By: Michael Jacobs – Senior Correspondent | LGBTQ Entertainment News
MONTCLAIR, NJ— (October 6, 2026) — An acclaimed LGBTQ film spanning more than 150 years of queer history is returning to the screen this week when Two Eyes arrives at the Montclair Public Library for a special community presentation.
The library’s Main Branch will host an exclusive screening of writer-director Travis Fine’s Two Eyes on Friday, October 9, beginning at 7 p.m. The event is being presented with Out Montclair and the Newark LGBTQ Center, bringing together cinema and community advocacy for an evening centered on LGBTQ identity, history and connection.
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But moviegoers are getting more than a screening.
Following the film, Fine is scheduled to participate in a 45-minute live Zoom conversation about the project and its themes. A suggested $20 cash donation accompanies the in-person event, with half of the proceeds benefiting Out Montclair and the Newark LGBTQ Center.
Three Queer Stories Separated by Time — But Not by Experience
Two Eyes is constructed as a cinematic triptych, following three stories unfolding during different periods of American history.
In 1868 Montana, painter Dihlon travels through the landscape with his Native American guide, Jacy, on a journey that begins to challenge Dihlon’s understanding of both himself and the world around him.
The story then moves to 1979 California, where the routine life of a questioning young person is transformed by the arrival of an exchange student.
Finally, in present-day Wyoming, a transgender teenager struggling with deeply complicated emotions meets with a perceptive nonbinary therapist.
What initially appear to be three separate stories eventually become interconnected, allowing Fine to examine gender, identity, grief, love and the ways LGBTQ lives echo across generations.
The cast includes Benjamin Rigby as Dihlon, Kiowa Gordon as Jacy, Kate Bornstein as Andrea, Ryan Cassata as Jalin and Uly Schlesinger as Gabryal.
The film also features Lily Gladstone as Enola, giving Friday’s screening another notable connection for audiences who discovered Gladstone through her acclaimed performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
‘Two Eyes’ Connects Queer and Indigenous History
One of the film’s most distinctive elements is its examination of queer identity alongside Native American history.
Fine’s official materials for Two Eyes specifically address the historical acceptance of people whose identities would today fall within the LGBTQ spectrum among many Native American nations. The film uses its journey through the past as a way of questioning why that acceptance has remained so difficult to achieve throughout much of contemporary society.
That makes the timing of the Montclair presentation particularly notable.
The screening arrives just ahead of National Coming Out Day on October 11 and Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 12, placing a film about identity, history and living authentically directly between two nationally recognized observances.
It is also not a newly discovered independent film.
Two Eyes made its world premiere as the closing-night film of Outfest in 2020 and subsequently appeared at numerous film festivals, building a following for its unconventional approach to connecting LGBTQ lives across different eras.
Watch – TWO EYES – Official Trailer
Montclair Screening Becomes More Than Movie Night
For the organizations behind Friday’s event, bringing those stories before an audience is part of a larger mission.
Denise Hinds, president of the Newark LGBTQ Center, said the screening comes at a moment when LGBTQIA+ and Indigenous stories continue to face marginalization and emphasized the importance of ensuring those experiences remain visible and celebrated.
Madeline Gale of Out Montclair similarly pointed to the continuing challenges facing LGBTQ people — particularly transgender and nonbinary communities — and the importance of creating spaces where their stories can be seen and heard.
That community component makes Two Eyes particularly suited to an event extending beyond a traditional theatrical screening.
Fine’s participation following the movie gives attendees an opportunity to hear directly from the filmmaker responsible for bringing its three timelines together and exploring what connects queer people separated by generations.
‘Two Eyes’ Will Also Stream Following Montclair Event
Those unable to attend Friday night’s screening will still have an opportunity to see the film.
According to event coverage, Two Eyes will be available for at-home streaming from October 10 through October 18 for a suggested $10 donation.
For a film built around people discovering connections across time, its return to an LGBTQ community setting may be especially appropriate.
More than six years after Two Eyes closed Outfest, Fine’s film is once again bringing audiences together — this time in Montclair — around stories of queer identity, Indigenous history and the enduring search for a place where people can live authentically.
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