NEW YORK, May 5, 2021 – NYC Pride is pleased to announce the return of its two annual LGBTQIA+ film events making their debut in the digital space. In partnership with Tribeca, the Pride Presents digital film festival experience on Friday June 18, 2021 will feature trailblazing shorts, documentaries, a feature film, and a live talk back to end the evening. Also making its return this year is Family Movie Night, back with family-filled fun for all ages.
“Tribeca’s collaboration with NYC Pride began in 2019 with an unforgettable day-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of Stonewall,” said Tribeca Festival Senior Programmer Lucy Jane Mukerjee. “I’m thrilled to see the relationship continue this year, extending beyond the LGBTQ+ cinema within the festival lineup, to meaningful conversations and community screenings that center the queer identity and will be accessible for folks across the country.”
Among the films appearing at Pride Presents this year will be the short film Kapaemahu, which tells the long forgotten story of four mahu, extraordinary beings of dual male and female spirit who brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii. Beloved by the people for their gentle ways and miraculous cures, they imbued four giant boulders with their powers. Although the stones still stand on Waikiki Beach, the true story behind them has been hidden – until now. Narrated in an ancient Hawaiian dialect, and seen through the eyes of a curious child, the story of Kapaemahu brings to life this powerful legend in richly hand-drawn and 2-D animation.
Documentary film P.S. BURN THIS LETTER PLEASE will also be presented at Pride Presents. A box of letters, held in secret for nearly 60 years, ignites a 5-year exploration into a part of LGBTQIA+ history that has never been told. The letters, written in the 1950s by a group of New York City drag queens, open a window into a forgotten world where being yourself meant breaking the law and where the penalties for “masquerading” as a woman were swift and severe. Former drag queens now in their 80s and 90s reveal how they survived and somehow flourished at a time when drag queens were both revered and reviled, and now they get to tell their story for the first time.
Family Movie Night will make its debut in the digital space on Thursday June 17, 2021, featuring a 40-minute pre-feature film segment with LGBTQIA+ families discussing surrogacy, adoption, foster care and tapping into other resources both Queer families and individuals seeking these resources can benefit from. Key speakers include Vernon Leftwich and Ricardo Cooper, parents of two-year-old twins Harper and Knox Leftwich-Cooper who appear in this year’s NYC Pride 2021 visual campaign. Other key appearances include Gays With Kids, Family Equality Council, XChange for Change, and Miss Richfield 1981.
“I feel honored to be a part of an event that serves as an opportunity to unite a community that may at times feel so isolated,” said Leftwich.“My family in particular looks different, even within this community, yet events like this show that we still have a place and I'm sure can find others much like ours. Additionally, it is a beacon of hope for all LGBTQIA+ persons who desire to have a family of their own.”
For more information about NYC Pride’s 2021 roster of events including Pride Presents and Family Movie Night, visit:www.nycpride.org.
Media Contacts:
Dan Dimant | Media Director
dan@nycpride.org
Chaz Taylor | Media Manager
chaz@nycpride.org
Cathy Renna | Media Consultant
cathy@targetcue.com
ABOUT HERITAGE OF PRIDE Heritage of Pride, Inc. is the volunteer-directed organization behind the official NYC Pride roster of events. Heritage of Pride’s mission is to work toward a future without discrimination where all people have equal rights under the law. We do this by producing LGBTQIA+ Pride events that inspire, educate, commemorate, and celebrate our diverse community.
