Starts tonight!  Check out the schedule: here.

The 15th Annual Portland Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (PLGFF) begins September 30 and runs through October 8 at Cinema 21. This year the festival begins September 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Cinema 21 with a very special screening of local filmmaker David Weissman’s deeply moving We Were Here. The film chronicles the heavy impact the AIDS crisis had on San Francisco in the 80s through the eyes of five survivors. David Weissman will be in attendance. This special screening is followed by a Gala Opening Night Party at 23Hoyt with hosted appetizers and drinks as well as a full cash bar and Holcombe Waller will perform a short set.

The festival concludes on October 8 at Cinema 21 with the BBC production of The Night Watch based on the novel by Sarah Waters. Following four characters during World War 2 in Britain, the film explores many of the themes of gender and sexual identity typical in a Sarah Waters novel.

The festival’s Centerpiece this year is Andrew Haigh’s extraordinary drama Weekend. Easily one of the most compelling gay films of the last couple decades, the film has been a smash hit at festivals and a favorite among critics. Weekend is the story of two men who meet and have a one-night stand but end up spening the next 48 hours together developing a poignant connection with lasting impact.

Also, playing is Hollywood to Dollywood, a doc about twin gay brothers, Gary and Larry Lane’s cross country road trip to deliver to Dolly Parton a movie script they wrote for her. The brothers travel in an RV named Jolene in hopes of meeting with the country music legend. Gary and Larry will be in attendance at their screening.

Also, playing this year is Gun Hill Road, a drama about a father returning home to the Bronx from prison to discover his son is exploring a gender transformation. And from France, Tomboy will screen. The drama centers on a 10-year-old girl, Laure, who goes away for the summer and is mistaken for a boy.  She decides to pass herself off as boy for the remainder of the summer.

Tags: Cinema 21 Portland Oregon, LGBT film festival Portland OR, PLGFF, Portland gay and lesbian film festival