The 2017 Outfest Los Angeles Film Festival is set to begin it's thirty-fifth year of showcasing cinema highlighting stories involving the LGBTQ communities. The eleven day event is set to begin on July 6th with screenings to be held at the Theatre at The Ace Hotel, Orpheum Theatre, Harmony Gold, Redcat and the Directors Guild of America.
The Opening Night Gala will be "God's Own Country", the first feature from filmmaker, Francis Lee. This highly-praised drama was proclaimed to be a British "Brokeback Mountain" when it premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Fest (and won the World Cinema Directing prize). A stressed out farm worker (Josh O'Connor) feels his life is passing him by. Spending his off-duty hours drunk and engaged in unfulfilling hook-ups, his life changes when a Romanian migrant (Alec Secareanu) arrives to help on the farm.
The 2017 Outfest Achievement Award goes to visionary television creator, Bryan Fuller. He is the innovative talent behind bringing offbeat programming to the small screen like "Hannibal", "Pushing Daisies", "Dead Like Me" and the recent, "American Gods" with a determination to make sure that they feature fascinating LGBTQ characters. Mr. Fuller will be presented the award before the Opening Night Gala screening at the Orpheum Theatre on July 6th.
Some of the Special Centerpiece screenings include the documentary, "Kevyn Aucoin: Beauty & The Beast In Me" about the life and career of the late celebrity make-up artist. Another doc, "Behind The Curtain: Todrick Hall" which focuses on Hall, a singer, dancer and YouTube sensation and a look at the creation of his latest project, a "Wizard of Oz" inspired musical based on his life. The U.S. Centerpiece is "Strangers", a digital comedy series from Mia Lidofsky and Celia Rowlson-Hall. Zoe Chao stars as a newly single woman who decides to rent out her spare room in order not to lose her home. Each episode deals with a revolving door of colorful renters and how they offer her a new way to view the world.
The Closing Night Gala will be activist, producer and long-time partner of musician, Sting, Trudie Styler's directorial feature debut, "Freak Show". Based on a novel by James St. James, Billy (Alex Lawther) is encouraged to be free-spirited and fabulous by his open-minded mother (Bette Midler). But after he's sent to live with his father in a conservative neighborhood, the teenager struggles to be himself. Billy bands together with a group of misfits at his new school to take on the bullies. Abigail Breslin, AnnaSophia Robb and Laverne Cox also star.
There will also be several short film programs, a panel with the female directors involved in the television series, "Queen Sugar", a sneak-peek of the fourth season of "Transparent", a live reading of the Screenwriting Lab entries which celebrates it's 20th anniversary, a panel on virtual reality storytelling, a comedy special from the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 8, Bob the Drag Queen and screenings of the Outfest UCLA Legacy restoration projects, "Beautiful Thing" (1996) and "Chasing Amy" (1997).
For the complete list of films, tickets and additional information, please click below:
Outfest Los Angeles 2017
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