Join our Patreon for less than a cup of your favorite coffee and unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more!  Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that truly believes lesbians can save the world.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) is once again holding down the fort without Ellie, but she’s far from lonely! We are excited to present an intergenerational panel of talented filmmakers from the Cinema Systers Film Festival (@cinemasystersfilmfestival), the ONLY all-lesbian film festival in the United States, as they join Leigh for an inspirational discussion about finding “systerhood” and the power of sharing our stories in community.  Leigh speaks with Laura Petrie, the founder and producer of the CSFF, about planting her acorn by bringing her vision for a lesbian film festival to life in her beloved hometown of Paducah, Kentucky. Next, we hear from Nicole de Meneses (@darkrainbowfilms), a freelance writer, producer and director who was introduced to the CSFF through a documentary on the festival (available on Lesflicks). She has had several films now featured at the festival, including the mermaid romcom, Fishy, and the vampire horror short, Last Bite. Next up is Jennifer Trujillo, the Senior Managing Director of the Gilbert Baker Film Festival (@gilbertbakerfilmfest), who faced serious anxieties over trekking to Kentucky (and subsequently fell in love with Paducah) to represent Last Bite in 2025 as a Supporting Producer. Last but not least, we are joined by Krissy Mahan, a working class film maker (and lesbian of a certain age), who has been documenting our stories since the AIDS crisis of the late 80s and is now well-known for her “dykeumentaries”, a visual record of queer people living as themselves during times when the official record may not reflect that reality. At this year’s festival, Krissy and Jenn will be leading a workshop titled "Accessibility is for Every Body”, aiming to liberate films from ableism from the pre-production stages forward. They dream of creating a cultural shift where films are truly accessible to all people regardless of their bodies' unique sensory inputs.  Together we can normalize our stories, break free of the patriarchal, homophobic, racist, ableist world we’ve inherited and celebrate one another while using film as a mechanism for thought experiments on how to create a better world where we can all survive. Stick around to the end to hear an impassioned debate (ie. dyke fight) over the lesbian Christmas classic, Carol.  We hope you’ll journey to Paducah, Kentucky for the 10th Anniversary celebration of the Cinema Systers Film Festival taking place from May 21st to the 24th, 2026. In addition to a full roster of films, the festival provides tons of events to take part in throughout the long weekend including panels, musical performances, and workshops. Find out more about the festival, see the line-up, buy tickets, and book your stay at cinemasysters.com.   Looking to experience even more of our stories in community? Check out the Gilbert Baker Film Festival, an accessible, virtual worldwide film festival returning in late June 2026 and running through August.  Don’t forget to show your support for our tiny podcasting team by shopping small at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp.  Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices