Trend of the week: Focus on June as Pride Month
June marks a busy Pride Month in our area, so let”™s get right to it:
In partnership with The LOFT LGBTQ+ Community Center, the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville celebrates LGBTQ+ stories with a selection of one-off screenings and events. The lineup includes:”¯”¯
Thursday, June 1 — An exploration of the Black Queer origins of rock ”™n”™ roll in the Sundance opening night documentary “Little Richard: I Am Everything,””¯which is bookmarked between the”¯annual JBFC Pride Parking Lot Party”¯and a post screening Q and A with director Lisa Cortés.”¯This event is sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and presented in partnership with WFUV.
”¯Wednesday, June 7 — The true story of British LGBT activists,”¯“Pride,” featuring Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Andrew Scott and George Mackay.
”¯Wednesday, June 14 ”“ A special “Community Matters” screening of Sundance award-winning”¯“Mutt,””¯with a Q and A with director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz. This event is a members-only free screening and will include a post-screening reception with wine provided by Wine Enthusiast.
Tuesday, June 20 ”“ Iconic landmark of New Queer Cinema, Cheryl Dunne”™s “The Watermelon Woman.”
”¯Monday, June 26 — A screening of director Toshio Matsumoto”™s kaleidoscopic “Funeral Parade of Roses,” followed by a Q and A with Kyle Turner, author of”¯“The Queer Film Guide: 100 Great Movies that Tell LGBTQIA+ Stories.”
”¯In keeping with the JBFC”™s commitment to introduce new voices into the film cannon, a new short film by a contemporary filmmaker will precede most of these feature-length titles. Short films included in this program are Jan Oxenberg”™s”¯“Home Movie””¯(1973), two films by Juan
Barquin and Sasha Korbut”™s”¯“Incomplete””¯(2023), which will be followed by a Q and A with the director.”¯
”¯Meanwhile, Yonkers Public Library’s Riverfront Art Gallery opens Pride Month on Thursday June 1 with a 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. reception for its new exhibit”¯“Love is the Only Norm,””¯a celebration of Queer artists exploring themes of history, pop culture, identity, politics, sexuality, gender and race.”¯
Featuring work by more than 24 artists, the exhibit creates a space for LGBTQIA+ artists to share their perspectives on the breadth of human experiences through work that is both explicitly and”¯not explicitly Queer. This exhibit is curated by Haifa Bint-Kadi and will run through Aug. 25.”¯
The library is at 1 Larkin Center, fourth floor. For more visit the”¯website.
The Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, Destination Hastings and Hastings Rainbow Families host the second annual “Friday Night Pride,” a free, family-friendly Pride festival in downtown Hastings on June 2 from 6 to 9 p.m. with a rain date of June 9.
The Good Witch Coffee Bar (134 Southside Ave.) will hold a pre-event from 3:45 to 5:45 p.m. with music and supplies for families to make Pride signs. At 5:45 p.m., families can take their creations and join in a march from The Good Witch up to Warburton Avenue to kick off the main event, led by Brooklyn all-female brass band, Brass Queens.
The “Friday Night Pride” event centers on a concert in the middle of Warburton Avenue, featuring a bevy of musicians, dancers and performers, ranging from local talent to Broadway stars. The show will be emceed by Broadway veteran Jamie Karen and stage and recording artist Amy Lynn of Amy Lynn & the Honey Men, who will both also be performing. Other performers include Brian Harris, Jed Ilany, Sophia Rae, Lexy Casano-Antonellis, Kat Gang, the Hastings High School and Middle School choirs, the students of MK Dance, Marla Louissant from the national tour of”¯“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” and Obie-award winner James Jackson Jr., fresh off his starring role in Broadway”™s Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning”¯“A Strange Loop.””¯ Mayor Nicola Armacost will be opening the event, and performances will be interspersed with local LGBTQIA+ community members sharing their stories.
Warburton Avenue will be lined with tables offering free activities, including a giant rainbow slide, face painting, kids”™ crafts with Jodi Levine of”¯Supermakeit.com, make-your-own spray paint art with graffiti artist Katie Reidy, a community paper quilt project with the Hastings Library, rainbow bracelet making with the Hastings-on-Hudson PTSA, dance activities with hip- hop performers Brianna Luciano and Kiana Davalos, LGBTQIA+ Broadway trivia with Broadway Training Center and much more.
Village restaurants will be out selling dinner as well as Pride-themed specials, from boozy ice pops to rainbow popcorn. Westchester LGBTQIA+ organizations The LOFT, Center Lane and Pride Works will all be in attendance, and local vendors will be offering rainbow cookie decorating, rainbow hair extensions, Pride flags and swag and LGBTQIA+ kids”™ books, among many other Pride-themed offerings. Plus drag artist Amber Guesa will be working her way through the crowd, ready for selfies and taking the stage for a special kids”™ performance.