All week long we have been posting on Facebook about the outstanding LGBT films in this year’s SXSW. For your convenience, we’ve combined these posts into one document, with the films listed in order of their premiere date and time. Hope you enjoy the festival and are able to stop by our Official SXSW Queer Brunch, where we will be honoring the LGBT filmmakers listed below.

LGBT FILMS:

PIT STOP
SXSW Premiere | Friday, March 8 at 9:15pm | Alamo Drafthouse – Slaughter Lane
Directed by talented Austin filmmaker (and Polari25 jury member) Yen Tan, PIT STOP is a beautiful, quietly moving film about the lives and loves of two gay men in small town Texas. PIT STOP premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this past January to rave reviews. Additional information and screening times!

BIG JOY: THE ADVENTURES OF JAMES BROUGHTON
World Premiere | Saturday, March 9 at 1:30pm | Stateside Theater
BIG JOY celebrates the life and art of revolutionary pre-Beat-era poet and underground filmmaker James Broughton who boldly followed his own “weird” path from the “Lavendar Scare” of McCarthy-era America through the birth and evolution of the modern gay rights movement. BIG JOY is the first feature co-directed by rising documentary talents Stephen Silha and Eric Slade. Additional information and screening times: http://schedule.sxsw.com/
2013/events/event_FS13802

BEFORE YOU KNOW IT
World Premiere | Saturday, March 9 at 4:00pm | Stateside Theater
Award-winning director-cinematographer (and past Polari board member and festival alum) PJ Raval is another hometown boy featured in SXSW. His latest film, BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, is an intimate observational documentary that gives viewers uncommon access to the lives of three gay seniors as they navigate the adventures, challenges and surprises of their golden years. Additional information and screening times!

MR. ANGEL
World Premiere | Saturday, March 9 at 7:30pm | Vimeo Theater
The provocative MR. ANGEL follows BUCK ANGEL, the notorious transgender porn star, as he challenges dominant sexual representation with a new genre of pornography, and reunites with his parents, who are unaware of his newfound fame. MR. ANGEL is the second feature doc by Dan Hunt, whose CRUEL AND UNUSUAL (co-directed with Janet Baus and Reid Williams) was well received at Polari in 2006. Additional information and screening times!

I AM DIVINE
World Premiere | Saturday, March 9 at 9:15pm | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz 1&2
I AM DIVINE, one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year, chronicles the life of Glen Milstead, a once bullied “fat kid” who became one of the most beloved outsider icons, as the in-your-face and larger-then-life “Divine” of John Waters fame (and beyond). I AM DIVINE is directed by celebrated documentary filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz who brought us last year’s crowd favorite VITO (a Polari and AIDS Services of Austin co-screening at BIG LOVE). Additional information and screening times!

CONTINENTAL
World Premiere | Sunday, March 10 at 1:30pm | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz 1&2
CONTINENTAL takes a stylish look back at the infamous Continental Baths, which opened in NYC in 1968, and became a groundbreaking site of gay sexual freedom and indulgence, as well as a launching pad for the careers of such queer icons as Bette Midler and LaBelle. CONTINENTAL is directed by Malcolm Ingram, the leading-edge talent behind such recent documentary hits as SMALL TOWN GAY BAR (2006) and BEAR NATION (2010). Additional information and screening times!

ADDITIONAL FEATURE FILMES OF LGBT INTEREST:

THE PUNK SINGER
Sunday, March 10 at 10:00pm | Vimeo Theater
Directed by Sini Anderson of Sister Spit fame, THE PUNK SINGER gives viewers, through archival footage and intimate interviews, an unprecedented glimpse into the life of feminist icon and notorious riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Additional information and screening times!

PUSSY RIOT: A PUNK PRAYER
Tuesday, March 12 at 9:30pm | Stateside Theater
PUSSY RIOT, directed by Oscar-nominated Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin, tells the unbelievable story of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot who made headlines last year for performing a 40 second “punk prayer” inside Russia’s main cathedral. This performance led to their arrest and imprisonment on charges of religious hatred, shocking and galvanizing their supporters around the world. Additional information and screening times!

LGBT SHORTS:

And, don’t forget about the shorts! Some of the LGBT shorts at SXSW include:

NOT MY TYPE
Valentina Weatherspoon, our 2012 Polari Queer Youth Media Project filmmaker, will screen her short film, NOT MY TYPE as a part of the SXSW Texas High School Shorts Competition. This animated film explores how Valentina found her type through three kisses. Valentina created the NOT MY TYPE and SICK KIDS projects during Polari’s QYMP summer filmmaking camp. Both films premiered before the Polari Film Festival’s Opening Night Film as part of its 25th Anniversary Year Program Additional information and screening times!

“Big Shot”
Christeene’s “Big Shot” music video directed by PJ Raval, starring the local, infamous drag terrorist, as well as some ghostly free roaming rabbits. Additional information and screening times!

SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
Lauren Wolkstein’s SOCIAL BUTTERFLY about a 30-year-old American woman who enters a teenage party in the South of France, causing the guests to wonder who she is and what she is doing there. Additional information and screening times!

DEFLATED
DEFLATED a Polari25 selection following a young boy’s gender dilemma in the aisles of a superstore, directed by Filmmaker Assistance Program recipient Dustin Shroff, will also be playing as part of “Faces of Austin.” Additional information and screening time!

This list may not be entirely complete, and if we have inadvertently left your LGBTQIA film off the list, please let us know.

LGBT EVENTS:

There’s also several LGBT events and parties happening during SXSW, including our own Official SXSW Queer Brunch. Visit rawrgg.com for more information about these exciting queer happenings.