Manny the Movie Guy Spotlights Cinema Diverse Film Festival in Palm Springs

The Cinema Diverse Film Festival is back in Palm Springs for its 18th year, bringing together filmmakers and audiences to celebrate LGBTQ+ cinema and community.

Among the shorts featured this year is Shan Ao’s The Haunting What We Said in the Blackout, screening Thursday at 11:45 a.m. under the “Shorts: Mixing It Up” category. The film explores the “what ifs” of two friends who once dated and reconnect during a blackout. On Friday at noon, Talbot’s My Age Now will screen, a family-and-friends story shot guerrilla-style on a micro budget, offering a raw and heartfelt perspective on love and memory.

Two highly anticipated feature films will also headline the festival. On Friday at 2 p.m., Liam Calvert’s A Night Like This follows two men over one night in London, exploring intimacy, self-discovery, and misadventures. On Saturday at 7 p.m., Emmy-nominated director Billy Cliff presents Until the Silence, a gripping post-nuclear drama about the last month of the world and how three separate relationships face the possibility of the end.

For filmmakers, Cinema Diverse is more than just a showcase. “It’s so important to have spaces to gather and to build community,” one participant said. “There’s no one film that shows exactly what being gay, trans, or queer is like — we need many stories to show the full spectrum of experiences.”

The festival continues to highlight how universal human emotions are — from joy and love to struggle and resilience.

Cinema Diverse runs through the weekend in Palm Springs, with screenings and events celebrating diverse voices and stories.

Explore: NBCPalmSprings.com, where we are connecting the Valley.