Houston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival


The Houston Gay & Lesbian Film Festival is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the media arts as a powerful tool for communication and cooperation among diverse communities by presenting films, videos, and programs by, about, or of interest to the LGBT community.

History of the Houston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Organizations closely associated with movies helped garnish the first HGLFF in 1997. The HGLFF does not use a curator; instead, each venue books its own films from submissions and projects they pursue independently. An advisory board facilitates organization of the films and events – an undertaking that begins almost a year in advance. Striving to make the Festival accessible to the entire population of the greater Houston area, the two-week festival has screenings at Landmark Theatres, Angelika Film Center, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Rice Cinema, DiverseWorks Art Space, and Aurora Picture Show.
The Festival was co-founded by Loris Bradley, Sarah Gish and Marian Luntz.

Outreach and educational programming

In addition to showing feature films, documentaries, and short videos, the Festival hosts a series of panel discussions, public forums, and other special events in conjunction with screenings to examine such topics as hate crimes; the Media's Influence on Homosexual Perception; and the unique way in which Houston’s gay and lesbian community has developed over the last few decades.

Board of directors

2005 9th Annual Houston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Board of Directors:
Margaret Zigman, President; Ernie Manouse, Vice President, PR/Marketing; Stephanie Atwood, Treasurer; D.L. Murphy, Festival Administrator/Secretary; Sixto Wagan, Programming Committee Chair; Ray Ramirez, PR/Marketing Committee Chair; Blase DiStefano, at-large member

Past screenings

Director: Jeremy Simmons
D.E.B.S.
Director: Angela Robinson
Garcon stupide
Director: Lionel Baier
Pink Flamingos
Director: John Waters
Gypsy 83
Director: Todd Stephens
Lan Yu
Director: Stanley Kwan
Psycho Beach Party
Director: Robert Lee King
Valley of the Dolls
Director: Mark Robson