Coming-of-age tale “Gossamer Folds” and documentary “Ahead of the Curve” led the winners list at the 27th annual QFilms festival, benefitting the LGBTQ Center in Long Beach.

“Gossamer Folds,” which won the top prizes in both the jury and audience categories for Best Feature, tells the tale of a 10-year-old boy moved from the life of the city to the midwest in the late 1980s and how his next-door neighbor, a transgender woman named Gossamer, comes to help him adjust. Despite the immediate transphobia from his father and his mother’s often overbearing sense of protectiveness, the child forms a deep friendship with Gossamer that ultimately changes the lives of everyone involved.

Franco Stevens, influential founder of the lesbian-centric magazine known as “Curve,” as seen in the documentary “Ahead of the Curve.” Courtesy of The Collaborative.

“Ahead of the Curve,” which won the top prizes for documentary in the jury and audience categories, follows the path of trailblazing lesbian heroine, Franco Stevens, who founded influential “Curve” magazine that altered the way lesbians were viewed both within and outside their communities The film’s punctual pivot occurs when the audience witnesses Stevens’ new existential dilemma: With her influence waining and her entire worldview altered after a near-death accident, she must reconnect with a new generation of lady queers in order to rediscover herself.

The full list of winners include:

JURY AWARDS:

  • Best Feature: Gossamer Folds
  • Best Documentary: Ahead of the Curve
  • Best Director Feature: Lisa Donato (Gossamer Folds)
  • Best Director Documentary (Tie): Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow (Ahead of the Curve) and Michael Barnett (Changing the Game)
  • Best Screenplay: Mike Mosallam (Breaking Fast)
  • Best Short: Acuitzeramo
  • Best Documentary Short: Before and After Detention
  • Director Short Film (Tie): Miguel Angel Caballero (Acuitzeramo) and Ashlei Hardenburg-Cartegena (A Single Evening)
  • Director Documentary Short (Tie): Aubree Bernier-Clarke (A Normal Girl) and Robert James (Verasphere: A Love Story in Costume)
  • Best Screenplay Short: Jill Harrigan and Charlotte Warren (Laynie Needs a Light)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

  • Best Feature (Tie): Breaking Fast and Gossamer Folds
  • Best Documentary: Ahead of the Curve
  • Best Short: After That Party
  • Best Documentary Short: Marielle and Monica