Queer film fans, rejoice. The Reeling Film Fest returns this Friday with 31 feature films and 19 short film programs. Now in its 36th year, Reeling is the second-longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival in the world, premiering queer-centric films that can’t be found anywhere else.
“Oh, the Horror!,” one of the festival’s short film blocks, examines horror tropes and stories through a queer lens. In Little Bill’s Peep Show, the monster is homophobia. In Red Velvet, it’s toxic masculinity and aggression. Christiaan Olwagen’s Canary is a musical dramedy set in the South African army in the 1980s with a soundtrack of Depeche Mode and Boy George. Scud’s Adonis follows a hapless, down-on-his-luck actor in Beijing as he becomes a popular gay porn star.
9/20-9/30: various times and locations; see website, 773-293-1447, reelingfilmfestival.org, $11-$18, festival passes $50-$125.
