Reel Q film festival includes movie with Hill District backdrop

This year, the Reel Q Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ Film Festival will feature 21 programs screening over 10 nights on virtual platforms, including a movie filmed almost entirely in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

In addition, the 35th annual event will offer a special closing night drive-in screening in Pittsburgh’s North Side.

The festival opens at 7 tonight with “Monsoon,” starring Henry Golding, the leading man from “Crazy Rich Asians.” Golding’s character, Kit, finds romance in Ho Chi Minh City, where he has returned for the first time since he was 6 years old when his family fled the country after the Vietnam War.

The Hill District is the setting for “Rehabilitation of the Hill,” screening free at 7 p.m. Friday. The movie follows “two quirky, headstrong women from opposing backgrounds as they battle over their vision for an urban neighborhood in Pittsburgh while begrudgingly falling in love,” according to a release.

After the screening, the director and cast will participate in a live Q&A session.

Other highlights include “Ahead of the Curve,” a documentary about the charismatic founder of the lesbian magazine “Curve”; “Breaking Fast,” a gay rom-com about an Arab-American Muslim and an all-American jock; “Queer Japan,” a documentary about outspoken queer diversity in that country; and “Alice Junior,” the story a transgender Brazilian girl seeking her first kiss.

Programming includes both full-length and short films.

“We’re particularly excited to be presenting our Black Excellence shorts program this year that uplifts the queer Black perspective with films from around the world,” said TJ Murphy, Reel Q executive director.

The Oct. 17 festival finale will be a special drive-in screening of the 2004 slasher film, “Hellbent,” billed as the first gay slasher film. Set over a tumultuous Halloween night in West Hollywood, the film follows five friends who set out for a night of partying, only to be stalked by a masked killer.

“Hellbent” is presented in partnership with Central Outreach Wellness Center, the largest LGBTQ+ medical clinic in Western Pennsylvania, and will be hosted in the clinic’s parking lot at 127 Anderson St. in the North Side.

Beginning at 6 p.m., the evening will include food trucks, drag queens and surprises and will follow all CDC and Health Department safety guidelines.

Founded in 1985 as the Pittsburgh Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the event was rebranded in 2012 as Reel Q. As the sixth oldest LGBTQ+ film festival in the world and the longest-running film festival in Pittsburgh, it also offers meet-and-greets, panel discussions, parties, community artist markets and partnered community events throughout the year.

“Starting in 1985, the festival filled a void in Pittsburgh, because mainstream films featuring gay characters and themes rarely appeared on local screens,” said Reel Q board member David Doorley. “I remember the night we ran a sneak preview of ‘My Own Private Idaho,’ months before it opened nationally.

“The line for tickets went around the block. You have to remember that, back then, there was no Netflix. So if you didn’t catch a film at our festival, you probably weren’t going to see it. I think that still rings true today for a lot of the films we present.”

Some films will show for one night only; others may be viewed over 24-to-48-hour periods. Prerecorded Q&As with directors and actors follow several films.

Individual tickets are $10, or $7 for students; passes are available.

Details: reelq.org