New ‘Queer Rhapsody’ Film Series Hits LA – A Must-See in Times of Crisis!

A new LGBTQIA+ film series, “Queer Rhapsody,” aimed at highlighting recent works in the absence of Outfest, is set to kick off in July. This event, stretching across multiple venues in Los Angeles from July 19-28, will feature over 50 films, including eight full-length films.

“We are in a time where queer identity is under scrutiny, and marginalized communities often lack spaces to gather and appreciate art together,” stated May Hong HaDuong, the director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, who is organizing the series. The motivation behind “Queer Rhapsody” was a desire to “establish art spaces for communal interaction for queer identities under pressure.”

The series will take place in five different venues: the Hammer Museum in Westwood; Vidiots in Eagle Rock; the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and Los Feliz 3 in Los Feliz; and the Broad in downtown L.A.

With a particular focus on hybrid works that merge fiction and documentary, the series will commence with Drew Denny’s “Second Nature,” a documentary on evolutionary biologist Dr. Joan Roughgarden, narrated by Elliot Page.

Other full-length films include Fawzia Mirza’s “The Queen of My Dreams,” featuring Amrit Kaur and Nimra Bucha; Susie Yankou’s “Sisters,” a comedy set in L.A. about chosen family, starring the filmmaker along with Kausar Mohammed; and Patiparn Boontarig’s Thai romantic drama “Solids by the Seashore.” A prom-themed party at Vidiots will follow Silas Howard’s “Darby and the Dead,” a supernatural teen comedy starring Riele Downs and Auli’i Cravalho.

Additional documentaries include Julia Fuhr Mann’s “Life Is Not a Competition, but I’m Winning,” focusing on gender issues in competitive sports; Jules Rosskam’s “Desire Lines,” a study of transmasculine identity; and Elizabeth Purchell’s “Ask Any Buddy,” which uses clips from all-male adult films to explore historical portrayals of desire.

Organizers are intentionally labeling “Queer Rhapsody” as a film series rather than a film festival, aiming to cultivate a sense of dialogue rather than competition.

“Most festivals are geared towards academy qualifying, various award qualifying, status-based designations,” commented Martine McDonald, creative director and senior programmer. “Our focus is on contemporary work that pushes the boundaries of queer storytelling and truly fosters a community. This approach seems more appropriate.”

Furthermore, organizers deliberately scheduled “Queer Rhapsody” outside of June’s Pride Month.

“I don’t subscribe to the idea of heritage months which compel many arts organizations to confine communities to a single month,” said HaDuong. “The daily life of Angelenos is intersectional and goes beyond June. It became clear that it didn’t have to be June. And frankly, many people don’t want to be in a theater during Pride Month.”

The programming team behind the series includes HaDuong and McDonald as well as Moi Santos, manager of the Equity, Impact and Belonging Program at the Sundance Institute; curator Daniel Crooke, senior programmer at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival in Canada and former senior programmer at L.A.’s Outfest; and filmmaker Natalie Jasmine Harris, who has a short film playing in the series.

While McDonald was previously director of artist development at Outfest, the organizers of “Queer Rhapsody” are cautious not to claim they are filling the void left by the demise of that long-standing event, but they do acknowledge the gap it has left in the local queer arts community.

HaDuong said, “Queer audiences have always craved storytelling, seeing themselves onscreen, and participating in spaces. We recognized what the community might be losing and stepped in to say, ‘This is really for us to come together and do this.’ We wanted to focus on the filmmaking, the spaces, the stories in this moment, and do it in a way that was feasible with our streamlined operations to serve the community.”

When asked about the likelihood of the event becoming a yearly staple in the Los Angeles film scene, HaDuong responded, “This is such a unique time that we’re mainly just concentrating on serving the community. So we’re taking it one step at a time.”

The venues participating in “Queer Rhapsody” beyond the UCLA Film & Television Archive joined organically, as organizers simply considered the places they enjoy visiting.

“These are venues we’ve frequented as much as community members as cultural workers,” McDonald said.

HaDuong added, “L.A. will always need a place for queer cinema. I thought it would be significant to reach out to other venues we’ve collaborated with, who are committed to this cause. And to be able to partner with them and say, ‘Let’s just ensure that this summer we have a series that showcases these stories across the city.’”

“Queer Rhapsody” is happening at a time when the city’s queer arts community needs an event to fill the void left by Outfest. But it has been organized with its own fresh energy, rooted in a boundary-pushing curiosity and sense of exploration, right down to its name.

HaDuong elaborated, “Martine and I had a lot of discussions about the title ‘Queer Rhapsody.’ The term ‘queer’ may not be fully embraced by some as fully representing every type of identity. But for me, it represents a version of the LGBTQIA experience that can sometimes feel edgy. And ‘rhapsody’ represents the moment when the image hits the screen. It’s the energy between the moving images and the people around you, experiencing art in a living, breathing manner. You can’t always define what rhapsody is, but combining the two creates a space for some of that joy to emerge.”