‘Sordid Lives’ Palm Springs screening Oct. 29 to raise money for southern LGBT writers – Desert Sun
The Del Shores Foundation will present a one-night-only 22nd anniversary benefit screening of the original “Sordid Lives” film Oct. 29 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. All proceeds from the event will benefit the foundation.
The evening, which will be hosted by the film’s creator, Del Shores, and Del Shores Foundation Program Director Emerson Collins, will include appearances by film cast members Rosemary Alexander, Newell Alexander and Ann Walker. Festivities will open with a “Sordid Lives” costume contest, and prizes will be awarded to the top three costumes.
The film starts at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $32.09 for the screening and costume contest. VIP tickets are $132.09 and include a 6:15 p.m. meet and mingle with Shores, Collins and the cast, plus Sissy’s fried chicken, LaVonda’s mashed potatoes and one free drink. All tickets are available at delshoresfoundation.org.
Originally released in 2000, “Sordid Lives” is a black comedy about white trash as a gay actor struggles to come out to his eccentric, dysfunctional Texas family. When the family matriarch trips over the two wooden legs of her lover in a seedy motel room and dies, her funeral brings three generations of the family back together in a story about learning to love the family you have as they are, not as you wish them to be.
The film opened in Palm Springs at the Camelot Theatres in 2001 and ran for 96 weeks, making it the longest running film in the city’s history. It later spawned “Sordid Lives: The Series” on LOGO in 2008 and a sequel, “A Very Sordid Wedding,” in 2017, which had its world premiere at the Camelot Theatres in 2017.
Writer-director Shores has had a prolific career in theater, film and television as a writer, director, producer, lecturer, teacher, coach and standup comedian. “Sordid Lives,” his biggest hit, was inspired by his own coming-out journey with his Southern family. Since then, he has occupied a unique space as a gay Southern writer, exploring and sharing the stories of people who often have not seen themselves reflected in the entertainment they consume.
The Del Shores Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to find and facilitate the development of new Southern LGBTQ+ voices by bringing together artists and working professionals, amplifying new work and connecting artists to platforms for the creation of the work.
This year, the foundation completed its first writers search and awarded more than $20,000 in cash awards and production grants. The foundation hosted the first Del Shores Foundation Writers Festival in Dallas in September, which brought in 12 LGBTQ+ winners and finalists for a weekend of private workshops, public panels and stage readings of all three winning scripts. Screenplay winners Serayah Silver and Monet Noelle Marshall will be in attendance at the Oct. 29 screening.
For more information about the event or to make a donation, visit delshoresfoundation.org.