It's our 19th year of celebrating the best of LGBTQIA+ films from around the world with the Miami Valley, and we found it so hard to make decisions that we decided to expand the festival by an extra day.
Join us at THE NEON during the long weekend of Oct. 10-13 for 9 different screenings – featuring 25 short and feature-length films. And don’t forget our Friday Night Party – this year at Lily’s Bistro.
Some special details are still in the works, but you can read about all of our films and find ticketing & scholarship details on this site. For the latest developments, be sure to check out and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
We can’t wait to gather together and share these incredible films with the community!
A gig worker in San Francisco balances multiple jobs, including dealing party drugs. When their crush asks them to watch her daughter, what starts as temporary childcare evolves into an unexpected journey of self-discovery and healing.
On the evening of March 31, 1943, legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart confront his shattered self-confidence in Sardi’s bar as his former collaborator Richard Rodgers celebrated the opening night of his ground-breaking hit musical OKLAHOMA!
Join us for post-screening light bites and a drink at Joui Wine – just a couple blocks from THE NEON. This spot is perfect for gathering after Linklater’s BLUE MOON – a place where we can indulge in Jouissance – “the experience of simultaneous physical and intellectual delight.”
As an unprecedented wave of book banning largely addressing race and LGBT issues is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy.
First protesters and now an alien invasion, a determined drag queen does her best during a fairy tale reading at the local library.
A trans woman goes on three consecutive dates with straight men who all grapple with their fragile masculinity.
Meet Babs, an optimistic octogenarian speed-racing through life, one five-year plan at a time.
In the dystopian near future, a gay and a lesbian couple form an unlikely friendship as they flee Ohio for safety in New England.
A movingly tender animation, based on Dean Atta’s eponymous poem, sees two boys — Edan, 19, and Dula, 18 — on a journey of self-acceptance and love.
Behind an unassuming "We Buy Gay Stuff" sign in San Francisco's Castro district lies an unexpected treasure trove of queer history.
Grandma Nai sneaks away from her peaceful afterlife after overhearing that her queer grandson is about to get engaged to a woman. A Sundance winner!
A queer woman's mind is blown by her new coworker's bold question in this experimental short film.
A fabulous, queer, Muslim beauty entrepreneur competes in a SHARK TANK-like contest after suffering an untimely allergic reaction.
Three decades ago, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE bravely dared to ask “Who’s he… Or she?” and turned gender nonconformity into a punchline with its recurring IT’S PAT sketch - created by and starring Julia Sweeney… there was even an IT’S PAT movie ghostwritten by Quentin Tarantino. In WE ARE PAT, a who’s-who of trans comics are tasked with the ultimate challenge: creating a new Pat sketch in the year 2025.
Winner of the narrative Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival, this horror-comedy is full of so many familiar faces including our beloved neighbor Nina West, Jaquel Spivey, Tomás Matos, Margaret Cho, Jack Haven, Cheyenne Jackson, and Riki Lindhome VARIETY writes, “Tina Romero’s feature debut remixes her father’s penchant for social commentary through a modern queer lens.”
A trans throuple soon realize that they are dealing with more than they were prepared for at a gender reveal party.
STATE of FIRSTS follows Sarah McBride’s historic run to become the first transgender member of Congress. Throughout her campaign, she navigates the complex terrain between activist and electoral strategies for change, and on the night that Sarah wins, so too does Trump, underscoring a nation intensely divided and sending Sarah to an increasingly hostile new workplace.
Three trans opera singers refine their unique vocal talents and contemporize the history of gender-fluid performances in the art form.
This groundbreaking film on lesbian mothering portrays the diversity of experience, race and class among eight lesbian mothers and their children.
A video essay about the personal and political context of a landmark lesbian feminist 1977 documentary IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDREN.
Feminist scholar, Susan Rennie, seizes her iPhone and sneaks her queer, octogenarian body into master works of art, disrupting the narrative of the male gaze.
Roles have reversed for the friendship between Mabel Hampton, an African American, lesbian, and activist, and Joan Nestle, a white, lesbian and Jewish professor who is 40 years her junior.
This teaser for the upcoming documentary FREE BEER TOMORROW – a film telling the story of Jack’s/Summit Station – Ohio’s longest running lesbian bar.
Jero and Tom are the young gay couple that everyone wants to be. On the day of the first anniversary of their meeting, Jero returns home to find that Tom has abandoned him, leaving him a box of 300 letters as his only explanation.
The best way to attend the fest! A festival pass gets you access to every screening plus the Opening Night Party!
On Sale Sep 4Tickets can be purchased online or at THE NEON. No refunds or exchanges.
On Sale Sep 11The fest takes place at THE NEON movie theater in downtown Dayton. There are several restaurants located within walking distance of the theater.
Free parking is available directly across the street from THE NEON.
Please arrive before the screening is scheduled to begin. The festival reserves the right to resell any unclaimed tickets or empty seats at the scheduled start time for each screening. Seating will be open this year, and Sponsors and "All Access" passholders will be given the first opportunity to select their seats.
Johnny / Ken Byers / Kurt Fleagle & Warren Riffle / Jim McCarthy / Kevin Moore & Scott Stoney
Larry Mullins / Sue Spiegel & Lisa Hanauer / Chase Whiteside / Paul Woodie