Who and What to See This Weekend at qFLIX


Jack Turner and Michael Hamilton in "10 Year Plan."

Jack Turner (left) and Michael Hamilton in”10-Year Plan,” which screens Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday evening saw the inaugural launch of two new LGBT-centric arts events in Philadelphia: William Way’s brand-new, first-of-its-kind queer jazz festival, OutBeat, and qFLIX, the new-media film festival that seeks to take the place of our dearly departed QFest.

The film festival runs all weekend and closes with a special screening on Monday night. For a festival that seemed to come together out of the blue, organizer Thom Cardwell has managed to cull a pretty impressive lineup of films and special guests—from local filmmakers and actors on the rise, like Jordan Fraser and Erik Ranson, to internationally known celebs Michael Lucas and Glee star Max Adler.

I’ve got the complete itinerary below, but first a few things to get excited about:

On Friday night J.C. Calciano presents his latest, The 10-Year Plan, a 92-minute romantic comedy about two friends who do something all of us have probably done at least once in our lives: promised each other they’d get together if they’re still single in 10 years. Calciano and the film’s star Michael Hamilton will be in attendance.

On Saturday, Porn king turned serious documentarian Michael Lucas will screen his latest exposé on Russia, Campaign of Hate. In it, Lucas returns to his homophobic homeland to talk to out residents in an attempt to tackle the country’s controversial anti-gay laws. He will be there to speak at the screening.

The festival closes on Monday with Rob Williams’ Out to KillThe gay-themed murder mystery concerns out private detective Jim Noble (played by Scott Sell), who moves to Florida and gets caught up in a mystery to beat the band in his new apartment complex. Torrid secrets and floating gay corpses abound. Williams will be there to present the film, and pick up qFLIX’s first-ever Director’s Artistic Achievement Award “for his prolific contributions to LGBTQ film as a writer, director and producer.”

Along with the feature-length films, there will be a spattering of locally produced shorts and web series screening throughout the weekend. Jordan Fraser’s Changed, a short film that just got some screen time at Cannes, screens on Friday afternoon with Simon Savory’s visually striking Bruno & Earlene Go to Vegas;  and Sunday’s New Media Series will see the screening of G Philly favorites A Man Who Takes the Place Of, and One of the Guys, among others.

That’s just a taste of what to hit up this weekend. Check out the full itinerary below. To purchase tickets, go here.

Friday, September 19th – at the Prince Music Theater
3:30 pm – Bruno & Earlene Go to Vegas
5:30 pm – Sneak Preview New Feature film from Mexico
7:30 pm – 10-Year Plan
9:30 pm – Power Erotic

Saturday, September 20th – at the Prince Music Theater
12:30 pm – Pride
2:30 pm – The Dark Place
5:30 pm – F(l)ag Football
7:30 pm – Campaign of Hate: Russia & Gay Propaganda
9:30 pm – Saugatuck Cures

Sunday, September 21st – at the Prince Music Theater
3:30 pm – Waiting in the Wings: The Musical
5:30 pm – Corpus Christi
7:30 pm – Tiger Orange
9:30 pm – Age of Consent

Sunday, September 21st – screenings at UArts, Caplan Center. 211 S. Broad St.
10:00 am – Breakfast Buzz: Next Big Thing Panel
12:00 pm – Caught in the Web: Breaking Barriers to Entry Panel
2:00 pm – New Media as Springboard: Taking the Jump Panel
4:00 pm – Putting the ‘New’ in New Media
5:30 pm – Easy Abby, shown with Affinity
7:30 pm – Cape of Good Humor
9:30 pm – Taxi Zum Klo

Monday, September 22nd – screenings at Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center
7:30 pm – Out to Kill