Queer Diaspora celebrates the legendary roving club night that shaped the Queer cultural fabric of LA!
About this Event
In celebration of Pride and as part of
*YesterdayLA
– The Philosophical Research Society’s month of Los Angeles history themed programming throughout June –
Queer Diaspora
and 7th House Screenings are proud to present a celebration of one of LA’s most legendary queer happenings –
MUSTACHE MONDAYS
! Commemorating what would’ve been the much-missed club night’s 18th anniversary, this exciting evening will kick off with
a screening of Marianne Amelinckx’s 2021 documentary
which chronicles its story and legacy,
followed by a panel discussion
with Amelinckx
, the film’s producer
Jullieta Messmer
, celebrated drag performer
Miss Barbie-Q
and
Mustache Mondays co-founders Josh Peace and Danny Gonzalez
– and we’ll be celebrating Danny’s birthday, too! Then,
the PRS auditorium will transform into a dance floor for an afterparty
replete with
drinks
, sets from
original Mustache Mondays DJs Rush Davis, DJ Kita, and Shay Elys
, and
a special performance by artist Rafa Esparza***
!
Launched in 2007, during a time when clubgoers were growing bored with the homogenized pop-house sounds and cookie-cutter VIP feel of the clubs and culture at large, Mustache Mondays burst onto the downtown LA Queer scene.
*Originators Nacho Nava Jr., Josh Peace, Danny Gonzalez, and Dino Dinco wanted to expand the Queer nightlife vernacular not only with music but with its performers, dancers and clientele. Rebelling against a mainstream Queer culture that was largely focused on white Gay men, the Mustache crew fostered artists, DJs and dancers of color from all corners of Los Angeles County.*
"It was the best party in L.A. hands down." But, it was not just any party.
*The cultural impact of Mustache Mondays, and the work of artists who cut their teeth at the weekly party, continues to reverberate through the worlds of fashion, photography, performance art, visual art, music and choreography in Los Angeles and beyond.*
In doing so, Mustache Mondays mapped an alternative circuit of queer nightlife and counter-WeHo culture that was firmly rooted in community, collectivity and care long after the last dance.
Amelinckx’s in-depth and affectionate documentary tells the distinctly LA story of the roving LGBTQ night club event through the voices of its creators, collaborators, extended family and devotees – detailing how
*MUSTACHE MONDAYS
became
a creative incubator for today’s leading edge contemporary artists, examining the history of these spaces and how they shaped the Queer cultural fabric unique to Southern California.***
Join us for this very special Mustache Mondays revival celebration!
Dir. Marianne Amelinckx, 2021, 53 mins, English, Color, Unrated, Digital.
Ticket Price: $12 (in-person event only).
*Please email
ZXZlbnRzIHwgcHJzICEgb3Jn
or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.***
THIS EVENING'S GUESTS:
Mustache Mondays co-founder Danny Gonzalez
Mustache Mondays co-founder Josh Peace
About
Mustache Mondays
(2021) documentary director
Marianne Amelinckx****
Queer Venezolana based in Los Angeles focused on telling female driven and queer stories. Writer, Director and Producer of Salta (Dive), a coming of age short film that premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and got a Jury's Mention, it also won Best Short Film at the 20th Pink Apple Festival (Switzerland), available on Prime Video. Her latest work include, Mustache Mondays, a one hour documentary for PBS SoCal (screened at the Outfest Fusion 2022) and a script for her first feature La Barca de la Ilusión, an adaptation from a story by American author Lucia Berlin.
About
Mustache Mondays
(2021) documentary producer Julieta Messmer
Storyteller and Creative Advocate with a Major on Mass Media Studies, a certificate degree on Production Design and 9 years experience in screenwriting. Her first Feature screenplay Nena Saludame al Diego was produced in Venezuela by Trampolín, CNAC and Ibermedia (2013). It was exhibited on Málaga International Film festival, Cine Las Américas Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de la Habana and Women's International Film & Arts Festival among others. She has served as a creative consultant for Narrative Features (Dos de Trébol, 2011), Narrative Short Films (Salta, Tribeca Film Festival 2017; Vuela, Tribeca Film Institute "Through her Lens Program" 2017), TV Documentaries (Viva Venezuela, 2008; Piratas de Cuello Blanco, 2010) and TV Drama Series (Con Amor Aurora, 2011; My Sister and Me, 2018). Her first short film Llenas de Gracia (2016) is a fashion statement about Venezuelan Crisis and social identities which she directed and produced with the support of Possible Group and the sponsorship of Venezuelan Top designers Vanessa Boulton, Valentina Wolfermann and major local clothing brands Fru-Fru and Aprilis. As a natural entrepreneur, Julieta has invested her spare time building a career in fashion and costume design. She is the owner of El Petit Vintage, a vintage clothing sale and rental in Caracas and Mexico City since 2012. Through this, she has become a reference on this field and has contributed as a costume designer for TV, Films and music videos for well known artists such as Pitipol Ybarra (director for HBO Capadocia and Netflix's Ingobernable), Fina Torres (Cannes Camera D'Or winner) and Rawayana (Latin Grammy Nominated Music Band from Venezuela). She is currently working as a content developer for El Idearium LLC, a Miami-based production company focused on Latino Audiences in the United States and Vuela is one of her production goals for 2018.
About panelist Miss Barbie-Q
Miss Barbie-Q is a celebrated drag artist, actor, writer, and cultural organizer with over 25 years in the Los Angeles performance scene. Known for her powerful presence, sharp wit, and fierce advocacy, she has become a beloved fixture in both nightlife and community spaces. As a Black Trans woman, Miss Barbie-Q uses her platform to uplift and amplify the voices of marginalized communities, drawing from her lived experiences as a performer, commissioner, and board member. She has performed internationally, co-hosted countless events, and recently served as the virtual commencement speaker for Simmons University. Miss Barbie-Q is also the creative force behind "Big Mama Storytime," a drag queen storytime program that blends storytelling, performance, and community education.
About performer Rafa Esparza
Rafa Esparza (b. 1981, Los Angeles; lives and works in Los Angeles) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work reveals his interests in history, personal narratives, and kinship, his own relationship to colonization and the disrupted genealogies that it produces. Using live performance as his main form of inquiry, esparza employs site-specificity, materiality, memory, and what he calls (non)documentation as primary tools to investigate and expose ideologies, power structures, and binary forms of identity that establish narratives, history, and social environments. esparza’s recent projects are grounded in laboring with land and adobe-making, a skill learned from his father, Ramón Esparza. In so doing, the artist invites Brown and Queer cultural producers to realize large-scale collective projects, gathering people together to build networks of support outside of traditional art spaces.
*ABOUT QUEER DIASPORA*
Queer Diaspora is a bi-monthly event held at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz. Founded and hosted by filmmaker, Gregorio Davila, Queer Diaspora intends to showcase the rich history, culture and artistry of the international LGBT+ community, through screenings, live performances and exhibitions. All are welcome.
*ABOUT GREGORIO DAVILA*
Under his production company, EXOTICO FILMS., Gregorio has written, produced, edited, and directed two short films and two feature films. He made his first feature documentary in 2001 entitled
*Bent Fest 2001
; a documentary account of a five-day music festival in Seattle that featured an all-queer band line-up.
Bent Fest 2001
received critical acclaim locally and has been noted for the rare footage of
Gossip,***
*The Butchies, Traci & The Plastics
, and
The Chromatics*
in their early years.
His two short films;
*NANCY FROM EAST SIDE CLOVER
, and
JEANNE CORDOVA:***
*BUTCHES, LIES & FEMINISM***
won multiple film festival awards around the world, the latter taking home the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest 2017 for BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT.
His third feature-length documentary;
*L.A. A QUEER HISTORY***
, a film showcasing the rich LGBTQ+ history of the Los Angeles area is the winner of a 2022 NETA PUBLIC MEDIA AWARD, a 2022 MIPCOM DIVERSIFY AWARD at Cannes, a TELLY AWARD, and two 2022 LOS ANGELES PRESS CLUB AWARDS.
His latest documentary feature,
*UNIDAD: GAY AND LESBIAN LATINOS UNIDOS
, a film about the first Queer Latine organization in the country (Gay & Lesbian Latinos Unidos) which formed in Los Angeles in 1981, won a SILVER TELLY AWARD, and a 2024 LOS ANGELES PRESS CLUB AWARD. Both
L.A. A QUEER HISTORY
and
UNIDAD***
are currently available to stream on PBS.
*ACCESSIBILITY*
PRS wants all guests to be able to enjoy our events safely and comfortably. If you require any accessibility accommodation, please reach out to
ZXZlbnRzIHwgcHJzICEgb3Jn
before showtime and we will be happy to assist you.
*REFUND POLICIES*
All sales are final. There are no refunds or exchanges for PRS events, except in the event of a medical emergency, including but not limited to a positive COVID-19 test.
In the event that PRS is forced to cancel an event entirely, tickets will be refunded or vouchers offered for a rescheduled event.
*PARKING*
Limited parking is available onsite at PRS in both the front lot (entry from Los Feliz Blvd. when heading east) and back lot (entry from first alley way, off Griffith Park Blvd. from intersection with Los Feliz Blvd.), as well as street parking on Griffith Park Blvd. and on Los Feliz Blvd after 7pm. We encourage attendees to consider carpooling, walking or biking to events if possible, and please be considerate of our Los Feliz neighbors when parking.
*PRS EVENT POLICIES*
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