AT LAST Judas Kiss makes its Los Angeles-area premiere on Friday, September 16, 9:15 p.m. at the Long Beach Q Film Festival as its Opening Feature. The film festival takes place at The Center Long Beach and the beautiful, historic Art Theatre, both on the city’s renowned “Retro Row.”

UPDATED The festival is throwing a Pre-Party from 8-9 p.m. at The Center which is right next door to The Art Theatre, and a post party at a bar called Paradise.

“We were disappointed that OutFest in Los Angeles was the only U.S. gay festival that rejected Judas Kiss,” said director J.T. Tepnapa, “but I’m thrilled our L.A.-area premiere is in the city where I was born, Long Beach.”

In choosing Judas Kiss as the opening feature, festival official Chris Carpenter remarked, “Our programming committee members were particularly struck by the content and quality of your film.”

The festival, which runs September 16-18, is Long Beach’s long-running film festival since 1993. Q Film Festival presents narrative features, documentaries and short films that embody the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. This year’s event features several area premieres as well some of the most acclaimed features on the 2011 film festival circuit.

The festival will feature an Opening Night Party, as well as other events that will be listed on the festival’s website.

WHAT’S PLAYING The other feature films selected by the festival so far are:

• Fit, a British comedy-drama about sexual diversity and bullying among a group of high school students.
• The California premiere of the documentary Inspired: Voices Against Prop 8, which spotlights several crusading Long Beach activists.
• An International Showcase of documentaries that including “Bisexual Revolution” (France), “I Am” (India) and “Be A Woman” (China; U.S. premiere).
• Leave It On the Floor, an acclaimed, high-energy musical set in the world of Los Angeles drag balls
• Longhorns, a rambunctious gay tribute to early 1980s comedies like Porky’s.
• The Los Angeles-area premiere of Photos of Angie, which details events surrounding the real-life murder of a transgender woman
• We Were Here, a moving reflection on the impact of the AIDS epidemic’s early years in San Francisco.
• Hollywood to Dollywood, a crowd-pleasing tribute to singer Dolly Parton by gay twin brothers.

TICKETS Festival passes and tickets will be available for purchase in August through the Q Film Festival page.

Q Films Long Beach is the longest running gay film festival in Long Beach, California, which has one of the largest LGBT populations in the state.

Related Links

• Facebook Event Page for Long Beach screening
• Long Beach Q Film Festival website
• The Center Long Beach website
• The Art Theatre Long Beach
• After-party location: Paradise