Salt Lake Acting Company announces its 49 ¾ season, including streaming, in-person productions, digital film series, world premieres

Major anniversaries always call for big celebrations. For an independent performing arts company, a golden anniversary not only demands an extravaganza but it also is a moment to highlight the triumph of resilience in demonstrating to the community that local cultural enterprises are indispensable for elevating the social conscience and inspiring others to join creative … Read more

I Wanna Hold Your Hand: 9th annual Rose Exposed goes virtual with six companies hitting the nail on the head in these pandemic times

There always is something soothing in the familiar pop strains of such Beatles classics as I Want to Hold Your Hand, the 1963 hit that truly brought the British quartet to its fame with American audiences. Unfortunately, when one washes and sanitizes their hands, the immediate impulse to touch, however, is constrained by social distancing … Read more

Utah Film Center Damn These Heels 2020: Worthy selections include documentary Making Sweet Tea and romantic drama Unsound, along with wild indulgent horror treat of Thirst

This year’s film slate for the Utah Film Center’s 17th annual Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival captures the most diverse spectrum of queer voice presented in the festival’s history. Among them are the documentary Making Sweet Tea, directed by John L. Jackson, Jr. and Nora Gross, and the Australian narrative feature Unsound, directed by Ian Watson. … Read more

Utah Film Center Damn These Heels 2020: Fabulously campy, subversive Holy Trinity, exceptional documentary Pier Kids signal impressive generation of indie filmmakers

In recent years mainstream cinema has made queer stories and characters more visible but the current generation of independent queer filmmakers has refreshed the culture by opening up spaces to voices that previously had been discouraged, ignored and even ostracized. Two highly recommended films being featured in the Utah Film Center’s 17th annual Damn These Heels Queer … Read more

Utah Film Center Damn These Heels 2020: Dramatic narrative Song Lang from Vietnam, Breaking Fast rom-com about Muslim doctor marvelously entertaining queer cinema films

Two marvelously entertaining queer narrative films with emotionally mature perspectives representing unlikely lovers discovering each other — – one from Vietnam and the other an American film starring a Muslim doctor living in West Hollywood – are featured in the Utah Film Center’s 17th annual Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival. They are Song Lang, a feature-length … Read more

Utah Film Center Damn These Heels 2020: One Taxi Ride excels in demonstrating power of observational cinema for finding paths to deal with taboo, misunderstood subject of sexual violence

In his director’s statement, Singaporean filmmaker Mak Chun Kit notes that discussing the sexual assault of men is a taboo subject virtually everywhere in the world and even the concept of men being sexual violence victims outside a prison setting is often looked upon as a myth.   In One Taxi Ride, he presents the … Read more

Utah Film Center Damn These Heels 2020: Outstanding documentary Dog Valley tracks horrendous Utah hate crime, emotionally difficult search for grace of justice, judgment

Just as Thanksgiving heralded the holiday season in 1988, news spread through the underground networks of Salt Lake City’s gay community about some of the horrendous details of the murder of Gordon Ray Church, 28, a gay college student from what is now Southern Utah University. Church’s killers were tried and convicted, with Michael Archuleta … Read more

Utah Film Center Damn These Heels 2020: The deep spirituality of queer musicians is explored exquisitely in Portuguese biopic Variações, documentary Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story

The stories of two introverted queer musicians who express their deep spirituality through their work are told separately in an exquisite pair of films as part of this year’s slate of the Utah Film Center’s 17th annual Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival. They are Variações, a Portuguese biopic written and directed by João Maia, and Keyboard … Read more

Utah Film Center Damn These Heels 2020: Two Chilean queer dramas – The Prince, Ema – are riveting with strong acting, production quality

The South American continent consistently has been the source of riveting queer drama cinema and two Chilean films in this year’s slate of the Utah Film Center’s 17th annual Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival are worthwhile offerings. They include El Principe (The Prince), an impressive directorial feature-length debut by Sebastián Muñoz, and Ema, directed by Pablo … Read more

Utah Film Center Damn These Heels 2020: Outstanding documentaries Transkids from Israel, Queer Japan offer cosmopolitan comparisons to the American LGBTQ+ experience

Two of the dozen documentaries being screened at the Utah Film Center’s 17th annual Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival offer fascinating cosmopolitan and cultural comparisons to the American LGBTQ+ experience. Both are outstanding: Transkids from Israel by director Hilla Medalia and Queer Japan, directed by Graham Kolbeins. Transkids The experiences of four Israeli transgender teens going … Read more