“Asking me if I’m homosexual is like asking James Brown if he’s black.” Jobriath — the first openly gay rock star — came on the scene like a ton of bricks made entirely of glitter, a fount of raw artistic creativity who was celebrated before being sculpted as gracefully as his cheekbones. Tonight’s screening of Jobriath A.D., part of Cinefamily’s Don’t Knock the Rock Festival, features interviews with Marc Almond, Jayne County, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard (!), Ann Magnuson, Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields and Jerry Brandt, Carly Simon’s former manager and the Svengali who convulsed Jobriath to stardom in those ancient wilds of the ’70s. Often — and somewhat lazily — hyped as the American Bowie, Jobriath burned out after three albums released in a heady atmosphere of gender confusion simmering into the hot boil of open homophobia. He died of AIDS in 1983, three days before the passing of fellow space fairy Klaus Nomi. Director Kieran Turner appears tonight for a Q&A after the film, but with an enigma like Jobriath, there are likely to be far more Q’s than A’s. Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax Ave.; Thurs., Aug. 9, 7:30 p.m.; $12. (323) 655-2510, cinefamily.org.

Thu., Aug. 9, 7:30 p.m., 2012

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