(Graphic via TIGLFF)
TAMPA | The Tampa Bay International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival will hold a Summer Fest Sept. 12-14 at AMC Westshore, a weekend of LGBTQ+-focused features and shorts.
The festival will mark a return to Tampa for TIGLFF, which held its 35th celebration exclusively in St. Petersburg Jan. 30-Feb. 2. Its fifth annual Tampa Bay Transgender Film Festival followed suit in March.
“Our stories matter — at TIGLFF Summer Fest, they’re the whole show!” organizers announced last month. “We’ve prepared a diverse program that covers every genre and embraces every experience. Join us … for a celebration of film and community, back over the bridge in Tampa for the first time in years.”
Summer Fest will begin Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. with “To the Moon,” preceded by the short “The Space You Need.” The feature is billed as an “ensemble comedy about love, choreographed dance, kitchen safety, stranger danger, planetary physics and the idea that it’s never too late in life to figure out who you really are.”
A shorts program will follow Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. Films include “No Man is an Island,” “This is Jan,” “Crisantemo,” “Amida” and “Mia Mio,” each running between 20-28 minutes.
“Plainclothes,” which will be preceded by the short “Three Courses,” will screen at 4:30 p.m. The feature follows a closeted, undercover cop who “falls for a married man he’s assigned to entrap.”
“Lakeview” will close the evening at 7:30 p.m. with two shorts, “Rose Colored” and “Like the Very Gods.” The film follows a queer friend group in “a celebration of the power (and damage) of familiarity” and “what happens when lessons learned don’t lead to patterns broken.”
“MASC” kicks off Summer Fest’s final day at 2 p.m., welcoming the documentary’s director Andy Motz. Two shorts will precede the film, “Capetillo” and “Deep Dish Dimples,” before audiences watch as “a young queer filmmaker journeys to discover non-toxic masculinity across class, race and gender in America today.”
The drama “Sugar Beach,” preceded by the short “Arriba Beach,” will follow at 4:30 p.m. It examines immense grief and complex relationships. The festival will close with another shorts program.
“All That’s Left,” “Parallel Lines,” Loves Last Stand,” “Campumentary,” “Simp,” “Unburied,” “The Last Story on Earth,” “Beautiful Stranger” and “Dragfox” will feature. The shorts range from seven to 18 minutes in length and begin at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 per film or shorts package and festival passes are available for $75. The latter allows entry to “as many in-person screenings as you like.” Read more:
TIGLFF is also currently seeking film submissions for its 36th annual festival, scheduled to return Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2026 in St. Petersburg. Entries will be accepted until Sept. 26.
TIGLFF’s Summer Fest will be held Sept. 12-14 at AMC Westshore, located at 210 Westshore Plaza in Tampa. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit TIGLFF.com.
