The Opening Night of QFest Houston 2019, presented by Spectrum South, was held on Wednesday, July 24 at Rice Cinema. The evening included a screening of Jennie Livingston’s revolutionary film Paris is Burning (1990), and an after party of drinks, dancing, mixing and mingling, and performances by Stoo (feat. Luis Cerda and Ricky Lethridge) and emcee Roxanne Collins.…
You send your partner a text: Tell me if this piece isn’t good enough. I need this to be as perfect as it can be. Your partner knows the significance of this piece because shortly after the two of you met, you fangirled out over its subject and maker, Jonathan Caouette’s indefinable, hybrid, crossgenre, tour-de-force film Tarnation—a capsule of a young queer artist’s relationship to himself, his childhood (and adulthood) in Houston (and New York), his sexuality, but most of all,…
There’s something magical about the first time you connect with a queer character on screen. For me, it was Spencer Carlin in South of Nowhere (shout out to 2005!). Seeing someone who looks like you, loves like you, and is navigating similar struggles can be life altering—even life saving. The leadership behind QFest, Houston’s international LGBTQ film festival, understands the need for such representation. This July 24–31, the festival celebrates its 23rd year with an extended, seven-day lineup of more…
I must have been around 13 years old the first time my mom showed me the film Fried Green Tomatoes. She said it was a film about fierce southern women working together to beat the odds and succeeding—something she knew a lot about. While my mom is a Yankee through and through, she married a southerner and lived in Tennessee for several years. She fell in love with the land and its history, an admiration reflected in her connection to…
In this episode, the Veer Queer crew talks with Houston-based chef Adán Medrano about Texas indigenous cooking, the importance of food in relation to resistance, identity, and community, and his upcoming film, The Roots of Texas Mexican Food.…
Jade Yumang grew up as free a spirit as they come. Bouncing around his mother’s beauty salon in the Philippines while his father worked overseas, Yumang was allowed to be as openly himself as he wanted. The majority of his mother’s friends and salon coworkers were queer and, for a young boy and budding artist discovering himself, this environment was more than favorable for his personal growth.…
Atlanta’s incomparable and resilient trans community is lighting up the city this Saturday, November 17, with Southern Fried Queer Pride’s TRANS PWR Fest, a one-day-only celebration of trans and non-binary artists, musicians, and community members at The Bakery Atlanta.…
The opening salvo of Queerskins: A Love Story plays out over the backdrop of AIDS Crisis America. Ed (Drew Moore) and Mary-Helen (Hadley Boyd) are driving down a country road filled with memories of their son, Sebastian (Michael DeBartolo), who has recently passed away—a victim of the crisis. Using photorealistic virtual reality (VR), the viewer is thrust into the middle of this scene, witnessing the couple’s heart-wrenching conversation firsthand from the back seat of their Cadillac. On the seat next…
Over the past few decades, anime—a medium of Japanese animation for film and television—has gained a growing popularity here in the United States. The art form’s stories are larger than life. Tales of spikey-haired protagonists collecting mystical balls to save the universe, rivaling ninja villages, pocket-sized monster battles, space pirates, regular pirates, and countless other adventures have set the mainstream standard for American audiences ever since Speed Racer debuted in the late 1960s. But today’s anime isn’t your dad’s anime.…
Houston-based non-binary electronica artist Wade in the Sonic Joy is fulfilling all of our wildest desires this morning with the release of their brand-new music video for “L1+L2.” The video is a sneak peek of Wade’s full-length album, Sexspells, which is scheduled for release this fall.…
