A full lineup including feature and short films continues this weekend as part of the 22nd annual Fresno Reel Pride gay and lesbian film festival in the Tower District.

One worthwhile offering is Rashaad Ernesto Green's "Gun Hill Road," a tender drama about a transgender teen in the Bronx whose life is upended when his convict father returns from prison. (It screens 8 p.m. Sunday at the Tower Theatre. The selection is the festival's closing-night film and will be followed by an awards party.)

Michael (a first-rate Harmony Santana, who was undergoing her own gender transition during filming), leads a double life. He regularly slips away to local poetry slams dressed as a woman and as "Vanessa" experiments with the pre-operative options available to a transgendered individual, including illegal hormone pills and injections.

While growing up any place in this country could be perceived as being a tough environment for transgendered individuals – much less in a Latino family in the inner city – Michael has managed to carve out a slim safety net for himself, with good friends and a doting mother (a moving Judy Reyes of "Scrubs") offering support.

That changes when Enrique (a sturdy Esai Morales) gets released from prison. He is stunned at how his son has changed in the years he's been away. And as the direction of Michael's life start to become clear, Enrique takes it as a personal affront.

"Gun Hill Road" is the kind of film that in both structure and tone can sometimes seem by-the-numbers. Enrique's story takes a little too much screen time and focus, the plot is a little lumpy, and at times Santana's sweet, measured – and moving – performance gets obscured.

But the film transcends those limitations and redeems itself with its unflinching and unsentimental performances. Mother, father and soon-to-be daughter shine. Small in scope and aching in its depiction of the challenges faced by the transgendered, it delivers optimism with the grit.