Beginning today, the Reel Pride Gay & Lesbian film festival kicks off in the heart of the Tower District.

This is the twenty-third year of what once began as a modest event. During the first year, the films were showcased in a CSU, Fresno classroom.

Nowadays, the Reel Pride Gay & Lesbian film festival distinguishes itself as sixth oldest and one of the nation’s largest gay and lesbian film festivals. This year, the festival is scheduled to host 47 films and shorts.

“This year we are very excited to be showing films from 16 different countries,” said festival director of outreach, Justin Kamimoto. “We also have films that have local connections as well.”

Variety and diversity are prominent themes of the festival.

“We are proud to be showing three transgender focused films and of course youth related films on top of our men’s and women’s focus films,” Kamimoto said.

Throughout much of the year, personnel from Reel Pride carefully filter through the submissions in order to determine which films are to ill receive screen time at the festival.

“Programming takes a lot of work because hundreds of films are screened to be considered to be a part of the film festival and we gauge every year by our audience response,” Kamimoto said.

Audience members are certain to discover films that capture their own interest. With the presentation of such a wide variety of storylines and genres, most everyone’s tastes are accounted for.

“When I talk about the film festival to people, I always say there is a film that will appeal to everyone,” the director said. “Our programming team makes sure that films are very diverse to appeal to a large mass of our audience.”

Festival officials continue to cultivate the quality of gay and lesbian films that are submitted for consideration. They do so by taking audience responses from previous festivals into account.

“At the end of every film, we pass out ballots that rate the films that we show every year, rom the ballots we gauge the audience reactions to what films were hits and to bring something similar again next year,” Kamimoto said. “We do give out awards to filmmakers who create Reel Pride favorites.”

During most periods of time, Fresno students can receive a discounted rate on tickets.

“With the exception of opening and closing nights, all tickets for youths with a valid student ID are $5 each,” Kamimoto said.

Reel Pride continues to thrive as Fresno’s premier film festival and as one of the city’s largest cultural events. Each year, new audiences appreciate what the festival has to offer while returning veterans prepare their schedules weeks in advance of opening day.

“The goal of Fresno Reel Pride is to bring awareness to the LGBT community here in Central California through the use of LGBT cinema,” Kamimoto said. “As the premiere cultural event of Central California it’s important to bring diversity to a diverse community.”

For schedules and information, visit www.realpride.com or visit the Tower Theater box office, located south of campus on the corner of Olive and Wishon avenues.