OUTFEST Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival, showcasing the work of queer and trans filmmakers of color, takes place this month
BY ORLY LYONNE
Outfest, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to creating visibility for diverse LGBTQIA+ stories and empowering tomorrow’s artists and storytellers, has announced its lineup for the 2022 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Film Festival, presented by IMDbPro and Hyundai.
This year’s festival will feature 7 feature films, 52 short films, 3 episodics, a One-Minute Movie Contest sponsored by Hyundai, as well as workshops and panels.
The 10-day festival will be held in-person from April 8th to April 13th at various theaters throughout Los Angeles and online from April 13th to April 17th, and will be open to filmmakers and the general public to attend.
Visit OutfestFusion.com to purchase tickets.
This year marks for the 40th anniversary for Outfest and the 19th year of Outfest Fusion, which showcases the work of queer and trans filmmakers of color, providing the audiences and storytellers alike with the critical visibility that is needed to build careers, opportunities, and empathy for our stories. Outfest Fusion celebrates the rich heritage of the individuals that make up the Los Angeles community, while also empowering and investing in their success with educational workshops, masterclasses, networking events, and the renowned One-Minute Movie Contest.
Founded in 2004 amongst a circle of community organizers and Outfest Board Members, the Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival is a response to the public and industry need for more inclusive spaces where storytellers and filmmakers of color can receive the opportunities and the visibility they struggle to find for themselves and their work. To date, Outfest Fusion has showcased over 10,000 works to nearly 250,000 audience members and impacted over 2,500 storytellers and up and coming industry members with its Outfest Fusion workshops, contests, and events.
The mission of Outfest Fusion is not only to amplify QTBIPOC voices but also to provide access and resources specific to the needs of the QTBIPOC community. This year Outfest expanded that mission to include how the films are curated for the festival. In a collaboration with Programmers of Colour Collective, Outfest’s new initiative is Outfest Fusion’s Programming Fellowship. The inaugural year’s fellows are Irene Suico Soriano, Josslyn Glenn, Mara Tatevosian, Rico Johnson-Sinclair, and Tishon Pugh. Throughout months of deliberation and discovery, the Fusion Fellows explored work from storytellers around the globe to curate a powerful and eclectic slate of films full of bold new visions and invigorating thematic strands that investigate our past, evaluate the present, and dream towards the future.
The Festival includes the One-Minute Movie Contest sponsored by Hyundai, a democratic way to discover new voices and bring them into the Outfest Fusion family. Aspiring and established filmmakers use their cell phones or cameras to shoot one-minute short films on a predetermined topic—“Past Lives, Future Dreams.” The films will be screened at Outfest Fusion Fête. The winners will receive cash prizes and will go on to play the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival in July. For complete listings and to purchase tickets, log on to OutfestFusion.com.
Features at the 2022 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival are listed below and updated at OutfestFusion.com.
BLACK AS U R directed by Micheal Rice
In the wake of Black Lives Matter, filmmaker Michael Rice addresses the trans/homophobia within the Black community by magnifying the stories of Black LGBTQ+ people and their contributions to the Black liberation movement.
FINLANDIA directed by Horacio Alcala
Belonging to a community of muxes — untethered by the gender binary — Delirio, Amaranta, Mariano traverse their past, present, and future.
KEEP THE CAMERAS ROLLING: THE PEDRO ZAMORA WAY directed by William T. Horner, Stacey Woelfel
He was clever, articulate, and good-looking. At only 22, Pedro Zamora, a gay Cuban immigrant, had the American public at the palm of his hands as he stepped into the limelight on MTV’s REAL WORLD. After contracting AIDS as a teenager, he dedicated his life to destigmatizing the narrative around the illness – and being the sympathetic beauty on national television helped do that. While KEEP THE CAMERAS ROLLING is an exhibition of Zamora’s most joyous moments, like his televised wedding, it also explores the role of the media in shaping a generation’s understanding of social issues. An amalgam of home videos, archival footage, and interviews with the Zamora family, REAL WORLD cast members, and various activists, the film examines the legacy of a young man who helped change the face of AIDS in America.
MUSTACHE MONDAYS (ARTBOUND) directed by Marianne Amelinckx
“It was the best party in L.A. hands down.”
See how a roving LGBTQ night club event in Los Angeles called “Mustache Mondays” became a creative incubator for today’s leading edge contemporary artists. This film examines the history of these spaces and how they shaped the Queer cultural fabric unique to Southern California.
TRANSVERSALS directed by Émerson Maranhão
Émerson Maranhão’s documentary brings together the stories of five transgender people living in the state of Ceará in Brazil, recounting stories of being fearless alongside their absolute commitment to thrive.
WHITE FROG directed by Quentin Lee
Nick is a high school freshman on the Autism spectrum who idolizes his older brother Chaz, a popular straight-A student whose future seems set. When Chaz is suddenly killed in a tragic accident, Nick attempts to reconstruct the life his brother left behind, uncovering secrets that threaten to rip their family apart. Quentin Lee directs a tremendous ensemble cast of veteran and rising stars including B.D. Wong, Joan Chen, Harry Shum Jr., Henry David Hwang, Tyler Posey, Amy Hill, and Booboo Stewart in a gripping mystery of loss and redemption at the intersections of queerness, neurodiversity, and Asian-American identity.
WILDHOOD directed by Bretten Hannam
Two brothers embark on a journey to find their birth mother after their abusive white father had lied for years about her whereabouts; along the way, they reconnect with their indigenous heritage and make a new friend.
Outfest Fusion 2022 is presented by IMDbPro and Hyundai; premiere sponsors include AARP, Ammo Creative, Comcast NBCUniversal, Gilead, and THE FIGHT Magazine; media sponsors are Clear Channel Outdoor, Edge Media, Metro Weekly, PMG, Pride Media, Queerty, Rainbow Media, and Variety.
For complete listings and to purchase tickets, log on to www.OutfestFusion.com.
