Meth, Murder, and Divine at the Palm Springs LGBT Film Fest

Thursday marks the first day of "Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs Gay and Lesbian Film Festival," with documentaries, thrillers, and comedies on the roster.

The festival opens Thursday evening with Southern Baptist Sissies, a filmed version of the Del Shores play about four gay boys growing up in the Baptist church (it's actual video of the live play). The cast, which co-stars Leslie Jordan, will be on hand for a Q&A after the 5:30 p.m. screening.

Other highlights include Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years, a doc on the lesbian legend; Meth Head, a drama about a man's descent into addiction; Lavender Hill, a short about a gay commune in the 1970s; Big Gay Love, a comedy about a hefty gay man looking for love; Breaking the Girls, a thriller directed by Jamie Babbitt and written by Guinevere Turner; and Out West (pictured), a comedy about a bubbly blond trying to save her childhood home that stars Jennifer Elise Cox and Sean Astin.

The festival closes on Sunday with I Am Divine, Jeffrey Schwarz's eagerly-anticipated chronicle of Divine, the radical star of John Waters's irreverent, shocking, and hilarious early films.

Click here for more info on the festival, which takes place at the Camelot Theaters.