The annual Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs LGBTQ+ Film Festival is set to return for its eighteenth edition this September. This year’s festival will run from Thursday, September 18th to Sunday, September 21st, and then resume from Thursday, September 25th to Sunday, September 28th.
According to Michael C. Green, Cinema Diverse Festival Director and Executive Director of the Palm Springs Cultural Center, “LGBTQ+ filmmakers have been quite prolific recently, which is no surprise, given the political climate. There’s a lot going on and a lot of stories to be told.”
The festival will open with BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY, a historical drama from Croatian filmmaker Ivona Juka. The film, set in 1957 communist Yugoslavia, follows four gay friends who were partisans during World War II and are now working in the Yugoslavian film industry under Josef Broz Tito’s rule. BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY was Croatia’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards.
Tickets and passes for Cinema Diverse are currently on sale. The festival, a program of the Palm Springs Cultural Center, is dedicated to strengthening the diverse gay community by presenting LGBTQ+ cinema from around the world. It aims to empower the community, advance efforts for equal rights, and introduce untold stories to a wider audience.