Today’s ReelQ pick of the day is the series of films called “Women’s Shorts” screening this evening at the Harris Theater as part of the Pittsburgh LGBT Film Festival.

I’m going to say something odd, and I’m going to repeat it tomorrow (when the screening is for Men’s Shorts)- here goes:

If you identify as male or a man, then go see the Women’s Shorts, and if you identify as female or a woman, then go see the Male Shorts. The LGBTQ community will thank you for it some day. Because the more we care to understand about people different than us in a sex or gender way, the better off we will be and the greater our opportunity to really see and hear each other. And a far too large part of the obstacles standing in the way of our community stems from an inability or an unwillingness to see and hear each other.

Now, these short films are sometimes awesome and sometimes less so. They are sometimes experimental, deal with obscure stuff, or they are extremely personal. And (heaven forbid) they may show some body parts that some of us would rather not think about. And that truly goes both ways, doesn’t it? But this is what makes these films so important for those who identify differently. We all need to open up our eyes and hears and care about understanding each other.

The screenings during the “Shorts” nights are perfect, because most of them are very short. It isn’t like you have to sit through two hours of a movie that you can’t figure out. There’s likely to be some humor, and there’s a great likelihood there will be some extremely poignant moments too. You might leave shaking your head saying, what the hell was that, or you might leave saying, I finally get it. That was amazing. You might leave somewhere in between as well.

So that’s my homework assignment: Go see these two nights of short films, and leave some comments here on the blog about what you thought.

For more about this film of the entire Pittsburgh LGBT Film Festival, check out their website.