LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Celebrating its 35th Anniversary, Outfest – the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization promoting equality by creating, sharing, and protecting LGBT stories on the screen –Friday announced the complete programming lineup for the 2017 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival presented by HBO. The nation’s leading LGBT festival will be held July 6–16, 2017.
The 2017 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival opens at the Orpheum Theatre with Samuel Goldwyn Films’ “God’s Own Country,” Francis Lee’s powerful directorial and screenwriting feature debut; and closes with IFC Film’s “Freak Show,” Trudie Styler’s feature directorial debut starring Abigail Breslin, AnnaSophia Robb, Laverne Cox, and Bette Midler. Additional gala screenings include: U.S. Centerpiece “Strangers” (Dir/Scr: Mia Lidofsky), International Centerpiece “Close Knit” (Dir/Scr: Naoko Ogigami), Documentary Centerpiece “KEVYN AUCOIN Beauty & the Beast In Me” (Dir: Lori Kaye), and Special Centerpiece “Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall” (Dir: Katherine Fairfax Wright).
“Outfest began 35 years ago with a group of students desperate to find positive depictions of themselves on film; today Outfest is the launch pad for the storytellers that bring our stories to life on screen.” said Christopher Racster, Outfest Executive Director. “I am proud that this year’s program reflects just how far we have come as a movement, as a community and as storytellers. These films capture the true complexities of our lives, our loves, and our identities. But our advancements have only taken our community so far, and we are proud to champion this year’s filmmakers who capture the ongoing fight for our rights for freedom, for love, and for acceptance.”
With 194 films from 30 different countries, Outfest Los Angeles once again brings together the highest quality of LGBTQ film in the world along with highlighting efforts in the mainstream media to tell those stories.
The 2017 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival will also return to the Theatre at Ace Hotel. These screenings will kick off on July 13 with Special Centerpiece, “Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall,” with “The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin,” “After Louie,” and the Closing Night Gala “Freak Show” following on the subsequent days.
“The theme tying these films together is activism. Today’s queer filmmakers have gender parity, trans justice and racial equality top of mind. The activism that has existed in our community for decades is documented in films like ‘Chavela,’ ‘After Louie,’ and ‘Queercore: How To Punk A Revolution,’ and meets head on with present day movements that convey our community’s ongoing quest for civil rights, in films like ‘Whose Streets?,’ ‘The Death And Life Of Marsha P. Johnson,’ and ‘More Than T.’ The language of this year’s lineup taps into a multiplicity of perspectives to articulate what fairness should look like,” notes Lucy Mukerjee-Brown, Outfest Director of Programming.
Special Events include OWN’s “Queen Sugar” Director’s Panel with Outfest alumnae Aurora Guerrero, Tina Mabry and Cheryl Dunye; a conversation with I. Marlene King, the executive producer of “Pretty Little Liars” and “Famous in Love;” a screening of “Chasing Amy” in honor of the film’s 20th Anniversary followed by a conversation with director Kevin Smith and Guinevere Turner; Showtime Networks’ “More Than T;” a sneak peek at Season 4 of Amazon Studios’ “Transparent;” and a screening of REVRY’s “Suspiciously Large Woman: Bob the Drag Queen Comedy Special.” Additionally, the AT&T Hello Lab is hosting a panel examining the unique challenges and opportunities facing underrepresented communities in the entertainment industry, and the steps being taken to show a more diverse and realistic world.
For more information and for a complete listing of films in 2017 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival, log on to outfest.org or call 213-480-7065, Monday–Friday, 10:00am-6:00pm.
