Celebrating 30 years, the Long Beach QFilm Festival is the longest-running film festival in the city. The film festival features narratives, documentaries and short films about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community experience.
The film festival was coincidentally birthed the same year I graduated from high school, unaware that one day I also would find a home in that community. At the time, I had not discovered that same-sex relationships were also an option for me. While the process of discovery, acceptance, and openness was not as difficult for me as it was for my now-deceased sister, I am sure that having more positive representations on film would have eased the journey for many, such as my sister and myself.
The first festival was hosted by Cal State Long Beach Student Center. Organizers booked Together Alone. About 500 people showed up at the 200-seat theater.
“We knew we had something special in our hands,” said Robert Cano, one of the founders of the festival. “It was a time when there were very few cultural options for the LGBTQ community.”
Since then, it has become an anticipated local event in Southern California. It showcases LGBTQ talent in front and behind the camera.
As a member of the Latinx community, my sister and I grew up with negatively charged messages about being LGBTQ people. Despite its focus on family unity, the often conservative and religious ethnic group tends to discriminate against LGBTQ people by shunning them within their families or ridiculing the life they choose to live.
El Paisa is a refreshing look at the diversity in which Latinx families and communities contend with the intersection of LGBTQ people from within. “Paisa,” which is short for “paisano,” or “countryman” in Spanish, is sometimes used as a pejorative term by U.S.-born Latinx toward people born and raised in Latinx countries.
El Paisa is a coming-of-age story that centers around Fernando, a goth skater, wheeling through the streets of East Los Angeles. The scenes take me back to my early childhood, driving through East LA with landscapes of iconic elements within the community such as the now-called Cesar Chavez Bridge and the historic Evergreen Cemetery.
The short film opens with a Latino cowboy walking to the rhythm of a song by Los Tigres del Acordión, which could have easily been Pedro Navaja by Willie Colón and Rubén Blades, the Spanish version of Mack the Knife, which describes the allure of a charismatic man walking through the streets in style and elegance.
The Latino cowboy rescues Fernando from cholos, gang members beating him up. From there, the audience is given a glimpse of his home life, where he seems to want to reject his language and culture — Fernando doesn’t speak Spanish even when spoken to in that language. But it is through that cowboy, who he discovers walking into a Latinx gay club that he is inspired to open his heart to possibilities within yet another subculture of his community.
The story reminds me of the first time I walked into a Latinx gay club, where I saw men and women who defied the stereotypes and navigated their culture within an intersecting community. The film can be seen among other Latinx shorts from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Art Theatre of Long Beach, 2025 E. 4th St.
Earlier that day, the 2023 Long Beach QFilm Festival opens with Commitment to Life, which documents the story about the HIV/AIDS fight in Los Angeles. It is a story that many history buffs might enjoy, but for which I, as do many people who tune out to negative news to safeguard them as they deal with their own day-to-day struggles, shy away from. And that is exactly why most people should see it.
I was very young at the height of the epidemic, but old enough to remember the fear, the misinformation, the lack of information and the cruel jokes that further stigmatized the people living and dying with the disease. I remember things such as watching a 60-Minute special about how they thought that the disease could be contracted through mosquitos and a theatrical comedy by a known, yet closeted actor, Mario “Cholo” Herrera, who coined one of his plays, Macho Hasta Que Te De SIDA or Masculine You Get AIDS.
Although I was curious about the news at the time, I can’t say I was directly impacted or knew anyone who openly lived with the disease. In fact, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that I found out that a friend I went to high school with had died with the disease and later I met people who lived with it through my profession as a reporter.
The almost two-hour documentary retells the story of how faced with the disregard from the federal government — specifically the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations’ disregard — for the disease, pushed people living with HIV/AIDS and allies, including doctors, movie stars and studio moguls to become activists and change the course of the epidemic. AIDS killed almost 40 million people globally.
The movie uses first-person interviews and archival footage to resurrect a dark time in history when people living with HIV/AIDS were dehumanized when those same people took it upon themselves to find solutions when the government had deserted them, when Hollywood, after its own losses, stepped up to find solutions and bring about change through research and policy. The players provided a human element to the story, providing vital information, and giving faces to those who were affected and suffered the effects of the disease.
Groups such as Minority A.I.D.S. Project and AIDS Project Los Angeles were committed to help care for the sick and dying and lobbied Hollywood to engage in the fight. A-listers such as Elizabeth Taylor went full throttle through fundraising, research and activism to provide care and resources to people living with AIDS, bringing thousands of people onto the streets to demand support to fight the disease.
More than just the history of APLA, Commitment to Life tells a story of courage and sacrifice amidst discrimination and inequality in the Los Angeles area. It is through these efforts that — pre, through and post-exposure — treatment is now available for most people. These days, with proper treatment, HIV is not a death sentence and people who are treated and have undetectable loads of the virus are also considered to be untransmittable. The film’s value to many who may suffer from generational amnesia and see the city as a pioneer in human rights, treatment, and cultural sensitivity is in remembering that human dignity comes at a struggle that must continue in light of advances. If there is anything the Donald Trump era has shown us, it’s that history can easily repeat itself.
Commitment to Life is playing at 11 a.m. Sept. 16 at the Art Theatre of Long Beach.
As I mentioned earlier, sexual fluidity was something that I discovered in my mid-20s — late for most people who know about their orientation since childhood. That’s why I took an interest in Sweet Forty, a dramedy based on a true story about a woman turning 40, who is faced with the decision to come out at her birthday celebration. The 15-minute film is part of the Women in Shorts feature of the film festival, which takes place from 1:15 to 3 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Art Theatre in Long Beach.
Also, be on the lookout for Big Boys, a coming-of-age story that promises to bring out laughter and entertainment. The film focuses on Jamie, a teenager whose dream camping trip turns into a self-discovery weekend.
“[The Long Beach QFilm Festival tells] our stories, truths, struggles and victories from an LGBTQ conscience to the big screen,” Cano said. “I hope to see the film festival continue to thrive and keep showcasing our communities, voices and images with the continued support from The Center and the Greater Long Beach Community.”
For a complete list of the film guide visit: qfilmslongbeach.com/film-guide
QFilm Fest
Time: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 16
Cost: $10 to $15 Single Movie pass; $70-$120All Access pass
Venue: Art Theatre, 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach