Baltimore QFest, one of two LGBT film festival set for 2012, will unspool June 21-24 at various locations throughout the city.
Organizers plan to show some 60 feature films, documentaries and shorts during the four-day festival. Where the films will be shown has yet to be determined, said Raymond Murray, the event's artistic director. Venues under consideration include the Charles Theatre, the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Creative Alliance at the Patterson and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland.
"I could never figure out why there was no LGBT film festival in Baltimore," said Murray, noting the city is one of the largest in the U.S. without an annual gay film festival.
This year, however, two LGBT film festivals are set for the city. Next week's Charm City LGBT Film Festival, set for Friday and Saturday at Highlandtown's Creative Alliance at the Patterson, will feature nine films. Included will be movies from the U.S., Ecuador, Indonesia and the United Kingdom.
The June festival will be run by the Philadelphia Cinema Alliance, which presents the annual Philadelphia QFest, billed as the largest LGBT film festival on the East Coast. It will be sponsored by TLA Releasing, a major distributor of LGBT films.
Baltimore QFest already has a big fan in director John Waters, who said he looks forward to seeing some of TLA Releasing's films shown on the big screen.
"They have the most amazing, the best art films," Waters said, "and the most insane porn films, which are right up my alley."
Chris.kaltenbach@baltsun.com
LGBT film festival set for June
"The One," starring Jon Prescott, screened at Philadelphia QFest 2011 and was released by TLA Releasing, a major sponsor of Baltimore QFest 2012. (Handout)