2022 Film & Event Schedule

Peter is a flamboyant, misanthropic dwarf hiding from the world in his shabby New York City apartment. But an unexpected visit from his upbeat—and possibly unhinged—neighbor Winona forces him out of his shell and onto an impromptu road trip. Their destination? What she believes to be the site of an upcoming alien visitation in the wilderness of rural Canada

In this colorful trip back in time, activist, artist, filmmaker, and entertainer Pat Rocco shares his incredible career spanning decades, encompassing nude male erotic films and documentaries that bore witness to crucial moments in queer history, including the first same-sex kiss on the big screen.

Raphi is young, androgynous, and naive. In Barcelona, she begins a gender transition as well as an arduous journey to find her true identity. Co-written by and starring Raphaëlle Pérez, this is the narrative follow-up to director Adrián Silvestre’s ground-breaking hybrid doc Sediments, featuring many of the same trans performers and artists.

An Austrian woman escapes from the pressure of running her family’s vineyard by playing ice hockey. Then a new player arrives to challenge her rigid worldview, leading to a life-changing night on the streets of Vienna.

Featuring a roundtable discussion with local members of the Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color community Everything Everywhere All At Once, Moonlight, Fire Island, The Watermelon Woman, Rafiki, A Fantastic Woman, Paris Is Burning, Tangerine, and Drunktown’s Finest. What do all of these films represent? They’re fundamental elements in the rise of queer and transgender cinema across the Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color spectrum. What began as primal shouts to define existence have become beloved favorites, box office blockbusters, and critically acclaimed arthouse darlings for people often omitted from the silver screen. Join the Black, Bold & Brilliant team as they proudly explore the depths and global significance of QTBIPOC cinema at this year’s Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival.

Hysteria or Ugly Part 2 is a performance, vilm, and installation that continues Raja Feather Kelly’s study of pop culture and its displacement of Queer Black subjectivity.

After discovering case files from a 1950s gender clinic, a cast of trans actors turn a talk show inside out to confront the legacy of a young trans woman forced to choose between honesty and access.

With influences ranging from John Waters to Kenneth Anger, director Amanda Kramer (Ladyworld) brings a bold vision to this almost-musical. Its hypnotic score, impressionistic, neon-lit sets, and carefully choreographed sequences evoke West Side Story. A pastiche of queer sensibilities, Hollywood genres, and feminist theory, Please Baby Please is the sort of rich, cinematic experience that you have to see to fully appreciate.

This workshop teaches the methodology Honest Reactions To Imaginary Situations. It is an approach to creating and performing that above all relies upon; centers and fights for truth.

A curated collection of short films, programmed by the 2022 Damn These Heels programming committee

Half-Jewish, bisexual Jonah Dorman comes out to his girlfriend, shaking the foundation of their relationship and launching a tragicomic exploration of love and religion in New York City.

Wil (Michelle Krusiec) is a lesbian, but she not dare tell her widowed mother, Hwei-lan (Joan Chen), or her very traditional grandparents.

Gordon is a Scottish comic book artist with a big bushy beard, very expressive eyebrows – oh, and an inoperable, incurable brain tumour. By making autobiographical comics about his experience, he is able to communicate his thoughts and reactions to cancer in a medium and a language that is disarming, accessible, and inviting.

In a rural east-coast trailer park, Link lives with his toxic father and younger half-brother Travis. When Link discovers his Mi’kmaw mother could still be alive, it lights a flame and they make a run for a better life.