Queer Joy, Struggle, and Art On Screen — Join Us at AIFF!

Dear friends,

Southern Oregon Pride is thrilled to announce that we’re officially a Friend of the Fest at this year’s Ashland Independent Film Festival! While we’ve always shared a kinship with AIFF and its long-standing commitment to queer cinema, this year marks the start of a deeper collaboration — and we couldn’t be more excited to invite you along.

Together, we’ve helped program three extraordinary films that spotlight queer joy, queer struggle, and queer art. Whether you're drawn to true crime, ballroom culture, AI-powered utopias, or radical spiritual reinvention, there's something here that will move you to laugh, cry, think — and maybe most importantly, come together in community. Because nothing compares to the shared experience of watching powerful stories unfold in a dark theater, surrounded by friends and chosen family.

I'm Your Venus Extravaganza Rehearsal

Here’s what we’re co-sponsoring:

I'm Your Venus

Justice. Legacy. Ballroom Family. A gripping and emotional documentary that revisits the life and tragic death of Venus Xtravaganza, the iconic voguer from Paris Is Burning. 35 years later, her biological and ballroom families unite to seek justice, reckon with old wounds, and honor her legacy.

Assembly

Ballroom meets Black futurism, AI, and radical art.

Visionary artist Rashaad Newsome reimagines a historic military facility as a Black queer utopia, blending vogue, AI, and protest into an unforgettable cinematic spectacle. Assembly reclaims agency and celebrates intergenerational resilience through bold, beautiful performance.

Sabbath Queen

Drag meets divine.

Filmed over two decades, this stunning documentary follows Amichai Lau-Lavie’s evolution from rebellious drag queen to groundbreaking rabbi. A spiritual odyssey like no other, Sabbath Queen challenges gender, faith, and tradition — and might just change the way you think about all three.

Come for the stories. Stay for the community. Let’s show up, show out, and celebrate queer brilliance on the big screen.

🎟️ Get your tickets at www.ashlandfilm.org

With pride, Southern Oregon Pride

I'm Your Venus

Logline: I'm Your Venus is a moving documentary that follows the unsolved murder of Venus Xtravaganza, the ballroom voguing star of Paris Is Burning (1990), as her biological and ballroom families unite to seek justice, heal old wounds, and celebrate her legacy.

Full Film Blurb: 

This moving and timely documentary sets the stage for the investigation of the unsolved murder of Venus Xtravaganza, one of the iconic stars of Paris Is Burning, the legendary 1990 documentary about the ballroom voguing scene of New York City. Venus died during that film’s shoot and now, 35 years later, the spotlight is back on Venus as her two families — biological and ballroom — stand united to discover the truth, challenge the system and honor the legacy of their sister. The road for justice is a difficult one as they revisit old wounds, examining every event and detail to find a path toward healing and positive change.

Assembly

Logline: Visionary artist Rashaad Newsome transforms a historic military facility into a Black queer utopia, blending art, AI, and performance. Through stunning visuals and deeply personal performances, Newsome captures the transformative power of creativity as a fractured community comes together to find strength, solidarity, and liberation.

Full Film Blurb: Interdisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome embarks on a journey with a global cast of artists, vogue dancers, and ground-breaking AI to transform a historic military facility in NYC into an Afro-futurist utopia.  Through innovative hybrid storytelling, breathtaking visual effects, and the ongoing presence of ancestors, Assembly transcends traditional documentary as it weaves together Rashaad’s creative process, dynamic performances, and the lives of his collaborators. Powerful moments, such as a memorial for murdered Black trans women that evolves into a protest march, highlight art’s capacity to reclaim agency and inspire change, offering a vision of intergenerational resilience, transformation, and hope.This once-in-a-lifetime performance captured on screen investigates and re-imagines LGBTQ and Black cultural expression through fresh, decolonized minds. 

Sabbath Queen 

Logline: Twenty-one years in the making, Sabbath Queen follows Amichai Lau-Lavie’s journey from radical drag queen to influential Rabbi of a God-optional, artist-driven New York synagogue.

Full Film Blurb: 

Noted documentarian and social impact pioneer Sandi Dubowski (Trembling Before G-D, A Jihad For Love) rapturously leads us through a 21 year journey in the life of Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie's as the heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis who is torn between accepting his ancestral destiny or becoming a drag queen rebel. The gay founder of an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation, Lau-Lavie's cinematic quest to radically reinvent religion and challenge gender norms reflects many of the most pressing issues facing all spiritual people in today's polarized world.