EAST VILLAGE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL to Mark 10th Anniversary at wild project

wild project will present the 10th Annual East Village Queer Film Festival, curated by festival Co-Directors Paul Edwards and Valeria Avina, August 26-30 at wild project (195 E 3rd St, New York, NY 10009). Tickets ($13.02) and Festival Passes ($56.50) are available for advance purchase at https://thewildproject.org/performances/evq-2026/.

The East Village Queer Film Festival (EVQ) embraces an inclusive Queer identity, featuring films that entertain, explore and promote queer-themed issues, work by and featuring LGBTQIA+ artists, as well as work inspired by the expanded innovative and audacious downtown Queer avant-garde.

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the festival, which will honor Lola Rock'N'Rolla, an artist who helped to launch the festival in 2017 and who epitomizes what the East Village Queer Film Festival is all about, with a retrospective and celebration of her storied career with special guest host Murray Hill. This year's festival will also feature a short film starring John Cameron Mitchell and a full-length film featuring Liza Weil from Gilmore Girls. Each screening will be followed by a brief Q&A with the filmmakers, with moderators TBA.

Festival Schedule

Wednesday, August 26 at 7pm

SHORTS 1

Fish & Chips

Directed by Macadie Amoroso (United Kingdom)

Featuring Olivia Swann, Shakira Newton, and Pearce Quigley

Fab plans a surprise for Cassie on their first anniversary, but Cassie's rough day, coupled with a party popper mishap, leads to a heated argument over dinner options. What starts as a takeaway tiff over Caribbean or pizza spirals into an identity battle, revealing deep-seated resentments about their racial and queer identities.

Our Director Got Covid So We Made This

Written and Directed by Amanda Greer & Denise Reed (United States)

Featuring Amanda Greer and Denise Reed

Two best friends explore the complicated terrain of falling in love with one another in the modern world of relationships.

The Hoop

Written & Directed by Tom Prezman (Spain)

Featuring Pixie Aventura

Set in the big city, a solitary figure faces a tense step toward self-expression. Amid lingering eyes, they move through noise and stillness, finding quiet grounding through the presence of community and care.

Mr. Darcy & Me

Directed by Rana Liu, Written by Casey Marie Ecker (Canada)

Featuring Casie Marie Ecker and Gabrielle Marie Banville

Mr. Darcy & Me is a short narrative film about queer longing in the modern world. We follow Lucy, a newly 30 year old, who's anxious to a fault, emotionally overwhelmed, and clinging to the one person who always seems to understand her: her imaginary friend, Mr. Darcy.

Misha's Girl

Written & Directed by Isabel G. Afonso (Spain)

Featuring Henar Pérez, Natalia López, and Marcos Pérez

A lesbian teenager proposes to a classmate in front of her boyfriend.

Welcome Home

Written & Directed by Jeremy Diaz and Jason A. Coombs

Featuring Joel Oramas, Alain Lapinel, and Gregory Lawrence Gardner

When a beloved community organizer invites his ex-boyfriend, now a Hollywood star, back home for the grand opening of a Pride Center, old wounds and unfinished stories resurface. In one heartfelt evening, both men must confront the truth about who they were and who they've become.

Thursday, August 27 at 7pm

SHORTS 2

PDA

Directed by Morgan Rielly, Written by Makasha Copeland (United States)

Featuring Makasha Copeland, Gabrielle Silva, and Nick Tiffany

After releasing the song of the summer, up-and-coming lesbian pop duo SLIT stands on the brink of superstardom until a mysterious blackmailer threatens to expose a career-ending secret. This short is designed to stand alone while also functioning as the pilot episode of a short-form episodic series.

Baker's Boy

Written & Directed by Mo Schweiger (United States)

Featuring Jules Tucher, Noh Bailey, K Adler, Ben Hersey, and Olive Salamanca

Six months after small-town transmasc baker Sam starts using testosterone gel, they begin to notice that everyone they know is a little bit beefier, a little bit harrier, and a little bit hornier than they had been previously...

Pussy on the Floor - Rentboy

Directed by Chris Osborn (United States)

A music video featuring Alana Jessica Martin and Bobby Brown.

Cockroach

Written by Liliana Padilla, Written & Directed by Justice Maya Singleton (United States)

Featuring John Cameron Mitchell and Justice Maya Singleton

A black transgender man plans to exchange sex for top surgery money with an older gay man until his night hook up turns into a hunt for a cockroach who inspires him to open his heart and conquer his fears.

Friday, August 28 at 5pm

SHORTS 3

Pismo Beach

Written & Directed by Christian Tucci (United States)

Featuring George Rexstrew and Rob Scerbo

At a gig, a drag performer is confronted by a lonely stranger with an eerie coincidence to share.

Taxonomy

Written & Directed by Ren Leverentz (United Kingdom)

Featuring Shona Powell McKay, Fran Till, Luxx, Hagi, AJ Roy, Joey Currie, Will Boo Maslen, Barty Drozdowska & Zulaa Fleming

Using a combination of movement art and conversation, Taxonomy is a short documentary that explores the relationship between language and gender for trans and non-binary people

I Wish My Bones Were Unidentifiable

Written & Directed by Kai Helenius (United States)

Featuring Emmett Rector, Georgia Kate Haege, and Keith Kirkwood

A young trans man is forced to confront his manipulative mother over a cold Thanksgiving dinner.

Butterfly In A Blackhole

Directed by Lou Blackmon & Arya Grace Gaston (United States)

Featuring Arya Grace Gaston

Arya Gaston's debut music video exploring identity, transgender self-expression and evolution filmed in October 2022 prior to Arya's medical transition. The music video was released in conjunction with Arya publicly coming out as transgender.

Black Shawl

Written & Directed by Kamila Boichenko (Poland)

Featuring Iryna Ostrovska, Oksana Cherkashyna, and Yelyzaveta Pavlenko

Lesya and her daughter Anya are living in a refugee camp, grappling with the torment of blackmail related to the disappearance of Lesya's husband, who went missing during the war a year ago. In the camp, Lesya reconnects with her old friend Maria, a widow who, like Lesya, is haunted by the loss of a loved one. As their bond deepens, the women find solace in each other's shared grief. However, Anya begins to suspect that her mother's relationship with Maria is evolving into something more than just a friendship.

Lola Rock'N'Rolla Legacy Celebration

With Special Guest Host Murray Hill

Friday, August 28 at 7:30pm

A retrospective and celebration of Lola's storied career in the independent film world of NYC and the East Village.

Saturday, August 29 at 4pm

SHORTS 4

Crossing The Desert

Directed by Reena Dutt, Written by Anu Bhatt (United States)

Featuring Anu Bhatt, Rumela Ganguly, Zehra Fazal, and Ranjita Chakravarty

Crossing the Desert is a short film that explores the complex relationship between a South Asian immigrant woman and her queer American daughter. This tender story asks us to re-examine our expectations of our loved ones. Can we accept them for who they really are, not who we want them to be?

Thank You

Directed by Rock Hudson & Alison R. LoPresti, Written by Levi Hawkins & Hera Gibson

Featuring Levi Hawkins and Hera Gibson

Two strangers, Troop and Marlo, meet by coincidence and share in moments of connection that transcend their differences, and help them cope with the uncertainties of mortality, grief, hardship, and love.

Cyrystalline

Written & Directed by Christopher Cunetto

Featuring Connor James Reilly, Carol Cadby, Wood Van Meter, and Mauricio Pita

A drag queen haunted by addiction must battle vivid hallucinations to nail a life-changing performance.

Fr. Brennan is Having a Breakdown!

Directed by Luke Faulkner, Written by Denny Redmond (Ireland)

Featuring Denny Redmond, Adam Phelan, and Justine Stafford

Fr. Brennan has been acting rather strange lately, and who better than Man of the Year Richard Hennessy to whip the naïve parish priest into shape?

Saturday, August 29 at 7pm

SHORTS 5

Final Girl

Written & Directed by Annabeth Olivia Mellon, Directed by Emily Rachel Gordon (USA)

Featuring Liliana Araceli, Thomas Dyer, and Samantha Clifford

Jamie Burns is a 17-year-old survivor of a chainsaw massacre that left her friends dead and her life forever changed. One year after the attack, she is released from psychiatric care and starts at a new school. When her new friends invite her to a Halloween party, she must navigate an unfamiliar and frightening environment, where danger could be lurking in every corner.

GAINS

Written & Directed by Christian Hendricks (United States)

Featuring Ben Labadia

A struggling personal trainer hustles to succeed any way he can, but gets more than he bargained for.

Bottom Feeder

Directed by Will Carter, Written by Dylan LaRay (United States)

Featuring Joshua R. Pangborn and Amy Berk

Crackers, a rancid icthyophile, is stalked by an aquatic demon. A dream come true? Or his worst nightmare?

FETICHE

Directed by Jei Fabiano Osorio, Alberto Aburto & Carolina Morales, Written by Jei Fabiano Osorio (Colombia)

Featuring Inti La Prince and Mar García

Fetiche is a stylized music video that merges disco, funk, and underground nightlife aesthetics into a visually immersive experience. Shot on location in Brooklyn, the film explores themes of desire, identity, and self-expression through a minimalist yet sensual visual language.

Aggie Ascends

Written & Directed by Eli Rarey (United States)

Featuring Cara Taylor and Josh Crotty

Feeling adrift in her life, Aggie consults a witch-and begins to have visions that she is descending into the underworld.

Sunday, August 30 at 2pm

FEATURE FILM

Written & Directed by Lunar Sway and Nick Butler

Featuring Noah Parker, Liza Weil, Grace Glowicki, Douglas Smith, Kaden Connors, and Andy Yu

Cliff is a young man looking for love in all the wrong places in a small desert town. When his birth mother, Marg, arrives unexpectedly they start to connect. But her secrets soon catch up with them.

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