Name: First Friday Screening: June 5th 2026
Start: 2026-06-05T18:00:00-06:00
Location: Cottonwood Center for the Arts

FIRST FRIDAY SCREENINGS!
Admission is FREE and ALL are welcome! Please reserve your free ticket: https://ifsoc-cottonwood.eventive.org/
Join us for the First Friday Screening on June 5th at Cottonwood Center for the Arts in downtown Colorado Springs. IFSOC and the Youth Documentary Academy (YDA) are partnering to celebrate Pride Month and our LGBTQ+ Community. Experience an inspiring night of short films from talented local filmmakers from YDA. Special Guest: PFLAG of Colorado Springs.
Friday, June 5th, 6:00 – 8:30 PM.
FILM SCHEDULE:
Film Block 1: 6:00 PM
Sonderlust
Director - Sarge Graham
Shaped by the idea of sonder—the realization that every person carries a world as vivid and intricate as your own—SONDERLUST is a love letter to humanity. The film moves between stark, minimalist confessionals and warm glimpses of daily life, revealing the quiet ways people learn to embrace their strangeness, their insecurities, and their resilience. What emerges is a meditation on connection: how the smallest encounters shape us, how the people closest to us become unexpected teachers, and how embracing our own “weirdness” invites others to do the same.

"Out of the Box" directed by Casey Gurtler
In this exploratory documentary, filmmaker Casey Gurtler turns the camera onto herself, examining her life as a young person content with their eccentricities. Through a series of intimate conversations with her mother and her partner, Casey chooses to embrace the qualities that make her different, even if it does mean she stands out from the crowd. But the film ultimately shows how with the support of those who love you, happiness is each to uncover.

Film Block 2: 7:15 PM
"Trans(forming) Media" directed by Amber Young.
Fourteen-year-old Amber Young tackles the representation of
transgender Americans in the media and Hollywood. Part essay and part personal reflection, Amber reveals the negative impact of othering through dehumanizing portrayals of trans people. However, she is also able to underscore the changing trends in modern media, uncovering fresh and multi-dimensional representations
"Breaking Silence" directed by Dee Contreras
While much research has focused on domestic abuse in adult
relationships, relatively little has addressed intimate partner
violence among teens. Girls and LGBT youth, in particular, report
higher levels of dating violence and bullying in their relationships.
In BREAKING SILENCE, filmmaker Dee Contreras details a life of
homophobic bullying, even at the hands of her first girlfriend. As she confronts her mother with years of pain and “silent screams,” her family comes to terms with the filmmaker’s new identity as the lines of communication open and healthy new relationships begin to form.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
About YDA:
Founded in 2014, the Youth Documentary Academy (YDA) trains young people how to locate stories, often derived from their lived experiences, and direct their own documentary films. In a two-month summer intensive, students learn all aspects of documentary filmmaking from professional filmmakers, faculty and guest artists. At the end of the program, students complete a high-caliber, high impact film, and learn how to distribute it to film festivals, community organizations and television outlets.
About PFLAG:
PFLAG is the nation's largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them.
Founded in 1973 by a mother and her gay son, PFLAG was born from the unified front of a family leading with love. An inspiring alliance of LGBTQ+ people and their loved ones continues to fuel PFLAG, fifty years later.
PFLAG’s network of over 360 chapters and more than 550,000 members and supporters are helping create an equitable and inclusive world where every LGBTQ+ person is safe, celebrated, empowered, and loved.

About IFSOC:
Founded on January 6, 2007, The Independent Film Society of Colorado (IFSOC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization formed to promote the appreciation and celebration of independent film in Colorado. Specifically, the mission and purpose is to bring Independent filmmakers and audiences together to cultivate a thriving film community by having events such as the Indie Spirit Film Festival, film seminars, and film series.
In addition to showing films at festivals and film series, IFSOC will work to provide channels for Colorado filmmakers to network with others within their field as well as with the general public. We celebrate and support Independent film.