Welcome to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a one-of-a-kind oasis in the Ozarks where Christian piety rubs shoulders with a thriving queer community. Narrated with homespun humor by Mx Justin Vivian Bond, this lushly photographed documentary spotlights the space where the town’s seemingly contradictory factions intersect: Lee and Walter, out and proud husband-owners of a local gay bar they liken to a “hillbilly Studio 54,” talk about their deep-seated faith; a Christian t-shirt designer describes his love for his gay father; and everything comes together in a show-stopping mash-up of a spectacular passion play and raucous drag show. The result is a joyously offbeat slice of Americana that breaks down the red-state-blue-state divide.

Opening Weekend Screening

Quad Cinema (34 West 13th Street)

Friday, February 8th at 7:15 PM

Followed by Q&A with directors, moderated by former Bishop V. Gene Robinson

V. Gene Robinson is Vice President of Religion and Senior Pastor at the Chautauqua Institution, having served for nearly five years as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Washington, DC. He was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire on June 7, 2003, becoming the first openly gay and partnered Bishop in historic Christianity. Despite national and international efforts to derail his ordination, he was consecrated a Bishop on All Saints Sunday, November 2, 2003, and was invested as the Ninth Bishop of New Hampshire on March 7, 2004.

Bishop Robinson has been particularly active in the area of full civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Working at the state, national, and international levels, he has spoken and lobbied for equal protection under the law and full civil marriage rights. He has been honored by many LGBT organizations for this work, including the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, the National LGBT Task Force, GLAAD, GLAD, PFLAG, and the Equality Forum.  In 2014 was named by the Washington Post as one of the 21 most influential LGBT people in Washington, DC, and has been invited by President-elect Barack Obama to give the invocation at the opening inaugural ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial on January 18, 2009.

In 2012, he authored “God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage” (Knopf) contributing to the national debate about marriage equality, and he has been the subject of two feature-length documentaries: “For the Bible Tells Me So”, premiering at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and “Love Free or Die”, also premiering at Sundance, in 2012, winning the Special Jury Prize