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Dayton LGBT Film Festival
Friday, 10 October 2025 until Sunday, 12 October 2025
The Dayton LGBT Film Festival, now in its 19th year, is one of the Midwest's premiere LGBT events. After choosing the best work from over 100 international selections, the festival not only screens great films, we also fly in several guest artists each year and throw an awesome party - all right here in Dayton, Ohio! Many of these films are making their Ohio premieres, and we couldn't feel luckier.
2025 Schedule…
Thursday, October 9
7:30 PM
Outerlands
Dir. Elena Oxman /100 Min /USA / Trailer
A gig worker in San Francisco balances multiple jobs, including dealing party drugs. When their crush asks them to watch her daughter, what starts as temporary childcare evolves into an unexpected journey of self-discovery and healing.
Friday, October 10
7:30 PM
Blue Moon
Dir. Richard Linklater /100 Min /USA, Ireland / Trailer
On the evening of March 31, 1943, legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart confront his shattered self-confidence in Sardi’s bar as his former collaborator Richard Rodgers celebrated the opening night of his ground-breaking hit musical OKLAHOMA! Starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Andrew Scott and Bobby Cannavale.
Preceded By
I'm the Most Racist Person I Know
Dir. Leela Varghese /14 Min /Australia
When Lali unexpectedly ends up on a date with another woman of color for the first time, it unravels prejudices she has long ignored.
Saturday, October 11
12:00 PM
The Librarians
Dir. Kim A. Snyder /93 Min /USA / Trailer
As an unprecedented wave of book banning largely addressing race and LGBT issues is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy. Presented in partnership with Dayton Metro Library.
Preceded By
The Last Story on Earth
Dir. Aaron Immediato /18 Min /USA
First protesters and now an alien invasion, a determined drag queen does her best during a fairy tale reading at the local library.
3:00 PM
Top Drawer Shorts…
Sweet Talkin' Guy
Dir. Miss Dylan & Spencer Wardwell /5 Min /USA
A trans woman goes on three consecutive dates with straight men who all grapple with their fragile masculinity.
Thanks Babs
Dir. Rivkah Beth Medow & Jen Rainin /15 Min /USA
Meet Babs, an optimistic octogenarian speed-racing through life, one five-year plan at a time.
Safety State
Dir. Jeanette L. Buck /16 Min /USA
In the dystopian near future, a gay and a lesbian couple form an unlikely friendship as they flee Ohio for safety in New England.
Two Black Boys in Paradise
Dir. Baz Sells /9 Min /UK
A movingly tender animation, based on Dean Atta’s eponymous poem, sees two boys — Edan, 19, and Dula, 18 — on a journey of self-acceptance and love.
Autoerotica: We Sell Gay Stuff
Dir. Andrea Hoyos /18 Min /Peru
Behind an unassuming "We Buy Gay Stuff" sign in San Francisco's Castro district lies an unexpected treasure trove of queer history.
Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites
Dir. Chheangkea /19 Min /Cambodia
Grandma Nai sneaks away from her peaceful afterlife after overhearing that her queer grandson is about to get engaged to a woman. A Sundance winner!
Girlfriend Girlfriend
Dir. Sara Werner /7 Min /USA Trailer
A queer woman's mind is blown by her new coworker's bold question in this experimental short film.
Poreless
Dir. Harris Doran /14 Min /USA
A fabulous, queer, Muslim beauty entrepreneur competes in a SHARK TANK-like contest after suffering an untimely allergic reaction.
7:00 PM
We Are Pat
Dir. Rowan Haber /87 Min /USA / Trailer
Three decades ago, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE bravely dared to ask “Who’s he… Or she?” and turned gender nonconformity into a punchline with its recurring IT’S PAT sketch - created by and starring Julia Sweeney… there was even an IT’S PAT movie ghostwritten by Quentin Tarantino. In WE ARE PAT, a who’s-who of trans comics are tasked with the ultimate challenge: creating a new Pat sketch in the year 2025.
9:15 PM
Queens of the Dead
Dir. Tina Romero /100 Min /USA / Trailer
Winner of the narrative Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival, this horror-comedy is full of so many familiar faces including our beloved neighbor Nina West, Jaquel Spivey, Tomás Matos, Margaret Cho, Jack Haven, Cheyenne Jackson, and Riki Lindhome. VARIETY writes, “Tina Romero’s feature debut remixes her father’s penchant for social commentary through a modern queer lens.”
Preceded By
Gender Reveal
Dir. Mo Matton /13 Min /Canada
A trans throuple soon realize that they are dealing with more than they were prepared for at a gender reveal party.
Sunday, October 12
12:00 PM
State of Firsts
Dir. Chase Joynt /93 Min /USA / Trailer
STATE of FIRSTS follows Sarah McBride’s historic run to become the first transgender member of Congress. Throughout her campaign, she navigates the complex terrain between activist and electoral strategies for change, and on the night that Sarah wins, so too does Trump, underscoring a nation intensely divided and sending Sarah to an increasingly hostile new workplace.
Preceded By
Tessitura
Dir. Lydia Cornett & Brit Fryer /19 Min /USA
Three trans opera singers refine their unique vocal talents and contemporize the history of gender-fluid performances in the art form.
3:00 PM
Documenting Women…
In the Best Interests of the Children
Dir. Frances Reid, Elizabeth Stevens & Cathy Zheutlin /53 Min /USA Trailer
This groundbreaking film on lesbian mothering portrays the diversity of experience, race and class among eight lesbian mothers and their children.
Lesbian Custody
Dir. Samuael Topiary & Molly Skonieczny /19 Min /USA
A video essay about the personal and political context of a landmark lesbian feminist 1977 documentary IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDREN.
Old Girl in a Tutu: Susan Rennie Disrupts Art History
Dir. Cheri Gaulke /8 Min /USA
Feminist scholar, Susan Rennie, seizes her iPhone and sneaks her queer, octogenarian body into master works of art, disrupting the narrative of the male gaze.
We'll Carry On Alright
Dir. Megan Rossman /12 Min /USA
Roles have reversed for the friendship between Mabel Hampton, an African American, lesbian, and activist, and Joan Nestle, a white, lesbian and Jewish professor who is 40 years her junior.
Free Beer Tomorrow: A Teaser
Dir. Julia Applegate & LuSter P. Singleton /12 Min /USA
This teaser for the upcoming documentary FREE BEER TOMORROW – a film telling the story of Jack’s/Summit Station – Ohio’s longest running lesbian bar.
6:00 PM
#300LETTERS
Dir. Lucas Santa Ana /90 Min /Argentina / Trailer
Jero and Tom are the young gay couple that everyone wants to be. On the day of the first anniversary of their meeting, Jero returns home to find that Tom has abandoned him, leaving him a box of 300 letters as his only explanation.