WINNERS OF THE 2021 OUTFEST FILM FESTIVAL

"Firstness", the visionary feature film debut by writer/director, Brielle Brilliant, received the Grand Jury Prize for Best US Narrative at this year's Outfest Film Festival. This drama focuses on a wayward father and his non-binary child, each trying to find themselves and their place in the world while living in a small, New Mexico desert community.

For the first time, Outfest has collaborated with IMDb to help select the Audience Award winners, using their app to place your vote instead of traditional paper ballots. And this year's audience winner for Best Narrative Feature was given to "Death and Bowling", writer/director, Lyle Kash's whimsical look in to trans-representation involving a queer bowling league and two trans men who meet at a funeral.

Here is the list of winners from the 2021 Outfest Film Festival:

Grand Jury Awards:

U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize: "Firstness"



U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize for Best Performance: Pooya Mohseni, "See You Then"
U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay: Wes Hurley, "Potato Dreams of America"
U.S. Narrative Feature (Special Mention): The ensemble of  "The Sixth Reel"



U.S. Narrative Short Grand Jury Prize: "Girls & The Party"
U.S. Narrative Short (Special Mention): "The Recorder"
International Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize: "A Distant Place"
International Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay: Ümit Ünal, "Love, Spells and All That"
International Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize for Best Performance: Nell Barlow, "Sweetheart"
International Narrative Feature (Special Mention): Cloris Leachman, "Jump, Darling"



International Narrative Short Grand Jury Prize: "Squish"
International Narrative Short (Special Mention): "Private Photos"
Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize: "No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics"



Documentary Feature (Special Mentions): "Sediments" and "North By Current"
Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize: "Narcissister Breast Work"
Documentary Short (Special Mention): "F1-100"

Audience Awards:

Narrative Feature Audience Award: "Death and Bowling"
Narrative Short Audience Award: "And Then"
Experimental Short Audience Award: "Jupiter & Europa"
Documentary Feature Audience Award: "This is Jessica"



Documentary Short Audience Award: "Right To Try"

Special Programming Awards:

Emerging Talent: Joseph Sackett, "Homebody"
Freedom: Whitney Skauge and Terence Smith for their collaboration on the short documentary, "The Beauty President"
Artistic Achievement: Bo McGuire, "Socks on Fire"

And here are a couple of films I saw at the fest (and very happy to report seen in a theater with an audience); "Everybody's Talking About Jaime" is a delightfully charming coming-of-age musical about a gay, British teenager who know exactly what he wants to be when he graduates from high school; a fabulous drag queen.

Based on the acclaimed West End stage show, Max Harwood (making his feature film debut) plays Jaime New who is about to turn sixteen and his loving mother, Margaret (Sarah Lancashire) gives her son the birthday gift he has always wanted; sparkling, red high-heels. He shows his best friend, a Muslim teen named Pritti (Lauren Patel) his new shoes and reveals to her his dream of becoming a female illusionist. She encourages Jamie to go to their upcoming prom in a dress. Deciding to go for it, Jamie ventures in to a shop that is known to cater to drag queens, run by Hugo (a wonderful Richard E. Grant). Once the legendary queen, "Loco Chanelle", Hugo takes the young teen under his wing, not only with preparing him for the prom but also to take the stage for the first time in make-up and a wig. And while Margaret loves Jamie unconditionally and supports his dream, her estranged husband (Ralph Ineson) finds his son's homosexuality disgusting and wants nothing to do with him. Desperate to protect her son from his father's hostile attitude, Margaret pretends that he sends birthday cards and encourages him to follow his passion.

Jonathan Butterell, a British director and choreographer for the stage, makes his cinematic debut behind the camera. He knows this story quite intimately, having worked with Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae (who wrote the screenplay) to develop the stage musical back in 2017, based on the real-life story of a Sheffield teen who wanted to go to his prom in drag. This has lead Butterell to successfully bring a vibrant energy, colorful characters and heartfelt emotion to this thrilling film version. What will make-or-break any musical are the songs and "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" is filled with truly memorable ballads and dance tunes that perfectly highlights the joy, heartbreak and humor that is being expressed in this story. This film is a wonderful inspiration and encouragement for young LGBTQ+ teens to follow their dreams, no matter how challenging or difficult they may seem to be.

Gloria Swanson was one of the biggest stars of the early Silent Movie era. But once sound came on the scene, the glamourous actress had difficulty transitioning, causing her star power to dim. It was Billy Wilder who turned her career around by casting Swanson in "Sunset Blvd", the story of Norma Desmond, a faded silent movie star who meets a handsome, struggling screenwriter (William Holden), wanting him to write her a comeback project but falls in love with him, leading to tragic results. This role put Swanson back in the spotlight and has remained her best known movie role.

And while we all know that Andrew Lloyd Webber transformed this film classic into a Tony Award-winning musical, few are aware that decades earlier, Swanson had teamed-up with two unknown playwrights in a first attempt to turn "Sunset Blvd" into a musical. Jeffrey Schwarz, the filmmaker behind the fascinating documentaries on Divine and Tab Hunter, leads us on an investigative look with "Boulevard! A Hollywood Story" which reveals many of the juicy details behind this little-known story.

The British actor, Richard Stapley began his career as a contract player with M-G-M (with supporting roles in remakes of "The Three Musketeers" and "Little Women") throughout the late 1940's and '50's before leaving Hollywood and returning to Europe to resume his career as "Richard Wyler" in 1960. Dickson Hughes was a popular Los Angeles cabaret pianist working on trying to create the next great musical. These two men met one night, Hughes was performing in a nightclub; Stapley was there on a date with woman, and not long after began a romantic and professional relationship. These novice writers presented an idea for a stage show to Swanson but she was only interested in a musical version of "Sunset Blvd". Then this trio went to work to put a show together. Yet after nearly completing the musical, it all fell apart for various, complicated reasons.

We see Schwartz on camera digging around and researching for any traces about this project, eventually getting his hands on separate interviews with Stapley and Hughes and the original demo recordings of Swanson performing songs for the musical. "Boulevard!" not only covers what happened during the creation of this doomed production but reveals the interesting events that happened in the lives of each of these three central figures after the collapse of the musical. With archival footage, interviews with friends and family and animated illustrations by Maurice Vellekoop that whimsically recreates sequences in the story, "Boulevard! A Hollywood Story" is a delicious treat for devotees of the Billy Wilder-Charles Brackett movie and fans of riveting tales involving classic Hollywood.

MY VIEWING DIARY: PART FOURTEEN

"Bullitt" (1968)

I haven't seen that many movies featuring Steve McQueen. Known as "The King of Cool", I had previously only seen the actor (who died in 1980 at the age of fifty) in the gritty romance (for the 1960's), "Love With The Proper Stranger" with Natalie Wood; the original "The Thomas Crown Affair" (with the remake generating more heat due to the lack of sparks between McQueen and Faye Dunaway) and "The Towering Inferno" which doesn't really count as he was part of a big, all-star ensemble. But I just watched "Bullitt", a police action-thriller that is probably McQueen's most famous movie role and helped turn him in to a screen icon. This was the first American film by British director, Peter Yates, an unlikely choice after years as an assistant director before directing several little-seen features but he proved he was up for the task at hand.

A Chicago mobster is going to testify in court against his organization and placed under witness protection. Lt. Frank Bullitt (McQueen) and his team are assigned to guard him in shifts over the weekend in a cheap hotel in San Francisco. But the location is discovered with the mobster being mortally wounded by gunmen. A furious Senator, Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) blames Bullitt for this security breach and will hold him responsible if the witness dies. The mobster does die but Bullitt arranges with a doctor (Georg Stanford Brown) to keep it secret for a few days, allowing the Lieutenant some time to investigate and find the killers.

"Bullitt" maintains a timeless feel by the use of actual locations and following more closely true police procedures to help create a more realistic atmosphere than what was usually found in police dramas at this time, including some graphic bloodshed and death, not long before "Bonnie and Clyde" would push screen violence to the edge the following year. McQueen displays a natural, easy-going style that makes it quite clear why the handsome actor became a movie star. But what "Bullitt" is best known for is the elaborate car chase sequence through San Francisco that has remained impressive and highly influential. Shot in three weeks and only slightly over ten minutes long, this thrilling scene is remarkable to watch as cars zoom dangerously at high speeds throughout the city, enhanced by the meticulous work of editor, Frank P. Keller which helped him win an Oscar. Jacqueline Bisset plays Bullitt's girlfriend in a small,  thankless role and look for Robert Duvall appearing briefly as a cab driver.

"Bell, Book and Candle" (1958)

James Stewart and Kim Novak made two films together and both were released in 1958. One was Hitchcock's psycho-thriller, "Vertigo". The other was the dark-themed, romantic-comedy, "Bell, Book and Candle" about a lovely witch who casts a spell on her upstairs neighbor in order to have him fall madly in love with her. And yes, this was an inspiration for the classic sitcom, "Bewitched".

Set in Greenwich Village on Christmas Eve, Gil (Novak) is the owner of a rare African art store. "Shep" Henderson (Stewart), a book publisher, lives in the building and has caught Gil's eye. But Shep is engaged to Merle Kittridge (Janice Rule). Discovering that his fiancée was her adversary back in college and that the couple plans to elope the next day, Gil decides to use magic on Shep, causing him to immediately fall madly for her, effectively ending his engagement. Ernie Kovacs plays Sidney Reditch, a best-selling author that Shep wishes he was able to publish. After being magically summoned by Gil, the writer's arrival creates havoc as he plans to write a book about real-life witches (which Shep will publish) with the help of Gil's bongo-playing, warlock brother, Nicky (Jack Lemmon) who will share secrets for a share of the book's profits.

Richard Quine, an actor turned director, has crafted a fantastical comedy with moments of style and enchantment. Yet the central love story feels hollow and cynical, never inspiring much faith in this potential romance. While Stewart is fine, having done the rom-com leading man role many times throughout his career, able to do this part in his sleep (and seems to be actually sleep-walking through this film), Novak struggles with finding an inner life for Gil, relying on sensuous poses and her dramatic costumes to help fill in her character. "Vertigo" proves that Novak can be an impressive performer on screen but requires the steady hand of a formidable director to help guide her. The rest of the cast is top-notch and includes Elsa Lanchester as Gil's eccentric aunt, Queenie, who is also a witch and Hermione Gingold as a powerful witch named Bianca De Pass.

"La Piscine (The Pool)" (1969)

"La Piscine", a sensual French thriller by Jacques Deray, opens with the barely covered, wet glistening bodies of Marianne (Romy Schneider) and Jean Paul (Alain Delon), two bronzed lovers locked in a passionate embrace by a swimming pool. As the couple enjoy their time on holiday in St. Tropez, their tranquility is interrupted by the unannounced arrival of an old friend, Harry (Maurice Ronet), a record producer and his teenage daughter, Pénélope (Jane Birkin). While Marianne and Jean Paul wanted to relax, Harry wants to party and the couple are unable to refuse their gregarious buddy. But the arrival of these guests begins to create some tension between Jean Paul and Marianne. Harry was once Marianne's lover and their display of rekindled intimacy makes Jean Paul uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Jean Paul finds himself getting close to Pénélope, who confesses she barely saw her father when she was growing up, and spending more time alone with her. The mood quickly shifts from festive and tranquil to hostile and combative. 

"La Piscine" (which Luca Guadagnino loosely based his 2016 film," A Bigger Splash") is a classic erotic thriller, set in a seductive upscale world of class and refinement, with these privileged individuals allowing their uncontrollable desires overwhelm them to the point of jealous rage and murder. Deray creates intrigue and suspense through suggestion, never allowing us to know definitively if the members of this quartet are actually being indiscreet. And while their real-life romance ended years before this film, there is still a startling erotic charge between Delon and Schneider that ignites the screen with their potent chemistry.