From the restrictive Hays Code that constructed a celluloid closet, to the queer indie explosion of the mid-90s, to our contemporary conversations about representation, both independent and mainstream cinema have struggled with the way they portray LGBTQ2S people and stories. And while representation has obviously bettered over the last century of cinema, the question now turns to what queer stories get told. Queerwest celebrates not only the stories of queer life on the coasts, but the lives, adventures, and pain of LGBTQ2S people living under the majesty, power, and complicated history of the American West.

Queerwest Shorts Block

Emerald City dir. Josef Steiff
Two young men cross paths on the back roads of the American Southwest and despite their different backgrounds, find common ground along the Border. Emerald City is an lgbtqia+ story of two young men: one who has aged out of foster care where he was placed after his parents were deported and the other on his way to join the border patrol. Each isolated in their own way, both seek a sense of community, of belonging, and meet on the back roads of the American Southwest, where they develop a tentative friendship that gradually becomes more.

MnM dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon
MnM is an exuberant portrait of chosen sisters Mermaid and Milan, two emerging runway divas in the drag ballroom community. Celebrating their joy, siblinghood, and unapologetic personas, the film explores the power and beauty of being nonbinary in a community that can be both liberating and compartmentalized around gender.

Queer Crush: Places dir. Margaret Grant
Will an arm wrestling match win over Mary Margaret's crush? This charming DIY film, an inspired use of pastiche, tells a nostalgic tale about the magic of books and the most popular girl in the fourth grade.

Adulting dir. James Duesing
 A queer valentine has a fever dream.

The Lonesome Pony dir. Milo Blaec Richards
Inspired by Brokeback Mountain, The Lonesome Pony follows Pony Boy as he glances at a memory he has with a past lover.

Stay dir. Nathan Kornick (Made in Montana)
Conflict breaks out between a gay couple centered around the death of a loved one. The argument surfaces some very difficult emotions in Andrew, emotions that he's been withholding from Michael and bottling up for years.

Cowgirls dir. Emily Alegria (Made in Montana)
A short Western about Evelyn and her father, Jerry, who live and work on a ranch in Montana. Jerry, concerned that his daughter may be lonely, brings on a girl from the town nearby to work for the summer. The two women form a relationship unexpected by all and unknowingly find what they've been looking for within each other.

A Casual Walk dir. Dylan Albans (Made in Montana)
Oh the places your feet will take you.


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