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Isaiah Washington (left) and Mo’Nique (right) star in Blackbird, set to show at the 2014 QFilm Festival.

This year’s QFilm Festival, the annual celluloid buffet of everything LGBTQ cinema, has announced its feature lineup as it prepares to celebrate its 21st year.

Two stand-outs will mark the festival’s opening night on Friday, September 12: Desiree Akhavan’s debut feature film Appropriate Behavior and the Southern California premiere of Azul y no tan rosa (released in the US as My Straight Son but translated in Spanish as Blue and Not So Pink), directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Miguel Ferrari.

Akhavan, an Iranian-American daughter of immigrants who fled Iran following the Revolution of 1979, has already been dubbed the new Lena Dunham with her Appropriate Behavior, which had its premiere at Sundance and will be hosting its Long Beach premiere at QFilms. She tackles the triple-threat duty of writer, director and star of the film.

‘Appropriate Behavior’ Lingerie Clip from The Playlist on Vimeo.

The tale of Behavior revolves around the character of Shirin, a bisexual Brooklynite attempting to figure life out—including finding a job in a downtrodden market and moving past a vitriolic breakup. The film’s perpetual comparison to Dunham’s Girls by critics may or may not be a compliment—artful imitation and thoughtless reduction walk a very fine line, as does parody and pastiche—but the vast majority of opinion is clear: Behavior is a skilled, angst-driven comedy which happily (and un-stereotypically) traverses gay relationships.

Azul y no tan rosa, fresh off its U.S. premiere this past June at the Frameline Film Festival, tells the tale of Diego, having happily lived his openly gay life as a professional photographer with little interruption from his past—that is, until he needs to actually be a part of his (straight) teenage son’s life after years of having ignored him.

Being welcomed over the weekend will be Blackbird, featuring Mo’Nique and Isaiah Washington as religious parents in the South struggling to deal with their son’s “lack of normality.” The film, which explores the African-American community’s attachment to Christianity and the parallels of racism and homophobia, had its premiere at the 2014 American Black Film Festival.

Also included in the lineup are:

Last year’s event, presented by the LGBTQ Center, was the most successful with over 1,500 attendees across the span of three days. This year’s festivities will take place from Friday, September 12 through Sunday, September 14 at the Art Theatre and LGBTQ Center, both located on 4th Street between Cherry and St. Louis Avenues. 

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