Now in its 27th year, the Washington Jewish Film Festival presents traditional film screenings as well as related cultural and educational programs at six different theaters. Six films at this year’s festival are “Rated LGBTQ,” exploring sexuality, gender and identity on screen.
Cabaret, the hit 1972 adaptation of the stage musical classic starring Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli, which screens Sunday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m., at the Edlavitch DCJCC, and Saturday, May 27, at 12:30 p.m., at AFI Silver Theatre.
Family Commitments, an outrageously quirky comedy about a Jewish-Arab same-sex wedding, in its Mid-Atlantic Premiere Saturday, May 20, at 8:45 p.m. at Landmark E Street Cinema, and Saturday, May 27, at 6:30 p.m., at Edlavitch DCJCC.
In Between, Maysaloun Hamoud’s remarkable feature debut about three Arab-Israeli women sharing an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv and struggling with contemporary and traditional pressures, which screens Wednesday, May 24, at 8:15 p.m., at Landmark E Street Cinema, and Sunday, May 28, at 1:45 p.m., at AFI Silver Theatre.
The Freedom to Marry, a riveting ride through history with Evan Wolfson and Mary Bonauto, who led the push for one of the most successful civil rights campaigns in modern history, screening on Sunday, May 21, at 5:15 p.m. at AFI Silver Theatre, and Wednesday, May 24, at 7:15 p.m., at Edlavitch DCJCC.
The Guys Next Door, a lyrical documentary about the bonds between a straight family and their gay neighbors, screening Sunday, May 21, at 6 p.m., at Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema, and Monday, May 22, at 6:15 p.m., at Landmark E Street Cinema.
Uncle Howard, a paean and an elegy to Aaron Brookner’s uncle and the film he made about his friend William S. Burroughs before his premature AIDS-related death, screening on Sunday, May 21, at 4:15 p.m., at Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema, and Monday, May 22, at 8:45 p.m., at Landmark E Street Cinema.
Modi Rosenfeld, better known as simply the mono-monikered Modi, does not consider himself political. Primarily, he's Jewish. Then gay. His role as a comedian is near the top. But political?
"100 percent not," Modi insists. "Not at all."
Still, the Israel-born, Long Island-raised Modi knows his way around a political arena. His turn at roasting the famous in the service of Commentary magazine is testament. During the Donald Trump administration, the guest of honor was former senator Joe Lieberman. The best line, however, was aimed at one of Lieberman's senatorial siblings, in that period of Senate confirmation hearings for Trump's raft of Supreme Court nominations.
"I love that you think I have more than one home," laughs Wilson Cruz, settling in at his New York apartment for what will ultimately become a wide-ranging, two-hour Zoom interview. "I am a journeyman actor who has been cobbling together a career for 30 years. That's what I am."
Truth is, Wilson Cruz is much more than that. This is the third time Cruz has been featured on a Metro Weekly cover, and he ensures that a conversation with him feels familiar, like time spent with a best friend. Talking with him is also somewhat of a unique event -- spirited, unbridled, utterly free of artifice. He is warm. He is welcoming. He is wise.
A group of students, parents, and teachers in Florida have reached a settlement with state educational authorities that clarifies several provisions in the state's infamous "Don't Say Gay" law.
The "Don't Say Gay" law, officially dubbed the "Parental Rights in Education" law, sought to limit students' exposure to LGBTQ issues and identities under the guise of keeping parents informed and giving them outsized influence over what subjects are broached in the classroom.
Soon after its passage, proponents of the law quickly dubbed opponents "groomers," claiming they wanted to indoctrinate children into adopting values or embracing ideas that run counter to their parents' morals or beliefs or expose them to age-inappropriate subjects. Republican lawmakers soon expanded the law's restrictions on K-3 classrooms to apply to all K-12 classrooms in the state.
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