2024 NEWFEST PRIDE FILM FESTIVAL

With the future of Outfest, the Los Angeles based LBGTQ+ film festival, still up in the air, at least the East coast will have a festival of cinema this summer for the queer community. Newfest, NYC's long-running queer centered film & media fest, will be offering Newfest Pride, a special five day cinematic event beginning May 30th through June 3rd. To help kick off Pride month, this fest serves as a celebration of the community's legacy by offering contemporary stories which explores the various aspects of queer lives.

The Opening Night film will be Brian J. Smith's "A House is Not a Disco" which details the history of Fire Island, the iconic beach town fifty miles outside of New York City, that has long been known for being a queer getaway paradise and explores how the area will try to redefine itself for the next generation.

Other films that will be screened include "Close to You", a drama that stars, Elliot Page (who also produced and co-wrote the screenplay with director, Dominic Savage) as a trans man who returns home to Toronto for the first time since transitioning, reluctantly making the trip back for his father's birthday; "Queen of my Dreams", a romantic-comedy from writer/director Fawzia Mirza tells the story of Azra (Amrit Kaur) who lives with her girlfriend which creates a strained relationship with her conservative Muslim mother, Mariam (Nimra Bucha). A death in the family takes Azra to Pakistan for the burial where she uncovers unexpected connections with her mother; Dakota Johnson stars in "Am I Ok?", a comedy from co-directors Tig Notaro & Stephanie Allynne about self-discovery, life changes and friendship between Lucy (Johnson) and Jane (Sonoya Mizuno) when Lucy reveals a long-held secret and "Sebastian", from writer/director Mikko Mäkelä, is about an aspiring writer (Ruaridh Mollica) in London who secretly at night is a sex worker going by the name, "Sebastian" with these experiences helping to fuel his writing.







Also there will be a free advanced screening of the first two episodes of "Fantasmas", the latest absurdist comedy series from Julio Torres ("Los Espookys", "Problemista"). The show follows Torres (playing a version of himself) on the search for a golden oyster earring and the interesting people he encounters along the way. And there will be free outdoor screening at the Rink at Rockefeller Center with the ground-breaking, drag queen comedy classic, "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" that starred Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo.





There will be in-person screenings held at various locations in the city as well as virtual access for many of the films presented during the fest. For information on the complete film schedule, parties, filmmaker Q&A's and how to purchase tickets or passes, please click below:

2024 Newfest Pride

2021 NEWFEST FILM FESTIVAL

This year, NewFest, the 33rd annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival, will be a virtual and in-person event. After being forced to be largely an online fest, Newfest welcomes back audiences to celebrate queer stories and storytellers. There are four locations for the in-person screenings; SVA Theatre, The LGBT Community Center, BAM Rose Cinemas and Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn.

The Opening Night film will be "Mayor Pete", an intimate documentary about Pete Buttigieg’s campaign to be the first openly gay U.S. president. The film from Jesse Moss (who recently won an Emmy for his last documentary feature, "Boys State") follows the former South Bend, Indiana Mayor from the early days of his campaign, examining all of the challenges and triumphs he faced throughout his run for the highest office in the land.

The International Centerpiece is "A Distant Place" from South Korean director, Park Kun-Young. This drama involves a local farmer living with his adventurous young daughter. When his city-dwelling lover comes to visit, he begins to imagine their future as a family. But the unplanned arrival of his twin sister threatens to complicate his dream.



The New York Centerpiece is "Passing", the actress, Rebecca Hall's directorial debut that she adapted from Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel. This in-person only screening features Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson in the story of two childhood friends who reunite and the discovery that one has changed her racial identity. The US Centerpiece will be "Potato Dreams of America", writer/director Wes Hurley’s semi-autobiographical dramatic-comedy. With a love for old Hollywood movies and concerned for her son’s future in 1980's USSR, Lena becomes a mail-order bride and moves to the United States. But as her young son begin to explore his sexuality and her American husband is deeply homophobic, this creates problems within this family.

There will be a 30th anniversary screening of Madonna's groundbreaking documentary, "Truth or Dare" which chronicles the pop superstar's 1990 "Blond Ambition" tour and introduced us to her openly queer back-up dancers; the 10th anniversary of "Pariah", Dee Rees’ influencial debut feature that is a moving exploration in to the life of a Black, queer 17-year-old poet trying to make her way in to the world. And "Shortbus", John Cameron Mitchell’s exuberant exploration of life, sex and happiness in New York City, will be shown in honor of it's 15th Anniversary with a 4K Restoration.



And the Closing Night film is "Flee" from director Jonas Poher Rasmussen. This winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance combines animation and emotional narrative to tell the harrowing ordeal of how Amin Nawabi and his family escaped from Afghanistan before re-settling in Denmark.

For a complete list of films and to purchase tickets and passes, please click below:

Newfest 2021

2020 NEWFEST FILM FESTIVAL

NewFest, the 32nd annual LGBTQ+ Film Festival will be going forward as a streaming and drive-in theater event. This New York celebration of queer stories and storytellers will feature over one hundred films from across the globe, virtual social conversations and panels that will be available to anyone in the U.S. for the first time. 

The Opening Night film on October 16th will be the latest from Francis Lee (the director behind "God's Own Country" which has been dubbed a British "Brokeback Mountain"), "Ammonite". The screening will be held at the Queens Drive-In at Corona Park and this 19th century-set romantic-drama stars Oscar-winner, Kate Winslet as an unasuming fossil hunter along the English coastline of Lyme Regis. Having to rely on wealthy tourists for financial support, she ends up caring for a young wife (played by multiple Oscar-nominee, Saoirse Ronan) who is recovering from a personal tragedy. These very different women find an unexpected connection and begin a passionate love affair that will change their lives forever. Ms Winslet will present Mr. Lee (virtually, of course) with the first NewFest World Queer Visionary Award prior to screening.



Many of films that will be shown at NewFest are award winners from this year's Outfest Los Angeles like "Minyan", "Los Fuertes (The Strong Ones)", "Shiva Baby", "Cowboys" and the documentaries, "Your Mother’s Comfort" and "Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story".

"No Hard Feelings", which won the Outfest Grand Jury Prize for Best International Narrative screenplay, is the Closing Night film and will stream on October 27th. Writer-director Faraz Shariat's feature debut follows a young, second-generation Iranian-German (Benjamin Radjaipour) living with his conservative family. Working at a refugee center, he begins to explore a queer social life, only to discover that one of his new friends will soon be deported.

But there are some new titles that will be screened which includes, "Keith Haring: Street Art Boy", a documentary that looks at the iconic NYC graffiti artist that features never-before-heard audio and new interviews; "Killing Patient Zero", a fascinating doc that takes apart the myth of the gay French-Canadian flight attendant scapegoated for singlehandedly spreading the AIDS epidemic to North America; the latest from celebrated French auteur, François Ozon, "Summer of  '85" which explores the story of two teenage boys who meet and begin a life-changing summer on the coast of Normandy; "Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back", an intimate and honest look at the legendary Broadway performer’s life that also examines his complicated relationship with his brother, the late Gregory Hines and features interviews with fellow theater dance legends, Chita Rivera and Debbie Allen (who was an executive producer on this project); and "Sublet" from the Israeli filmmaker, Eytan Fox ("Yossi & Jagger", "Walk on Water") which is a comedy-drama about a New York Times travel writer (Tony Award-winner, John Benjamin Hickey) on assignment in Tel Aviv and when he arrives at his short-term rental, he discovers that a handsome young tenant (Niv Nissim) is still occupying the space.







For the complete list of films, venues and to purchase virtual passes and tickets, please click below: 

2020 NewFest LGBTQ Film Festival