A blog or so ago we spoke on the Damn These Heels! Film Festival and all the groundbreaking LGBTQ films that it brings to our salty community. We chatted up the Utah Film Center, its PR & Communications Coordinator, Dana Hernandez, Artistic Director Patrick Hubley, and founder and board chair Geralyn Dreyfous [and you can re-read the sparkling writeup here]. Well...few of us sashayed on over to the DTH! Film Festival’s opening night party at Pierpont Place, and the crowd, appies, and entertainment [a pair of bare-midriffed bellydancers--yes, please] did not disappoint. There we got a chance to chat with Kristen Beck, ex-Navy SEAL and star of Lady Valor: The Kristen Beck Story [she’s sensational], and we’re delighted to announce that her namesake documentary won the Audience Award for Best Documentary [heartily deserved, in our COLLECTIVE opinion]. Worthy recipients of the Audience Award for Best Drama--Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho [The Way He Looks]. Exclusive opening night film? Yes, indeed; it was a full house at Compared to What: The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank, a hilarious documentary “about the most prominent openly gay congressman in the United States”--we laughed, we cried, we maued down on gourmet popcorn [part of a sensational goodies-n-gifts treat ℅ By Proxy Co, who put the party together]. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the Utah Film Center continuously brings a heap of beautiful films right to our salt-ridden doorsteps, and you’d be a damn fool to keep missin' out on it all. Miss this year's slew of LGBTQ goodies? Open your ears. Help us help you.

Utah Film Center | See upcoming FREE-film schedule here