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See award-winning documentary, director Tuesday at Oakton Community College

The public is invited to a free screening of the award-winning documentary, "Julio of Jackson Heights," at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Room 1604, at Oakton Community College's Des Plaines campus, 1600 E. Golf Road.

The LGBT History Month event includes a post-screening conversation with director Richard Shpuntoff.

The Queens World Film Festival recently honored "Julio of Jackson Heights" with its Social Impact Award. The film details the 1990 gay-bashing murder of Julio Rivera in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, which inspired people to unite across lines of class, sexual orientation and race to demand social change.

Born and raised in Jackson Heights, Shpuntoff has directed a dozen short films that have been screened internationally at more than 30 festivals and venues. He also served as the photographer of the Queens Pride Parade for its first 20 years.

The screening is sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Program, LGBTQ+ Working Group, the Oakton Library and the Diversity Council. For more information, contact Oakton Coordinator for Access, Equity and Diversity Karishma Kamath at (847) 635-1751 or kkamath@oakton.edu.

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