When the CinemaQ Film Festival opens Thursday at the Sie FilmCenter, in addition to its strong slate of feature-length films and shorts, fiction and documentary stories, it will launch BLQ. The new initiative – a partnership between Denver Film and the LGBTQ+ organization Black Pride Colorado — underscores just how nimble Denver Film’s beacon of queer cinema remains.
The loving brainchild of Keith Garcia, artistic director of the Sie FilmCenter, and Black Pride Colorado founder Tara Jae, BLQ (Black Lives Queerly) centers on the experiences of black LGBTQ+ people. The organizations have done programming together before but the two see in this new program an opportunity to build on that relationship.
“Keith has been in my corner for a few years, and we often have talked about the importance and lack of space for Black queer creatives in Colorado,” Jae said in an email. “As we continued our dialogue and observed what was happening nationally, the opportunity to have space during CinemaQ opened up. This partnership with Denver Film and Black Pride Colorado is an opening for us to continue to curate spaces and build a platform out for our Black queer creatives in the community.”
“We asked ourselves, ‘What does that organization need? What can we do to help to bring everyone together?,’ ” said Garcia. It turned out to be a very simple answer, he said. “Queer Black voices need more amplification than most, especially within the LGBTQIA community.” Garcia sees the first day of films, a panel and a gathering on Saturday, Aug. 10, as a celebratory debut of the relationship.
Why should you attend? Consider:
Reason 1: A strong start.
Sometimes how you start a new undertaking says everything about how it will flourish. Saturday, BLQ gets the kind of day of programming that should launch the Denver Film-Black Pride Colorado collaboration in style.
“The ability to express oneself is deeply rooted in our mental health,” said Jae, who uses the pronoun “they.” The social worker knows how central the arts are to the mental health of individuals, to community health and, by extension, the robustness of our city. “Our Black queer community is rich and vibrant and resilient, which fuels the culture of Denver,” they said. “It’s much more than representation. It’s exposure, it’s experience. I often tell people who come in from out of town to experience any of our events, ‘Don’t sleep on Denver — there is so much more to come, and we are just getting started.’ ” (Saturday, Aug. 10)
Reason 2: Because there is always a gem.
With its superb use of animation, archival and fresh footage, the documentary “Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story” may be this year’s jewel. Denver jazz station KUVO’s All Blues show is dynamite, so there’s a chance you already know about the late-1950s and ’60s R&B artist Jackie Shane, who all but vanished in 1971. If you don’t, this loving exploration by Canadian filmmakers Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee will open your eyes — and ears — to the mesmerizing performer who was friends with Little Richard, sang in a voice with hints of Tina Turner and Jackie Wilson, and who was transgender. The film is buoyed by readings of the Nashville-born singer’s autobiography found by nieces who didn’t even know about their aunt until her death. It’s anchored by interviews that Mabbott conducted with the reclusive star in the last year of her life. (Saturday, Aug. 10, 1 p.m.)
Reason 3: Because justice sought hurts but inspires, too.
The tensions over who gets to tell a subculture’s story may be one of the more complicated legacies of the iconic 1990 documentary “Paris Is Burning,” about the ball scene in New York City, by director Jennie Livingston. (See this year’s CinemaQ short about appropriation, “So You Wanna Vogue, Huh?”) But one of the most wrenching legacies is that the supernova of the powerful film, Venus Extravaganza, was murdered before its release. In her critically lauded documentary, “I’m Your Venus,” which premiered in June at the Tribeca Film Festival, Kimberly Reed follows Venus’ biological and ballroom families as they unexpectedly unite to reopen the unsolved case. (Saturday, Aug. 10, 7 p.m.)
Reason 4: Because it’s cool to laugh … and to sigh
Coming of age gets its close-ups in two films that have been garnering raves on the festival circuit. The first is on Thursday night, with “My Old Ass.” Megan Park’s clever twist on the genre finds Elliott (Maisy Stella) meeting up with her older self, played by the always ace Aubrey Plaza, for some insightful advice. Next up: If the beautiful Belgian drama from 2022, “Close,” broke your hearts in 1,001 pieces with its story of a friendship that might be more between its two young protagonists, “Young Hearts,” the debut by
Belgian director Anthony Schatteman, might glue it back. Lou Goossens’ turn as 14-year-old Ellias, who is figuring out what he’s feeling about new kid Alexander (Marius De Saeger), has been heralded as one of this year’s breakout performances. (Sunday, Aug. 11, noon) Finally, being of age rocks in “Teaches of Peaches,” an award-winning documentary that follows the Canadian electropunk rocker on her 20th-anniversary tour in 2022. (Friday, Aug. 9, 6:45 p.m.)
Reason 5: Because it’s good to be scared.
It’s never fair but always sort of fun to ask a programmer about which movie is their favorite of the festival. This year, the spin on that question, directed at CinemaQ’s impresario Keith Garcia, was “Which film would you sneak into, if you had the time?” Of course, he had two. One was the documentary on Jackie Shane. The second won’t come as a shocker to fans of Garcia: “Carnage for Christmas,” by Alice Maio Mackay.
“It’s a sweet little 78-minute package,” he said of the late-night offering. “It’s very fun. And I really love watching talent kind of blossom over the years.” This story finds a trans true-crime podcaster’s returning to her hometown years after her transition but just in time for a Santa suit-clad slayer on the loose.
“It’s just been great watching her work evolve at such a young age and very quickly,” Garcia noted. The slasher is the 19-year-old’s sixth feature. “Once someone really pays her attention and gives her a budget, I think we’re going to see some really exciting stuff come out. “Carnage” is probably her best movie to date. Hopefully, audiences really take to it.” (Saturday, Aug. 10, 10 p.m.)
Lisa Kennedy is a Denver area freelance writer who specializes in film and theater.
IF YOU GO
Cinema Q Festival: Denver Film’s annual celebration of LGBTQ+ film with narrative features, documentaries, shorts packages, panels and other happenings at the Sie Film Center, 2510 E. Colfax Ave,. Aug. 8-11. Denverfilm.org.
