Green Light Cinema. (Photo by Ryan Williams-Jent)
ST. PETERSBURG | The Tampa Bay International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival will hold its 35th celebration Jan. 30-Feb. 2 at Green Light Cinema, its sole venue this year.
The exclusivity is a departure for TIGLFF, traditionally held over nine days in both Tampa and St. Petersburg. Its 34th event was split between the two in late 2023 and early 2024 in what board members warned could’ve been its final festival.
“This is a pivotal time for TIGLFF as we are in desperate need for members of the community to get involved to ensure the organization’s continued existence,” outgoing organizers shared last year. “This is not a time to lose TIGLFF!”
The nonprofit’s current board, many of whom are recent volunteers, have worked to ensure it continues. In addition to staff member and longtime Festival Director Renee Cossette, TIGLFF is supported by an executive committee of President Kayden Rodriguez, Treasurer Caroline Bedenbaugh and Secretary Diego Leon.
“It was very important for me to join an organization that provides visibility to the LGBTQ+ community,” says Leon, who joined TIGLFF in early 2024. “Growing up in a third-world country, watching films in the theater was an eye-opening experience that gave me valuable perspective on who I am [and] I often wished there had been more representation of people like me on screen.
“Representation matters — people love to see themselves reflected on screen as it brings affirmation, pride and authenticity to their identity,” he continues. “Supporting and amplifying the voices of prominent queer filmmakers and allied creators is essential in today’s world to keep our message loud and clear. I am proud to contribute my skills to this organization and be part of such a powerful event.”
TIGLFF is also supported by general board members Unity Jalal, Katrina Miller and Alex Mitow, who primarily programmed this year’s festival.
“We’ve all sort of weighed in on what 2025 looks like and how the festival is evolving,” Mitow says. “We’re basically doing a four-day mini-festival in St. Petersburg and keeping it tight with really good, really well-curated films, with the goal of completely selling it out.”
In addition to TIGLFF 35, the organization will continue to produce monthly screenings in St. Petersburg and add a “summer fest” of monthly films in Tampa, including a Pride Month feature. Mitow says this year’s structure speaks to the evolution of TIGLFF’s board and audience.
Festivities will begin and end with shorts programming. The opening night package includes “Just Jackie,” “Lesbophilla,” “MOTHER,” “Order for Ben,” “Gender Reveal,” “White Glass Globe” and “All the Men I Met But Never Dated” and begins Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. It runs for just over one hour and 45 minutes.
Lesbian drama “Drone” will screen Jan. 31 at 7:15 p.m. The French-language film follows “Émilie, a young student [who] works as a cam-girl at night to make ends meet” and encounters a mysterious drone. “Duino,” a male narrative feature, follows at 9:30 p.m. Actor and co-director Juan Pablo Di Pace “draws on his own life for this film about the universal aching nostalgia of first love.”
Screenings on Feb. 1 begin at 4 p.m. with “Pride/Prom,” a documentary showcasing an LGBTQ+ prom at the Andy Warhol Museum. A Saturday Nights Shorts package with seven films will screen at 6 p.m. for just under two hours and “Extremely Unique Dynamic” will close the evening at 8:30 p.m., a feature billed as a “Meta-Asian-Stoner-Coming-of-Age-Bromantic Dramedy.”
TIGLFF’s final day will feature “A House is Not a Disco” Feb. 2 at 2 p.m., a “kaleidoscopic portrait of queer paradise Fire Island Pines,” and “The Queen of My Dreams” at 4 p.m. The latter is “a dramedy spanning 30 years in the life of a Pakistani Canadian family.”
Closing Night Shorts will begin at 6 p.m. and run for nearly two hours. Films include “A Bird Hit My Window and Now I’m a Lesbian,” “Elijah,” “The Yellow Sponge is the Dish Sponge,” “Coffee Grapefruit Cacao,” “The Last Take,” “CHOOSE YOU” and “Parker and the Green Dress.”
Tickets to individual films/shorts packages are $12 or an all-inclusive pass is available for $80, funds which directly support TIGLFF and future endeavors. View a full schedule and learn more about this year’s films here.
“There’s a lot of excitement around the festival, which ties in with the caliber of films we’re bringing and the way that we’re bringing them in,” Mitow says. “These smaller, jam-packed festivals are going to give the full punch of a festival without it being intimidatingly long. It’s growing — but it’s growing mindfully with a small team who really cares and is very passionate about TIGLFF.”
TIGLFF 35 will screen Jan. 30-Feb. 2 at Green Light Cinema, located at 221 2nd Ave. N. in St. Petersburg. View a full schedule here and learn more or purchase tickets at TIGLFF.com.
