16th Annual QFest St. Louis runs May 4-10 at the Hi-Pointe Theatre

The 16th Annual QFest St. Louis — presented by Cinema St. Louis (CSL) — will take place from May 4-10 at the Hi-Pointe Theatre, which was recently purchased by Cinema St. Louis.

The St. Louis-based LGBTQ film festival, QFest will present an eclectic array of 26 films from 9 countries (16 shorts, eight narrative features, and two documentary features). The participating filmmakers represent a wide variety of voices in contemporary queer world cinema. The mission of the film festival is to use the art of contemporary gay cinema to spotlight the lives of LGBTQ people and to celebrate queer culture. Nearly half of the films are by women or non-binary directors.

The fest will host the St. Louis premieres of bold new works by prominent LGBTQ+ filmmakers from around the world including “L’Immenista” starring Penelope Cruz, “Monica” starring Patricia Clarkson and Trace Lysette, and the heartbreaking “The Blue Caftan” from Morocco. Another highlight is this year’s Q Classic, legendary queer director Gregg Araki’s 1995 “The Doom Generation,” will be presented in a new 4K restoration and stars Rose McGowan and James Duvall.

Two provocative documentaries are part of the lineup. “Jimmy in Saigon” chronicles the mysterious life and death of the filmmaker’s older brother in Vietnam in the early 1990s. Champaign native and director Peter McDowell will attend with the film. “Kokomo City” is a riveting look at four black trans sex workers in New York and Georgia as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves. This film is the directorial debut of D. Smith, who is a two-time Grammy-nominated songwriter-producer and trans woman.

QFest St. Louis begins on Thursday, May 4, and runs through Wednesday, May 10. Tickets are on sale now.. Tickets are $15 general, $12 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current IDs. Passes are also available: Five-Film Passes are $65, and All-Access Passes are $200 ($50 and $150 for CSL members). Direct ticket links are available on the QFest website.

For the full schedule of screenings, including trailers and descriptions of the films, visit the festival website at www.cinemastlouis.org/qfest. Advance digital screeners of the features and some of the shorts are available for press review on request. Please inquire with QFest St. Louis artistic director Chris Clark.

FILM PROGRAMS

The Blue Caftan, Maryam Touzani, Morocco, 2022, 122 min., Arabic with English subtitles, narrative