Notes on CinemaQ 2025 (Overdue)

A long-delayed look at Denver's premiere celebration of queer film.

I think I’ve found my favorite film of the festival in Lesbian Space Princess. This film was like a therapy session for me; hit me right in the feels. It’s a beautiful piece of animation. Silly, sincere, and not afraid to evoke modern mores, and tweak the anti-woke crowd that would bristle at jokes like “you can’t say that anymore” or insisting on proper pronouns. It’s a film that imagines a utopian world of lesbian peace that’s still filled with drama (it’s a lesbian planet, after all). And of course, there are straight white maliens, who don’t understand women and bore Kiki with Magic: The Gathering (not to be confused with Saira’s close-up magic). The moral of the story is that self-love is the most important kind of love. That’s just something I need to hear sometimes. Okay, a lot. I absolutely AM Princess Saira at the beginning of the film. I need to become Princess Saira at the end of the film.

This is day two of the festival. Day one was a hit: It’s Dorothy, Twinless, and Queens of the Dead. The first was an excellent documentary on the legacy of Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz. The second was probably the best film of the day, a dramatic comedy that took a surprising turn into thriller in the second act. The third was my favorite of the day, a film by Tina Romero (George Romero’s daughter) centered on a group of queer people struggling to survive a zombie apocalypse in which the zombies all look like extras from Vegas in Space. It reminds me a lot of the films of Alice Maio Mackay, but with slightly more polish and star power. While I prefer AMM’s work (I saw Carnage for Christmas at CinemaQ in a similar slot last year), Queens of the Dead is a delightfully in-your-face queer horror flick.

This morning was occupied with SaturGAY Morning Cartoon + Cereal Party, a lively showing of queer-coded cartoons including He-Man, Ranma 1/2, and Jem and the Holograms. I didn’t partake in the cereal. Too much sugar after gulping down a bag of peanut butter M&Ms during Queens of the Dead. I’m waiting now for the documentary Heightened Scrutiny, which is about ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio. I imagine it’ll be worthwhile but dry and cinematically uninspired, like a lot of these social issue docs are. It’s like directors of these films are afraid of innovation and artistry. Michael Moore is an exception that proves the rule. I will say I was pleasantly surprised by It’s Dorothy as a film, beyond its mere subject matter, you might say. Now I need to finally watch the director’s other film You Don’t Nomi, which I have a DVD of but have not opened yet.

The day continues on, with Heightened Scrutiny as a surprisingly good film. It’s a broad film: although focusing largely on transgender lawyer Chase Strangio, the film does a very good job of putting the modern attacks on trans people into larger context, particularly the media ecosystem that has helped fuel anti-trans bigotry. Interview subjects and appearances include Laverne Cox, Erin Reed, and Elliot Page. Not only arguably the most vital film in the festival, Heightened Scrutiny is a powerful film. I could scarcely have been more wrong in my expectations. Director Sam Feder also directed Disclosure, and Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger.

The shorts block came next. Starting with ‘Gender Reveal’, a strange horror movie slash punchline making mockery of heterosexuality and gender reveals. This was followed by ‘Rainbow Girls’, a fun but mediocre tale of Robin Hood style thievery. Then we got a short doc called ‘Shelley’s Leg’, about a pathbreaking gay disco in Seattle. The film used reenactors and a disclaimer assured us that no AI was used to make the film. That got a round of applause from the theater. ‘The Eating of an Orange’ was an abstract animated film with strong Suzan Pitt vibes. ‘Everywhere I Look’ was a documentary about a trans woman retracing past travel, places she had previously gone with her estranged mother. Emotional, but lacking strong focus. Almost ambient, in ways both good and bad. The last short was the Cambodian film ‘Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites’, which had maybe the weakest story and the best direction out of all the shorts. It was a fun block, but so far my least favorite screening of CinemaQ. I’m sitting in the lobby now. The atmosphere is sedate. It’s a calm between storms. I’m looking forward to the documentary Move Ya Body: The Birth of House more so than the party afterwards. I’m not really a party person.

This will be followed by Coming Attractions: An Orgy of Gay Erotic Movie Trailers, whose title speaks for itself, I imagine. This screening of Coming Attractions is to be preceded by a short called ‘AutoErotica: We Buy Gay Stuff.’

I’m kind of exhausted. Not tired, but my social battery is draining. At least this time at my little keyboard helps. Helps me to get my thoughts down during those rare moments when I feel like I can center myself enough to write. I love film festivals but I also kind of hate film festivals. Like, the contradiction lives in the fact that fests involve so much human interaction. You’re constantly bouncing off others. It’s fun for me, until it really isn’t. I’m tempted to skip Move Ya Body. Just find a quiet place to recharge. Write some more. The thing is, I like movies because I struggle with people. I think I’m gonna cave and get more peanut butter M&Ms, goddess help my blood sugar.

After Heightened Scrutiny there was an air of sobriety. The documentary didn’t know how the Skrmetti case would turn out, although it clearly suspected what we know: that the trans community would lose the case to a hostile supreme court. A post-film discussion from One Colorado focused on what to do next and what to expect, as well as the sources of hope and the will to keep going. It was a nice moment of sitting together and being aware. That’s part of how we build community, although I wish I didn’t have to interact with people to do it.

It’s been a lovely weekend so far. The atmosphere is bright. Theatrical props and balloons abound. I can see flowers painted onto cross-wise boards from my seat. There’s a big rainbow board that looks like it belongs on a stage show of Hair or Jesus Christ Superstar or something. Things are starting to get more crowded, although I am counting on Move Ya Body being slightly less crowded because of the concurrent screening of a film called Plainclothes, in which, per the description, a cop whose job it is to bust gay guys falls for a target. Probably a PC version of Cruising and that doesn’t particularly interest me. Although I’ve been wrong about at least two films in the festival so far. Well, time to grab a snack and head into the movie.

Move Ya Body proved to be one of the most powerful films of the festival. It’s a high bar. The inside is lively but I’m outside so I can find a table to write on while I wait for “an orgy of gay erotic movie trailers.” It’s been such an incredible weekend so far. Move Ya Body actually gave me back energy I thought I was missing. I can’t believe I thought of skipping it. The atmosphere is electric. I love the energy even if I can’t always bring myself to participate. The Q&A after Move Ya Body was interesting, at least as interesting as the film itself. Talk of building and transmitting knowledge, on the nature of truth and what truth means to different people, and at least one comment I couldn’t hear.

So yes, it’s nearly time for Coming Attractions, so I’ll get back inside to try to secure my favorite spot in the theater.

(I didn’t.)

Coming Attractions was exactly what it sounded like. “An orgy of gay erotic movie trailers” (gay MALE erotic movie trailers) indeed. There was a lot of dick, a lot of ass, and a lot of body hair. I sensed some people walking out, perhaps out of boredom, at least a couple maybe out of offense at the Golden Boys of the SS trailer. But that’s part of gay history, and documentaries like this, if you can call it a documentary, are vital records of how queer culture was produced and transmitted. There was a lot of laughter at the silliest trailers, the most ridiculous ad copy, and the sheer absurdity of watching these trailers back-to-back-to-back on and on for 76 minutes. Patterns emerge. It’s horny, but it’s funny too.

It’s the morning of day three. I’m in my usual coffee shop sipping on my cold brew. Today I’ll be seeing three films: a intriguing-sounding comedy called She’s the He, the mysterious Dreams in Nightmares, and the closing night film Jimpa, which has the star power of John Lithgow and Olivia Colman but lacks a real draw for me. I thought the same about Twinless. And Heightened Scrutiny. I look forward to maybe being proven wrong.

(Oh and the best part of Coming Attractions? The soundtrack. It was, if you’ll pardon the term, a banger.)

I’ve had an absolute blast so far this weekend. The films have been consistently great and the atmosphere of CinemaQ, as always, is persistently and defiantly queer and joyful. We’re not here to sugarcoat the reality (see: Heightened Scrutiny) but we are here to share in these moments. Cinema, like community, is a series of shared moments. The weekend has only reaffirmed my sense of sharing a space with other queer people and how much joy that can bring.

So She’s the He was really good. A good trans film? I know. I’m trying to write this in the lobby but there’s no real table so I’m on my lap with my laptop, which is novel. But yeah, I related a lot to She’s the He, a trans twist on crossdressing comedy that tweaks the “boy pretends to be girl” or vice versa formula. Weirdly I’m reminded of the Daily Wire’s hate screed Ladyballers, which is another film in which cis men pretend to be trans, without the queerness, sincerity, or talent. But it’s a similar idea, just at opposite end-goals. One aims to disprove trans existence, the other to celebrate transness.

Waiting for Dreams in Nightmares now. I know virtually nothing but Keith Garcia keeps talking it up. I’m excited. I haven’t really been disappointed yet.

Dreams in Nightmares was awesome. I left the festival after that. I skipped Jimpa, which didn’t really interest me despite featuring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow. I feel like I picked a decent final film for my personal festival despite skipping closing night. It was a necessary sacrifice for my mental health. The long weekend left me depressed when I got home. Maybe it’s equivalent to coming down off a high. Maybe I’m just feeling the absence of a queer community I got to spend time in all weekend. Maybe the depictions of queer love and affection made me feel all the lonelier as I laid in bed last night. Who knows. But it’s the Monday after the festival and while I’m in a better place than I was last night, I still kind of feel it.

The overarching theme of the weekend may have been joy in the face of obstacles. In Lesbian Space Princess, Saira comes to terms with herself and overcomes dangers to reach a goal that she didn’t even realize at the beginning of the film. In Move Ya Body, musical joy is born out of tragedy. In Heightened Scrutiny, we see the need for solidarity and joy in the face of near constant attacks on the trans community. Queens of the Dead is all about coming together to survive. And all the while we’re experiencing a radical sense of togetherness.

CinemaQ is an expression of light in darkness. I’m still struck by not just the Q&A but the general vibe that surrounded Heightened Scrutiny, a film that really expressed the direness of the moment. With rights on the chopping block, Chase Strangio calls the law a system of violence, or something to that effect, and in the Q&A a speaker reminds us that law is imperfect as a means of liberation, if it is even a means of liberation at all. Community is part of the real path to liberation. That community is something apparent in Heightened Scrutiny, and at CinemaQ.