This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Way OUT West Film Fest
AKA: Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Friday, 11 October 2024 until Sunday, 20 October 2024
One of the State's largest film festivals. Closet Cinema is recognized as New Mexico's leading GLBT non-profit organization dedicated to presenting a diverse array of GLBTQ images through film media arts. Way OUT West Film Fest will be celebrating its twentieth annual event this Fall.
In 2022, WOWFF with an attendance of 5,000 is one of the top LGBTQ film festivals in the Southwest.
In 2023, WOWFF with an attendance of 4,000 is one of the top LGBTQ film festivals in the Southwest.
AWARDS
Each year, our film loving audience picks their favorite films for our Audience Awards. Awards go to Favorite Feature Film, Favorite Documentary Film, and Favorite Short Film
2024 films...
A Long Way From Heaven tells the story of Brigham Young University’s queer underground, demanding their place in the sunlight.
Angie and Pat are a well-off lesbian couple in their mid-60s, until Pat unexpectedly dies, and Angie embarks on a later-life emancipation journey.
When forced to move to Buenos Aires and her liberal public school behind, Camila’s fierce but immature temperament is put to the test and a feminist revolution is born.
Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All
Known for stirring harmonies and socially conscious lyrics, iconic folk rock duo Indigo Girls are the subject of this intimate and insightful documentary, which tracks their decades-long career.
Helen lives with her ex-husband, his 20-year-old girlfriend, their new baby – and his dying mother Gwen but things are about to change…
12-year-old Sav Rodgers watched the film Chasing Amy, and his life was forever changed.
Desire Lines is a hybrid feature documentary that blends personal interviews, archival materials, and narrative fiction as a framework for exploring the complicated and often unwritten history of transmasculine sexuality.
Three years after their initial romance, Antonio is determined to get back together with Luca, despite Luca’s engagement to someone else.
What if you really did put all the gays on an island? In this kaleidoscopic portrait of queer paradise, Fire Island Pines, past and present blur as the iconic beach town bands together to celebrate its legacy and redefine itself for a more inclusive era.
Summer Qamp is a documentary following a group of LGBTQ+ youth at an idyllic lakeside camp in Alberta.
The ABCs of Book Banning reveals the voices of the impacted parties of books banned from school districts, inspiring hope for the future through the profound insights of inquisitive youthful minds.
While spending a steamy day together at a nude beach in Athens, best friends Demos and Nikitas start brainstorming ideas for a screenplay based on the colorful events of a previous summer.
The World According to Allee Willis
Songwriter / artist Allee Willis, best known for writing the “Friends” theme song, the Earth Wind & Fire mega-hit “September” and “The Color Purple” musical, began filming her life as a kid in 1950s Detroit and never stopped.
An ambitious cheerleader faces both new adversity and the increased drive for perfection and triumph when she and her girlfriend are selected for an all-star cheer squad and its demanding head coach.
Alone in her studio apartment, Narcissa Wright live streams every minute of her quest to be the world’s fastest Legend of Zelda player. But when her isolated digital existence begins to crack, Narcissa must decide her fate: will she embrace love and adventure in the real world, or will she be seduced again by the glow of the computer screen?
Julia has just lost her life partner, Barby. Torn between her grief and a world that is crumbling without her, she strives to preserve the restaurant they built together and her bond with their son León; a relationship now threatened by a willful grandmother and the return of an absent father.
Against the backdrop of a shared obsession with Bollywood fantasy, Mariam, a Pakistani Muslim woman, and her Canadian-born daughter Azra come of age in two different eras.
Black, Bold & Brilliant Presents: Queer BIPOC Short Film Showcase
Dive into a cinematic exploration of intersectionality with this collection of shorts highlighting BIPOC stories.
Emerald City by Josef Steiff
21 min | United States
Two lone hitchhikers, unknowingly connected by the secrets they carry, cross paths near the US/Mexico border where they develop a tentative friendship that gradually becomes more.
If by Tathagata Ghosh
26 min | India
An arranged marriage tears a lesbian couple apart, but with a mother’s love, and perhaps, another future is possible.
Remember, Broken Crayons Colour Too by Shannet Clemmings, Urša Kastelic
13 min | Switzerland
Shannet, a Black Transgender woman from Jamaica, shares her journey of healing as she wanders the empty streets of a European city.
HallowQueen Short Film Showcase
Darkness falls across the land and the midnight hour is close at hand, which means it’s time for thrills and chills from this twisted collection of tales.
Amphibian by Jie Zhang
8 min | Hong Kong
Being amphibious is a forced, reluctant choice. This film aims to make people see- see a few brave souls becoming themselves. Like amphibians, our protagonists, the four members of the queer cultural collective around Pharos, live a life of constantly shifting identities.
Beach Logs Kill by Haley Z. Boston
10 min | United States
In this nightmarish queer awakening story set at a high school football game, the star quarterback promises to pass down her lucky number to the most deserving girl on the team. But when the game goes horribly awry, an awkward girl in detention attempts to prove herself worthy of the captain’s love, legacy, and soul…
Future Flowers by Hao Zhou
10 min | China
A lesbian and a gay man in a sham marriage ambivalently follow a propagandistic program that nudges them toward a single goal: procreation.
Piecht by Luka Lara Steffen
30 min | Germany
For 17-year-old Johanna, a vacation in idyllic Piecht is anything but relaxing. While her mother dreams of an ecological alternative life, a real nightmare unfolds for Johanna as she is confronted with a far-right community and their backwards ideas.
Safety State by Jeanette Buck
16 min | United States
In the dystopian near future, a gay and a lesbian couple form an unlikely friendship as they flee the midwest for safety in New England.
Willa Justice: Drag Queen Private Eye by Jonathan Andre Culliton
15 min | United States
With Willa Justice hot on the trail of high desert murderer Pink Face, she must follow her heart, and a mysterious chicken, to solve the case.
Utah Queer Short Film Showcase
Utah proud and Utah loud. These short films by local filmmakers highlight the rapidly increasing queer community in our state.
Canyon Chorus by Chris Cresci
17 min | United States
Set against the backdrop of Desolation Canyon, UT, Mikah Meyer, a world-record traveler and LGBTQ+ advocate, reflects with three close friends and his mentor, Larry Edwards, on their stories and the power of mentorship within the queer community.
Dear Money: A Trans Perspective by Fletcher Gibbons
5 min | United States
Three trans siblings share about how money has impacted their lives and their gender-affirming care.
First Date by Ashlyn Brooke Anderson, William Cowser, Parker Rawlins
7 min | United States
As Andy navigates the vibrant tapestry of queer, non-monogamous dating, they experience a series of humorous and heartfelt encounters.
Grounded by Andrea “Andy” Whipple
6 min | United States
A pre-transitioned trans boy is transformed into a harpy and learns the importance of knowing one’s limits. He realizes that although he doesn’t have his ideal body, he can work with his body to create a life that’s worth living.
TRANS PUNK by Margo Plumb
30 min | United States
Hailed as the “The Narrative of Being a Societal Menace”, Trans Punk explores the hateful rhetoric and hyperbole surrounding the “transgender issue.”
Utah Drag by Sally Shaum, Kelton Wells
11 min | United States
Discover three queens showcasing what it means to “show up” in the vibrant world of drag in Utah.