The 2023 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival is set to begin on July 13th and running through July 23rd. This annual event, now in it's forty-first year, celebrates queer cinema with a festival designed to increase diversity and visibility for storytellers and audiences alike with works from across the globe. Outfest LA will once again this year offer in-person and virtual screenings. The filmmaker, Andrew Ahn ("Fire Island") will be honored with the Outfest Achievement Award. Melissa McCarthy and her husband, Ben Falcone with receive the James Schamus Ally Award for their support to promote our communities’ stories to a broader audience.
The Opening Night Gala will be held at The Orpheum Theatre in DTLA with the film being "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by writer/director, Aitch Alberto. Based on the YA novel by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, this coming-of-age romance, set in the mid-1980's, focuses on two Mexican-American teens; Aristotle (Max Pelayo) and Dante (Reese Gonzales) who live in El Paso, Texas. They meet one summer, becoming fast, close friends, and we watch as they struggle with identity, sexuality and family relationships. Eugenio Derbez and Eva Longoria co-star.
Some highlights from this year's fest will include "Commitment to Life", the latest documentary by Jeffrey Schwarz, which explores the city of Los Angeles and how it would play a critical role in the battle against HIV/AIDS with doctors, movie stars and activists that came together to change the path of the epidemic. Another non-fiction film, "Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes" looks at the legendary photographer who began his career photographing celebrities before shifting to work with the male nude, creating pictures that were decidedly sensuous and radically explicit for their time. "Chocolate Babies", this 1996 feature film by Stephen Winter in a new restoration by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, is a hilarious yet poignant comedy about a Black, queer activist group planning to kidnap a closeted councilman.
A special centerpiece screening of "Passages", the new feature by Ira Sachs is a romantic-drama set in France about a long married gay couple (Ben Whishaw and Franz Rogowski) whose relationship is shaken when one has an affair with a woman (Adèle Exarchopoulos). "Problemista", the directorial film debut by Julio Torres, features the comedian/artist as an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador struggling to make something happen in New York. When his work visa is about to expire, he gets a job assisting an eccentric art-world denizen (Tilda Swinton). And Outfest teams up with the American Cinematheque for a special screening of the Oscar-winning musical, "Chicago" with a Sing-a-Long on Tuesday, July 18 at the Los Feliz 3. Theatre.
And the Closing Night Gala at The Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood will be the documentary, "Chasing Chasing Amy". This film explores the impact of the 1997 indie comedy film by Kevin Smith and how it affected the director, Sav Rodgers' own queer journey as a trans man. Writer/director, Smith and stars, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, and Guinevere Turner share their insights in this film about this now cult classic.
For the complete list of films, events and to purchase tickets for all screenings, please click below:
2023 Outfest LA Film Festival
No comments:
Post a Comment