New York, NY (Top40 Charts) LGBT UNITED, the feature documentary of CSUN psychology professor and filmmaker Luciana Lagana, is an official selection of the 2016 Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival, which runs from 9/22 to 9/25. The multiple award-winning movie will screen on Sunday 9/25 at 2:30 pm at ULTRASTAR CINEMAS - DESERT CINEMA (IMAX), located at 68510 East Palm Canyon, Cathedral City, CA 92234.
This film has been used at CSUN in a Master's thesis research project to test whether watching it has an anti-bias effect on audience members. Dr. Luciana, writer/host/director of the movie, is in the process of publishing the preliminary findings of this research with Kelcey Sholl, who recently graduated from the CSUN Clinical Psychology Master's program. The results of this study look very promising and she's excited to gather new data moving forward.
"Kelcey's efforts to advocate for increased understanding of young LGBTQ members through this film collaboration is commendable. Working with her was a great pleasure. I'm looking forward to screening this movie at The Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival. Palm Springs is a wonderful city with a strong and active LGBTQ community. It's a great honor for LGBT UNITED to share a stage with amazing LGBTQ films," shared Dr. Luciana.
From the festival's website: Cinema
Diverse is a program of the Palm Springs Cultural Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advancing education, to nurturing community-wide participation in the cultural arts, and to sponsoring scholarship awards for deserving individuals.
Tickets to see LGBT UNITED and other LGBTQ movies are available at https://cinemadiverse.org/page/ticket-information.
Luciana Lagana is a caring clinical and experimental psychologist. She is also a professor of psychology, gerontology, women's health, and sexuality at CSUN, where she teaches classes and mentors many undergraduate and graduate students. Additionally, since 2002, she has been conducting government-funded research at CSUN on the physical, psychological, sexual, and social health of ethnically diverse, primarily low-income older women. Since 2006, she has also been pursuing her creative endeavors by studying acting, TV and radio hosting, screenwriting, directing, and producing in Los Angeles. She has over 50 IMDb credits for hosting and acting in many independent feature films, TV pilots, and web series, as well as several credits for her award-winning screenwriting, directing, and producing. She is the writer/lead actor/director/producer of the 2014 award-winning satirical web series INTIMATE TEMP AGENCY on helping young people with special needs find employment, which won Best Trailer at the 2015 Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, among other awards. Her 2014 DR. LUCIANA SHOW - AGING AND FALLING web series won numerous awards, including Best Educational Show at the 2015 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. Within the past two years, her TV pilot DR. LUCIANA ON AGING AND FALLING fared well on the film festival circuit; she also wrote, hosted, directed, and produced three award-winning social impact feature documentaries, UNDERSTANDING PAIN IN OLDER AGE, LGBT UNITED, and AGING AND FALLING.
