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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The inaugural Corvallis Queer Film Festival will run from Nov. 11-15 at Darkside Cinema in Corvallis, with all shows beginning at 6 p.m.

The event is sponsored by the School of Language, Culture, and Society and the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University.

In addition to free screenings each night, one of the films' directors will visit Corvallis and participate in a panel discussion. Highlighting the week is the appearance on Friday, Nov. 15, of Del Shores, director of "Southern Baptist Sissies," which depicts the story of four boys who are gay growing up in the Southern Baptist Church - and how they dealt with the conflict between their religion and their sexuality.

Shores will participate in a panel about LGBTQ experiences growing up Southern Baptist from 3-5 p.m. in the Memorial Union's Pan-Afrikan Sankofa Room (Room 213). Other panelists include Dale Dickey and Emerson Collins - two actors from the film - and Susan Shaw, director of OSU's School of Language, Culture, and Society.

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, a reading of Shores' play, "Sordid Lives," will take place from 3-5 p.m. at the OSU Women's Center. The play is about a colorful family in a small Texas town dealing with the death of the family matriarch - and the secrets about her that emerge before the funeral.

The free films to be screened include:

• Monday, Nov. 11 - "Trans," a documentary about men, women and all the variations in between;
• Tuesday, Nov. 12 - "The New Black," a tale of the fight for marriage equality in Maryland and how the issue divided the African American community;
• Wednesday, Nov. 13 - "Mosquita Y Mari," the story of two 15-year-old Chicanas in Los Angeles who forge a friendship that grows increasingly complex;
• Thursday, Nov. 14 - "Mario R.," the story of a gay man in former East Germany who tries to escape to the West for love, only to undergo a series of traumatic experiences;
• Friday, Nov. 15 - "Southern Baptist Sissies," the story of four boys who are gay growing up with a conflict of religion and sexuality in the Southern Baptist Church.

Darkside Cinema is located at 215 S.W. Fourth St. in Corvallis.