CELEBRATING 36 YEARS OF LGBTQ FILM & TELEVISION
TWO THIRDS OF CONTENT DIRECTED BY WOMEN, PEOPLE OF COLOR & TRANS FILMMAKERS
Celebrating its 36th Anniversary, Outfest – the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization promoting equality by creating, sharing, and protecting LGBTQ stories on the screen – today announced the complete programming lineup for the 2018 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival presented by HBO. The nation’s leading LGBTQ festival will be held July 12-22, 2018.
As previously announced, the 2018 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival opens at the Orpheum Theatre with Kino Lorber’s “Studio 54,” Matt Tyrnauer’s vibrantly nostalgic documentary; and closes with FilmRise’s “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” Desiree Akhavan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner starring Chloë Grace Moretz.
With two thirds of this year’s content directed by women, people of color and trans filmmakers, Outfest Los Angeles once again brings together the highest quality of LGBTQ films in the world.
“I am incredibly proud of all the ways Outfest Los Angeles continues to step onto a larger stage. This year, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences named Outfest as an Academy-Award qualifying film festival for their Short Film Awards. This recognition acknowledges our long history of discovering extraordinary short films, and the talented filmmakers who have used Outfest as a platform to launch their careers,” stated Christopher Racster, Outfest Executive Director.
“Providing access to content remains at the heart of what we do as an organization. This year we have worked to ensure that all of our community — and our allies — can access our programming. With that in mind, this year’s festival will be in more of Los Angeles neighborhoods than ever before. We are thrilled to be at new venues for festival including Plaza de la Raza, the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, the California African American Museum, Regal Cinemas at LA Live, and to be returning to newly renovated Ford Theatres for screenings under the stars.”
The festival features five world premieres including the deeply felt film from Taiwan, “Bao Bao”; “Bright Colors and Bold Patterns” directed by Michael Urie with a hilarious performance from Drew Droege; Laura Madalinski’s “Two in the Bush: A Love Story” a polyamorous love story; Jamie Patterson’s new feature film “Tucked” about two drag performers connecting across generations; and “Room to Grow” a documentary looking at the lives of queer teenagers today. As well as North American and US Premieres, “Eva & Candela,” “Sodom,” “Canary,” “Cola De Mono,” and “Daddy Issues.”
Outfest Los Angeles’ documentary section shines a light on unsung communities, including Alina Skrzesewska’s “Game Girls” which follows a couple as they struggle to navigate life in Los Angeles’ Skid Row, to the much anticipated SXSW Audience Award winner “Transmilitary” about those fighting for an equal chance to service their country. The proactive experimental film section, Platinum, continues to highlight boundary-pushing work with Myyki Blanco and SSION teaming up to create a new short film “No Leash” and a feature documentary by performance artist, Narcissister, in “Narcissister Organ Player.” The infamous Alchemy Party returns, this year at Navel, with 13 performers including Dorian Electra, Saturn Rising, and Slather Factory’s Bebe Huxley, and The Uhuruverse who will stretch your musical imagination.
The 2018 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival will also return to The Ford Theatres. These screenings will kick off on July 18 with a screening of “Bad Reputation,” a documentary about Joan Jett; then Documentary Centerpiece, “When the Beat Drops,” followed by “Postcards from London” and concluding with “Wild Nights with Emily” featuring Molly Shannon. The Closing Night Gala “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” will screen at The Theatre at Ace Hotel.
“This year, Outfest Los Angeles is marking the shift in the way that society tells and consumes stories, by launching our first dedicated episodic section. With 221 films and 13 TV series, this festival’s lineup is bursting at the seams with the most anticipated queer and trans stories of the year. Notable reoccurring themes in 2018 include escapism and sexual liberation, and we continue to raise the bar in non-fiction storytelling, as we shine a spotlight on unsung LGBTQ communities in our documentary competition,” commented Lucy Mukerjee, Outfest Director of Programming.
Special events include the 2nd Annual Trans Summit with Oscar nominated and Emmy Award-winning director and producer Yance Ford as the keynote speaker; the Focus On Taiwan event showcasing a collection of Taiwanese films including “Bao Bao” and “Alifu, The Prince/ss”; free screenings of films “Believer,” a documentary from Imagine Dragons frontman, Dan Reynolds, “They,” a family drama from director Anahita Ghazvinizadeh and Showtime’s “Beyond The Opposite Sex”, the long-awaited sequel to groundbreaking film, “The Opposite Sex.”
Lastly, OutSet: The Young Filmmakers Project from Los Angeles LGBT Center and Outfest, will be premiering five new shorts on Sunday, July 22nd. Now in its sixth year, the OutSet program empowers youth ages 16-24 to share their stories though film.
Tickets and Information
For more information and for a complete listing of films in 2018 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, log on to outfest.org or call 213-480-7065, Monday-Friday, 10:00am-6:00pm.
Outfest members receive benefits such as free tickets, priority entrance to screenings or all-access passes. Tickets go on sale to members beginning Thursday, June 14. General admission tickets to individual films go on sale beginning Monday, June 18. Contact the Box Office for membership, tickets and event information by calling 213-480-7065 or visit Outfest.org. Special ticket packages are also available.
The 2018 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival is proudly presented by HBO, a partnership that has spanned more than 20 years. The Grand Festival Sponsor is DIRECTV NOW and the Auto Sponsor is Hyundai. Premiere Sponsors include Clear Channel Outdoor, Comcast NBCUniversal, Directors Guild of America, The Fight Magazine, GILEAD, The Grove, Pride Media, and Variety. For more information about sponsorship, visit www.outfest.org/sponsor or contact Senior Manager, Corporate Relations Amy Walmann at amy@outfest.org or 213-480-7095.
Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/NWmbwhf5oHg