Location

Our Goal: Education

The Desperado LGBT Film Festival showcases the best in LGBT film making. Our inaugural year was 2010 and 2011 will be even bigger and better. We hope that in providing the Phoenix LGBT population as well as the students of Maricopa County's Community Colleges, an understanding of diversity and multiculturalism will take stronger root in the Valley of the Sun.

Giving opportunties to gay and lesbian students to view films that reflect their culture as well as be part of the process of creating an exciting event like this, will empower and strengthen their character. This is a great leadership opportunity for the LGBT students of Paradise Valley Community College's P.R.I.D.E. organization.

Contact Desperado for More Information

If you'd like to read more about MCCCD's dedication to diversity - click here.

More Event Information

Friday Jan 27

Wish Me Away
Feature-length documentary - Premiere

Wish Me Away is a personal and intimate look at Chely Wright, the first country music star to come out as gay. After a lifetime of hiding, she shatters cultural and religious stereotypes within Nashville, her conservative heartland family, and most importantly, herself.

Over a three-year period, award-winning filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf followed Chely’s struggle - some of which was recorded on private video diaries - and her unfolding plan to come out publicly. Using interviews with Chely, her family, key players in Nashville and her management team, the film goes deep into Chely’s back story as an established country music star and then forward in verite scenes as she prepares to step into the media glare to reveal that she is gay. The film chronicles the aftermath of that decision in Nashville, her hometown and within the LGBT community.

Finally, performing before an LGBT audience of over 100,000, with the Capitol Building blazing behind her, we feel both the excitement and uncertainty of the future that awaits her.

Saturday Jan 28

Genderf*kation: A Gender Emancipation
Documentary - Free to the Public (no press kit)

The subject of gender is a taboo topic in many societies, yet fundamental to every aspect of all of our lives. This film breaks through the gender stereo-types and historical gender ideologies to liberate our bodies, minds and spirits from our own social Gender Dysphoria.  Discussion Panel afterwards.

Tomboy
Women/Transgender - More Info

Laure is 10 years old. Laure is a tomboy.

On her arrival in a new neighborhood, she lets Lisa and her crowd believe that she is a boy.

Truth or dare? Dare.

Summer becomes a big playground and Laure pretends to be Michael, a boy like the others… different enough to get the attention of Lisa who falls in love with him. Laure takes advantage of her new identity as if the end of the summer would never reveal her unsettling secret.

Three Veils
Women's Feature - More Info

"Three Veils" is a film about three young Middle-Eastern women living in the U.S, each with her own personal story.

Leila is engaged to be married, however as the wedding night approaches, she becomes less and less sure of how her life is playing out.

Amira is a very devout Muslim, but is dealing with her deep repressions about her intimate feelings toward women.

Nikki is acting out her promiscuity as she battles her own demons after a tragic death in the family.

As the film progresses, all three stories unfold and blend into each other as connections are revealed between the three women.

Going Down in La La Land
Men's Feature - More Info

A candid, sexy, and outrageously funny look at what an actor can – and will do – to survive in Hollywood.
Young, handsome, and ambitious, Adam arrives from New York with dreams of making it big in L.A. He moves in with his zany best friend Candy who, between auditions, spends her time at the gym, shopping, or looking for a wealthy man.

Adam gets o! to a rocky start, complete with parking tickets and an insu!erable job answering phones. A new job in production looks promising, but soon Adam finds himself dealing with down-and-out directors, washed up starlets, and meth addicts, as he starts to loose himself in a seamy underworld of gay porn and prostitution

Sunday Jan 29

Joe + Belle
Women's Feature - More Info

Finally, the lesbian riff on Thelma & Louise we’ve all been waiting for!

“A creative tour-de-force… Joe + Belle manages to say something deep about love and violence while still offering all the gallows humor you could hope for.” —AfterEllen.com

Joe + Belle is an incredibly funny and romantic new lesbian feature boasting a great story, a whimsically dark comic sensibility and stellar performances. Writer-director-star Veronica Kedar shines as Joe — a laid-back dope dealer full of magnetic charisma. Sivan Levy is Belle — a forlorn yet irresistibly sensual crazy girl who attaches herself to Joe and refuses to let go.

The chemistry here is spot-on perfect as the two girls fall madly in love against the backdrop of a wild cross-country getaway — after they accidentally kill a guy! Full of whimsical sensibility and black humor, Joe + Belle is destined to restore your faith in young love.

(Movie is in English, Hebrew and French with English subtitles)

Ecupid
Closing Film -  Men's Feature - More Info

Marshall (Houston Rhines) is a cocky young ad man working at a dead-end job for a boss (John Callahan) who overlooks his talents.  After seven years with his boyfriend, Gabe (Noah Shuffman), Marshall's love life has become too comfortable.  On top of that, he's turning 30! 

He is desperate for a new life.  He goes looking for it online, where he comes upon a mysterious app called “eCupid” that guarantees to find true love.  From the moment he downloads it, “eCupid” scans every inch of Marshall’s online world and instantly turns his life upside down.

Marshall suddenly gets everything he thinks he wanted. Newly single and ready for adventure, "eCupid" overwhelms Marshall with sexy guys at every turn, each promising to be the man of his fantasies.  But too much of a good thing may not be a good thing. Marshall soon finds that all the attention is more than he bargained for.

With the help of a wise and mysterious waitress (Morgan Fairchild), Marshall is given one last chance to listen to his heart and figure out what (and who) is really important.