dream of becoming a poet. Raised by her single Kanien'kehá:ka mother in Kahnawà:ke Mohawk territory, she never knew her dad. Her estranged father also lives in Toronto but he does not know she exists. She yearns to meet him, but struggles to make contact. Malai's father's alcoholism reaches its peak after her mother dies, pushing her to leave home with her elder brother. Years later, as her father battles terminal cancer, she tries to reconcile with him, while navigating her brother’s refusal to do the same. Through two families complicated by love and loss, this film intimately explores the stories of those living in the liminal space between cultures, displaced both at home and abroad. At the centre of it all remains Kawenniióhstha and Malai, whose journeys we follow together and apart. This film discusses colonialism, civil war, violence, and death.

SATURDAY, SEPT 30 \\ 7:00 PM \\ 🌈 TOWER THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY MANUEL ABRAMOVICH \\ BRAZIL, ARGENTINA, FRANCE \\ SPANISH & ENGLISH \\ ENGLISH SUBTITLES \\ 94 MINS \\ Lalo is a sex-influencer: he posts photos of his naked body and homemade porn videos for his thousands of followers on social networks. Lalo directs his own life, but in private, out of character, he seems to live in permanent melancholy. Where does desire itself go when life turns into a sex show? Pornomelancolia takes pornography as a starting point to reflect on the relationship between sexuality and work, on being public and feeling alone, on the characters that we build to show ourselves (or hide) from the world. This film contains sexually explicit content.

SUNDAY, OCT 1, 2023 \\ 12:00 PM \\ 🌈 TOWER THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY ANDREA PALLAORO \\ ITALY \\ ENGLISH \\ 110 MINS \\ MONICA is an intimate portrait of a woman who returns home after a long absence to confront the wounds of her past. Reconnecting with her mother (Patricia Clarkson) and the rest of her family for the first time since leaving as a teenager, Monica (Trace Lysette) embarks on a path of healing and acceptance. The film delves into Monica’s internal world and state of mind, her pain and fears, her needs and desires, to explore the universal themes of abandonment and forgiveness. Rated R, sexually explicit content

SUNDAY, OCT 1, 2023 \\ 12:15 PM \\ 🔷 VISTA THEATER \\ DIRECTED BY ELLA VON DER HAIDE \\ USA \\ ENGLISH \\ GERMAN SUBTITLES \\ 79 MINS \\ Queerness was and sometimes still is considered “un-natural.” Queer gardening challenges this “un-naturalness” by creating queer-feminist ecologies. This documentary examines what horticultures look like when binaries such as nature/culture, human/more-than-human and body/ environment are deconstructed in creative ways. 18 interviews with LGBTQ+ gardeners about their relationships with plants and the land. These conversations take place in a variety of gardens, from urban vegetable production in Oakland to a community space garden in NYC, from a project to care for indigenous native apple trees in British Columbia to a reforestation project in Tennessee.

SUNDAY, OCT 1, 2023 \\ 2:30 PM \\ 🌈 TOWER THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY ALEXANDRIA BOMBACH \\ USA \\ ENGLISH \\ 123 MINS \\ With forty years of making music as the iconic folk-rock band Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have made their mark as musicians, songwriters, and dedicated activists. They have represented radical self-acceptance to many – leading now multiple generations of fans to say, “the Indigo Girls saved my life.” Still, Amy and Emily battled misogyny, homophobia, and a harsh cultural climate chastising them for not fitting into a female pop star mold. With joy, humor, and heartwarming moments, Sundance award-winning director Alexandria Bombach brings us into a contemporary conversation with Amy and Emily – alongside decades of the band's home movies and intimate present-day verité. This film contains misogyny and homophobia.

SUNDAY, OCT 1, 2023 \\ 3:30 PM \\ 🔷 VISTA THEATER \\ DIRECTED BY SARAH KAMBE HOLLAND \\ USA \\ ENGLISH \\ 87 MINS \\ Teenagers Egghead (Louis Tomeo) and Twinkie (Sabrina Jie-A-Fa) have been best friends since childhood, but recently they’ve been keeping secrets from each other. Egghead has a secret crush on Twinkie. Twinkie is a lesbian infatuated with social media star, BD (Ayden Lee). These awkward truths come to light when Egghead tries to kiss Twinkie, spurring her to come out to her conservative parents and take off on a road trip with Egghead along for the ride. The problem? Egghead doesn’t know that the real purpose of the trip is for Twinkie to meet BD in person, and BD might not be everything she appears to be online.

SUNDAY, OCT 1, 2023 \\ 6:00 PM \\ 🔷 VISTA THEATER \\ DIRECTED BY TREVOR ANDERSON \\ CANADA \\ ENGLISH \\ 90 MINS \\ This hilarious and nail-biting roller coaster ride through teen angst, crushes and friendships breathes new life into the well-trodden genre of 1980s high-school comedy-drama. Robin, an androgynous newcomer at school, refuses to join the binary world of single-sex sports teams. Overturning expectations that the story will venture down the rocky road of bullying over their gender identity, Robin starts hanging out as one of the boys, developing a crush on Carter, the meanest tearaway. There is little wrangling over who might be gay or trans, and as the characters’ moral compasses evolve, the film widens its perspective, grappling with our flaws and what drives us to rebel. This film contains bullying and adolescent drinking.

SUNDAY, OCT 1 \\ 6:00 PM \\ 🌈 TOWER THEATRE \\ DIRECTED BY BILL OLIVER \\ USA \\ ENGLISH \\ 104 MINS \\ Nicky (Luke Evans), a book publisher devoted to his work, lives with his husband Gabriel (Billy Porter), a former actor and stay-at-home dad, and their eight-year-old son, Owen. Gabriel loves Owen more than anything; Nicky loves Gabriel more than anything. Despite appearances, Gabriel has been dissatisfied with their marriage for some time and files for divorce, leading to a custody battle that forces both of them to confront the changing reality of their love for each other and for their son. This film contains sex, drug use, and language.

Fresno Reel Pride's Directors' Club Pass includes: 3-day access pass to all Reel Pride 34 films, priority admission to theatres, access to Friday's Opening Night Kick-Off Party, access to Closing Night event

Reel Pride's Directors' Gold includes: Sunday's Champagne Brunch, One (1) Reel Pride Outside event ticket in 2023, plus 3-day access pass to all Reel Pride 34 films, priority admission to theatres, access to Friday's Opening Night Kick-Off Party, and access to Closing Night event

Reel Pride's Endowment Circle includes: Thank you slide shown before all films, Sunday's Champagne Brunch, Two (2) Reel Pride Outside event ticket in 2023, plus 3-day access pass to all Reel Pride 34 films, priority admission to theatres, access to Friday's Opening Night Kick-Off Party, and access to Closing Night event