August Events...

Long Beach Q Film Festival

Long Beach Q Film Festival

Friday, 05 September 2025 until Sunday, 07 September 2025

The Long Beach QFilm Festival (QFilms) is the city's oldest film festival and the only film festival dedicating to showcasing the rich diversity of LGBTQ stories. For nearly 30 years, this event has been welcoming thousands of movie lovers, industry professionals, and community members to attend screenings, parties, mixers, and Q&As with filmmakers. QFilms is the second largest LGBTQ cultural event in Long Beach and the LGBTQ cultural event of the year, every year!

QFilms is held by The LGBTQ Center Long Beach, a community organization serving 25,000 people a year. The LGBTQ Center Long Beach advances equity for LGBTQ people through culturally responsive advocacy, education, programs, and services.

All films selected to screen at QFilms can use “Official Selection of 2025 Long Beach QFilm Festival” logo sent to filmmakers upon invitation to screen at festival.

QFilms presents Jury Awards. Awards include:

Men's Content Category
1. Best Feature Length Narrative Film
2. Best Feature Length Documentary Film
3. Best Short Film

Women's Content Category
1. Best Feature Length Narrative Film
2. Best Feature Length Documentary Film
3. Best Short Film

Queer or Trans Content Category
1. Best Feature Length Narrative Film
2. Best Feature Length Documentary Film
3. Best Short Film

Overall Awards (across all content categories):
1. Best Feature Length Narrative Film
2. Best Feature Length Documentary Film
3. Best Short Film
4. Film of the Year

Unfortunately, cash prizes are not available at this time.

2025 films...

18 minutes | United States | 2024

In this hilarious satire, the mysterious death of a social media influencer kicks off a whirlwind of frenzy - and whiskers

30 minutes | Canada | 2024

A dancer is teletransported to an imaginary dystopian future where robots control the world fighting human and animal emotions. The dancer will be the key to reverse this future where the feelings of animals or human creatures are a damage for the functioning of the robot empire. But our improbable hero will need as well the help of all the animal creatures to fight a lifeless and soulless future.

AutoErotica: We Buy Gay Stuff

17 minutes | 2025

Behind an unassuming "We Buy Gay Stuff" sign in San Francisco's Castro district - complete with a striking leather daddy illustration - lies an unexpected treasure trove of queer history. AutoErotica's proprietor Patrick Batt has spent decades curating this living museum, packed with artifacts from shuttered gay bars, vintage leather magazines, activist pins, and rare 8mm films. While long a neighborhood curiosity, the pandemic nearly spelled the end for this irreplaceable archive. That's when customer Bradley Roberg launched a campaign that transformed this local secret into a global phenomenon, saving not just a store, but a vital piece of LGBTQ+ counter-culture. Through Patrick's journey from a leather scene fixture to an accidental historian, this documentary reveals how preserving the ephemera of the past helps illuminate queer history's untold stories.

10 minutes | Canada | 2024

A possessive doctor prepares an ostensibly romantic bath for his narcissistic boyfriend, but after an accusation of infidelity, things take a deeply disturbing turn.

A Blue Summer (Un été bleu)

7:54 | France | 2024

It's the summer holidays at the local swimming pool and it's hot. Fourteen-year-old Louane is lying by the pool when she is approached by Aïssa. Sheltered from the world around them, the two share a tender moment.

Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion

105 minutes | United States | 2024

“Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion” traces the life of the fashion icon on screen and off, highlighting Mackie’s global impact on TV, film, Broadway and concert stages and within fashion and popular culture. The film will feature contributions from Mackie’s most famous collaborators, including Carol Burnett, Cher, Mitzi Gaynor, RuPaul Charles, Bernadette Peters, Pink and Miley Cyrus.

The Center Orange County Youth Group 1982-1986

17 minutes | 2025

The story and importance of the Orange County CA LGBTQ Center's Youth Rap Program, during the 1980s. Directed by Long Beach filmmaker Michael Klyde.

11 minutes | Chile | 2024

A non-binary folk sees the handover of the first non-binary ID in Chile. While doing the paperwork, they face the bureaucracy of the legal proceedings and their own memories through a poetic and Kafkaesque journey.

Color of my Garden

25 minutes | Korea, Republic of | 2025

To keep flowers from withering, I paint them." Through polio's despair, bus accident's agony, love and betrayal, Frida Kahlo became a world-renowned painter. To her, life was a garden cultivated in her own colors. From self-portraits begun in bedside mirrors to final "Viva La Vida!" watermelon, 25 minutes through her monologue. In her garden, flowers that never wither bloom eternally today.

Dancing in Tomorrowland

16 minutes | 2024

A young ’80s activist cements himself as a Disneyland history hidden gem when he stands up against the Magic Kingdom to lift the park's ban on same-sex dancing.

20 minutes | United States | 2025

In 1970s Los Angeles, rebellious queer teen, Margaret, gets thrown out of yet another foster placement and finds herself in the company of a mysterious social worker who's tasked with finding her a new home before the break of dawn. At odds and forced to travel the city together, Margaret realizes that running may not be her only option. Inspired by true events.

9 minutes | 2025

In a quest to become the performer of his dreams, Dormilón, a starry-eyed and middle-aged janitor living in an abandoned theater, must confront his nightmares face-to-face.

8 minutes | Switzerland, United Kingdom | 2024

Sam's search for identity gets interrupted by a mysterious neighbourhood fox. Together they embark on a magical journey to the attic to discover the surprising things they might have in common, and how to celebrate the ways in which they differ.

63 minutes | United States | 2025

This film contains sexually explicit content and is strictly for adults. No one 17 or under is admitted. Encuerados chronicles the year-long involvement of seven Latino men in the leather scene, primarily focusing on the historic achievement of the first Latino man to win the title of Mr. Los Angeles Leather, Leo Iriarte. Filmed partly at Falcon North, a beloved gay bar in Long Beach, the documentary showcases the legacy of Leo while taking a deep dive into the leadership of seven trailblazers empowered to create representation in leather competitions such as MLAL, IML, and events like Up Your Alley, Folsom, CLAW LA, and Pride. Encuerados means two things, to be naked and to be leather-clad; this stark ambiguity is the core of this story of Latinos who are making a powerful impact in advancing representation and breaking down stereotypes.

The Fangs I'm After

3 minutes | United States | 2025

Whitney, a vampire hunter, has been hot on the pursuit of Amber the vampire for quite some time. Initially, this encounter is no different - that is, until Whitney gains the upper hand, and is presented with an opportunity like never before to finish the job. But something is holding her back - perhaps killing the vampire is not what this hunter has been wanting after all. The Fangs I'm After is an animated queer romance film about accepting your wants, wishes and desires rather than demonizing them.

FIAT LUX 5000

13 minutes | United States, Mexico | 2025

Devoted gay son Manuel Espinoza tests an experimental brain modulation device––the Fiat Lux 5000––to reconnect with his dementia-afflicted father, triggering a violent family legacy. A Sci-Fi Drama set in the near future, FIAT LUX 5000 examines notions of Mexican Immigrant identity, caregiving and familial trauma in the face of dubious technological innovations.

Finding the Rainbow

13 minutes | Korea, Republic of | 2025

Ji-woo, an aspiring actress, is ready to end her messy on-again, off-again relationship with Ae-young, a fiery social activist. But Ayoung has one last request: “We can’t break up until we find all seven colors of the rainbow.” What begins as a silly condition turns into a bittersweet journey through the city—and their love—as they chase color, closure, and maybe a new beginning.

Four Mothers

89:14 | 2024

Edward, a gay novelist saddled with caring for his elderly mother, finally finds himself on the brink of literary success. With pressure to go on a US book tour mounting, the last thing Edward needs is his friends jetting off to Spain for an impromptu Pride holiday, leaving their mothers on his doorstep! Over a chaotic weekend, he has to juggle his burgeoning career with the care of four eccentric, combative, and wildly different ladies.

Get Your Story Straight

16 minutes | 2024

After bailing out his sister, who is charged with murdering her girlfriend, a successful attorney brings her to his Long Beach home for legal counseling. But when their two other siblings show up unexpectedly, he must juggle family tensions and secrets in this dark Filipino comedy about family, forgiveness, and murder. Directed by Long Beach filmmaker Myra Aquino, the film was shot on location in Long Beach, where several cast and crew are longtime residents.

Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites

19 minutes | United States, Cambodia, France | 2025

During her chaotic family’s Qingming visit, dead Grandma Nai sneaks away from her peaceful afterlife after overhearing that her queer grandson is about to get engaged to a woman.

Hola Frida!

82:38 | 2025

Step into the colorful world of young Frida Kahlo – a vibrant, imaginative girl who turns every challenge into a work of art.

Hold Me Close

19 minutes | United States | 2025

A chronicle of the power and complexity of the relationship between Corinne and Tiana, two Queer Black women who experience cycles of life’s joys and pains together in the home they share.

How a River Is Born

8 minutes | Brazil | 2025

Ayla wakes up in a mountainous landscape, surrounded only by vegetation and a river. As she walks, exploring textures, sounds and scents, she feels a tremor coming from the ground and realizes she is not alone. In a mix of fascination and curiosity, Ayla goes on a journey of discovery, drawn by the sound of the river flowing through a mysterious forest. As she dives in and immerses herself in the landscape, she is transported to a universe that leads her to discover more about herself. The film poetically and dreamily portrays the process of sexual self-discovery and the acceptance of her desires.

I Do (GLACAIM)

11 minutes | Ireland | 2025

In the quiet, windswept Donegal Gaeltacht, Dónall prepares for his wedding day, but his mind is elsewhere - lost in the pages of his journal. Scribbling furiously, he clings to his thoughts as if afraid they'll slip away. But when the journal vanishes, so does his certainty about the day ahead. All is not what it seems.

I'm the Most Racist Person I Know

13 minutes | Australia | 2025

When Lali unexpectedly ends up on a date with another woman of colour for the first time, it unravels prejudices she has long ignored.

Inkwo for When the Starving Return

19 minutes | 2024

Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine (Inkwo) to protect their community from an unburied swarm of terrifying creatures.

93 minutes | 2025

In states where gender-affirming care is banned, three families face an impossible choice: remain in their home communities at the risk of their transgender children's health and safety or uproot their entire lives. Over a tumultuous year, director Gianna Toboni's powerful documentary follows these families as they endure unprecedented challenges and demonstrate extraordinary strength in their fight to save their children's lives. Through intimate access to their daily struggles, we witness the human cost of politically motivated bans that contradict the medical consensus of America's leading healthcare associations. The film elevates the voices of pioneers in the trans community as well as civil rights experts who contextualize this moment in history, revealing how these laws are part of a broader strategy targeting various marginalized communities for generations. What emerges is not just a timely documentary but an essential historical record of trauma and resilience. The film's most compelling strength lies in its portrayal of the unwavering love these families exhibit in the face of systemic opposition. Particularly moving is the story of a gun-toting Iraq War veteran from South Carolina who proves to be a fierce advocate for his transgender son, challenging stereotypes and expectations. With the Supreme Court set to decide on the constitutionality of these bans, Just Kids offers audiences a deeply human perspective on one of the most urgent civil rights issues of our time. — Jarod Neece

Kisses and Bullets

12 minutes | Iran, Islamic Republic of | 2024

Two Iranian women face their fears by going to a protest and connect across the world with a photo that brings them hope for a better tomorrow.

15:45 | United States | 2024

When a self-assured but lonely Muxe living in rural Oaxaca is profiled by a foreign documentarian, she must reconcile personal desires with her duty to her family to pursue what could be a real chance at true love before the documentarian departs at the end of the week.

La Mascara de Emiliano

13 minutes | United States | 2025

Mexico, 1914. Mid-revolution, Emiliano Zapata shows up at the Mexico City mansion of Ignacio de la Torre y Mier—his complicated lover and Porfirio Díaz’s son-in-law—to demand explosives for the revolution. What starts as a tense negotiation quickly unravels into a personal showdown, as old power games, lust, and unresolved feelings resurface. The two men clash, seduce, and haunt each other as masks appear and disappear around them. By morning, Emiliano gets what he came for and leaves. Later, Ignacio writes a bitter letter to Emiliano about the consequences of what he gave him and the Zapatistas use the explosives to blow up a train that killed 400 civilians.

The Last Story on Earth

18 minutes | United States | 2024

Facing angry protesters, a determined drag queen does her best to finish a fairy tale reading at the local library — but an alien invasion puts her skills to extraordinary new tests.

17 minutes | United States | 2025

Last Words is a family drama/comedy centered around Melanie, who is struggling with the looming death of her grandfather. As their family gathers on his final day, her relatives, particularly her mother Isa, continually get in the way of Melanie saying her last words. As a peaceful, somber day becomes filled with chaos and tension, we follow the family as they navigate this loss, their resentments, and ultimately, their love for each other on what is easily the worst day of their lives.

Left for Dead

4 minutes | United States | 2021

We made the music video Left for Dead to highlight the amazing original soundtrack, composed and performed by lesbian singer/songwriter Laura McLean, for the documentary film, Park View. www.parkviewfilm.com. Like the keening of a funeral dirge, Left for Dead conveys the stark anguish of queer communities assailed repeatedly by the specter of targeted violence attempting to silence their voices and crush their stories... but Laura McLean's timeless phrase, "Left for dead but still alive," affirms the enduring strength of 2SLGBTQIA+ people worldwide.

The Librarians

92 minutes | 2025

As an unprecedented wave of book banning is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy.

Lolo

16 minutes | Mexico | 2024

LOLO vive en Xochimilco y trabaja en una chinampa que pertenecía a su abuelo. Aún ante la calma de su parcela, LOLO no se siente en libertad de ser quien es. Mientras se esfuerza por mantenerse a flote con su cosecha, su identidad como persona no binaria es constantemente cuestionada. Una tarde tras la vendimia en el tianguis, LOLO se reencuentra con KAT, una vieja amiga. Junto a ella y otres amigues, LOLO descubre un espacio franco, donde puede sentirse acompañade y en libertad para labrar su verdadera personalidad. LOLO lives in Xochimilco a rural area of Mexico City and works on a chinampa that belonged to their grandfather. Despite the tranquility of their piece of land, LOLO doesn't feel free to be who they are. While striving to make a living with their harvest, their non-binary identity is constantly questioned, even by themselves. One afternoon, after a hard day work at the market, LOLO reunites with KAT, an old friend. Together with her and other friends, LOLO discovers an open and safe space where they can feel free, while keeping each other’s company and cultivating their own true personality.

16 minutes | United States | 2025

The film opens twenty-five years into the future on Victoria and her partner, Leah, discussing the risks and concerns for what Victoria is about to do: travel into her own past. Victoria's father passed away at a young age and she never got to really know him. Being a trans woman, Victoria is haunted by the question of if her father would accept her for who she truly is. She travels back in time to a comic store where her father works and gets the chance to meet him while being careful to not share who she is for risk of upsetting the timeline. Long Away is a film about love, loss, and connecting with loved ones as our authentic selves.

Luz Diabla (Devil's Beacon)

11:10 | Argentina, Canada | 2025

Martín, un raver urbain flamboyant, est impliqué dans un étrange accident sur la route en se rendant à une fête au milieu des Pampas argentines. Trouvant refuge dans une mystérieuse épicerie de campagne et abrité par deux habitants étranges, la paranoïa de Martín commence à le submerger. Au fil des heures, sa perception commence à se distordre, libérant des visions perturbantes qui le conduiront à affronter les forces surnaturelles qui se cachent dans la nuit. Martín, a flamboyant urban raver, is involved in a strange accident on the road on his way to a party in the middle of the Argentine Pampas. Finding refuge in a mysterious country grocery store and sheltered by two strange locals, Martín's paranoia begins to take over him. As the hours progress, his perception begins to distort, unleashing disturbing visions that will lead him to confront the supernatural forces that hide in the night.

16 minutes | United States | 2025

An adorkable gay Latino joins an LGBTQ soccer team to bond with his father struggling with Alzheimer’s over their shared passion for the sport.

21 minutes | 2025

After an umpteenth after-party, Mia has an identity crisis, and for a few hours, her two best friends help her to overcome an important, if not the most important, stage in her life.

1:37 | France | 2023

Conflicted and alienated with his given name, a young kid struggles to live a double life in secret, fearing that coming out might tear apart his relationship with his mom.

No Sleep For ICE

3:51 | United States | 2025

Community members make noise to resist the federal ICE invasion in Long Beach, CA.

Old Girl in a Tutu: Susan Rennie Disrupts Art History

8 minutes | 2025

Feminist scholar, Susan Rennie, seizes her iPhone and sneaks her queer, octogenarian body into master works of art, disrupting the narrative of the male gaze. With humor and wit, Rennie's photographic interventions offer a feminist critique of the conventional canon of art history, and an unabashed embrace of her elder, queer identity.

9 minutes | United States | 2025

12 minutes | United States | 2025

After Caleb is almost caught in the back of a pickup truck with Logan Balfe, he has to keep things quiet while driving Logan home.

Plainclothes

95 minutes | 2025

A promising undercover officer assigned to lure and arrest gay men defies orders when he falls in love with a target.

13 minutes | 2025

A fabulous, queer Muslim beauty entrepreneur must figure out how to compete in a Shark Tank-like product pitch contest after suffering an untimely allergic reaction.

The River (La Rivière)

15 minutes | France | 2023

One afternoon, three high school students sneak out of their all-girls Catholic boarding school. Sunny, the new girl, has gone for a swim in the river. Sarah is eager to join her, even though Clémence disapproves.

Rose Colored

10 minutes | 2025

In the face of a breakup, a young woman retreats to her own fantasy where she will try to make sense of the relationship and whether it was destined to fail.

Row of Life

82 minutes | United States | 2025

One woman’s irrepressible ambition to defy all odds led her to the Marine Corps, three Paralympics, and fourteen Guinness world records. Angela Madsen inspired millions, and at 60, embarked on the most ambitious journey of all: to become the first paraplegic and oldest woman to row the impossibly vast Pacific Ocean alone and unassisted. ROW OF LIFE is about renowned Long Beach ocean rower Angela Madsen, a Paralympic medalist, Marine Veteran, and 14x Guinness World Record holder who attempted her final solo Ocean row from Los Angeles to Hawaii in 2020. The film is a poetic story of bravery, resilience, and love between Angela and her wife Deb—separated by a vast ocean—supporting each other’s dreams despite what became the ultimate cost.

She's the He

82 minutes | United States | 2025

Just before graduation, ALEX and ETHAN pretend to be trans women to get into the girl’s lockers. It’s all a joke until Ethan realizes: she really is trans. Now, Alex and Ethan must reckon with their changing friendship and the process of coming out.

13 minutes | United States | 2025

James, a transfemme diva, has shut themself off to the world when a bimbo-coded stranger bursts into their apartment claiming to be their long lost sister: Tessa. Tessa is lonely and wants to bond, but James has other plans: steal her DNA to confirm she’s not their sister, she’s a scammer. In the process, James unexpectedly finds a spark of sisterhood with Tessa through their shared femininity.

Sleazy Tiger

15 minutes | 2025

Hopeless romantic Alan is having a great first date with vegan heartthrob Blair but when Blair gives him a jar of homemade kimchi, Alan struggles to control his erotic desire and finds himself in Horny Hell fighting to get back.

20 minutes | United States | 2025

Getting Pregnant Can Be Murder.

Sprucilla and the Queen of Trees

9 minutes | United States | 2024

Barē is a Halloween tree decoration living in the clearance aisle at Bargain Branch, but their dreams refuse to be boxed in. They think they’ve got what it takes to be crowned as the next Queen of Trees, even though they don’t have luscious green leaves or dazzling decorations like the other trees in the competition. After Barē gets some guidance from Sprucilla, a legendary Queen of Trees winner, they embrace their chance to shine as their true self and prove that being different isn’t a weakness—it’s a superpower.

Strangers on a Beach

13 minutes | United States | 2024

It's 1983 in San Francisco and a mysterious killer is targeting homosexual men. But Calvin just wants to kiss that handsome stranger on the beach.

Sweet Talkin’ Guy

4:33 | United States | 2025

A trans woman goes on three consecutive dateswith straight men. As the men grapple with their fragile masculinity, their sexual identities unravel in frantic monologues ironically delivered to the object of their desires.

23 minutes | Israel | 2024

A mind-altering encounter between a grieving man and a transgender woman, whose remarkable resemblance to his deceased brother ignites a transformative journey.

Two Black Boys in Paradise

9 minutes | United Kingdom | 2025

Edan (19) and Dula (18) go on a journey of self-acceptance. Their love for each other and their refusal to hide it lands them in a paradise free of shame and judgement.

10 minutes | United States

July 4th, 1976. Two Chicago cops and longtime friends confront an unresolved issue that has smoldered between them for too long after one of them was fired from the force.

The Wedding Banquet

103 minutes | 2025

Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris and running out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green-card marriage with their friend Angela in exchange for her partner Lee's expensive IVF. Elopement plans are upended, however, when Min's grandmother surprises them with an extravagant Korean wedding banquet.

What It Takes (Pour Exister)

1:29 | 2023

Le plaidoyer vibrant d'une génération de personnes trans et non-binaires pour la reconnaissance de leurs droits. | The vibrant plea of a generation of trans and non-binary people for recognition of their rights.