The 10-day festival celebrates 39 years of LGBTQ+ film and television this month with a return to in-person screenings
BY ORLY LYONNE
Celebrating its 39th anniversary, Outfest LA has announced its complete programming lineup for the 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.
The world’s leading LGBTQ+ festival will be held August 13-22, 2021 and will return with outdoor events, indoor screenings for vaccinated attendees, and available via streaming for those who wish to experience the festival from their own home.
The festival will kick off opening night for its first ever outdoor gala with Cinespia at Hollywood Forever on August 13, with a screening of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie—a big screen adaptation of the smash hit, award-winning West End musical that will feature in person appearances from Max Harwood, Lauren Patel, and director Jonathan Butterell, as well as Bianca del Rio.
The festival will close out at the iconic Orpheum Theatre on August 22 with a screening of Fanny: The Right to Rock—a film about the first female rock band to release an album with a major label—to be followed by a live reunion performance by Fanny.
The nearly 200 hand-picked films represents nearly every genre and includes the voices and stories from the entire rainbow of the queer community including a significant number of first-time directors. The global program slate features over 50 international films and 15 languages representing countries like South Korea, Nigeria, Mexico, Cuba, Palestine, Israel, Brazil, Bulgaria and Croatia. Los Angeles continues to be a trailblazer for multicultural LGBTQIA+ representation in entertainment.
The festival will include seven world premieres across features, U.S narrative, documentary, Platinum, special events, and episodics including the latest creation from the legendary Charles Busch (Psycho Beach Party, Die, Mommie, Die!), The Sixth Reel; U.S. narrative and absurdist comedy, Homebody; Outfest alum Jeffrey Schwarz’s true story of Gloria Swanson’s quest to star in a Sunset Boulevard musical, Boulevard! A Hollywood Story; investigative documentary on Ed Buck, Gemmel and Tim; Lyle Kash’s meta-critique on trans representation, Death and Bowling; portrait of Los Angeles Latina transgender activist, Bamby Salcedo, La Queenciañera; and the Grindr-produced comedy series, Bridesman.
Outfest LA will also showcase the international premiere Sediments that centers around six trans women in León for the weekend who explore the land, themselves, and each other.
Centerpiece films will include Tribeca Film Festival prize-winner The Novice (US Centerpiece); a portrait of RuPaul’s Drag Race season one winner BeBe Zahara Benet spanning sixteen years, Being BeBe (Documentary Centerpiece), that will include a special live performance by BeBe; the world premiere of The Sixth Reel (Special Tribute Centerpiece) that will begin with a special memorial tribute to producer and Outfest alum Ash Christian; and Bo McGuire’s Southern drama Socks on Fire (Platinum Centerpiece).
Outfest Los Angeles’ Platinum Section showcases the bold innovators and cutting edge creators of experimental LGBTQ media and performance; this year the lineup includes Sundance hit We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, radical UK doc Rebel Dykes, and a shorts showcase that includes Paul Reubens as a transforming fish in the world premiere of JB Ghuman’s animated The Crown and the Shadow, with additional voice roles played by Geri Halliwell and Tatum O’Neal. These and the many more films in this program hope to expand viewers’ minds and sensibilities around LGBTQIA+ art and culture. The Platinum celebration will culminate in the Platinum Alchemy Party at Bar Franca in downtown Los Angeles, featuring live performances by Aziza Bijoü, Ryan Cassata, Sebastian Lust, and DJ theywept.
The Legacy section will feature screenings of classic LGBTQ feature films, including the world premiere of a new restoration of Maria Maggenti’s 1995 teen romance The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, completed with Preservation Funding provided by the Sundance Institute; a 15th anniversary screening of the Echo Park-based coming-of-age tale Quinceañera directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland; and the U.S. premiere of 1983’s newly restored Vestida de Azul (Dressed in Blue), a stylish, groundbreaking Spanish doc about the lives of tran sex workers that recently featured memorably in HBOMax’s hit series Veneno.
“We’re thrilled to be coming back in-person carefully and with intention to celebrate this amazing community, its stories and its resiliency and spirit with so many incredible films and special events,” said Outfest Executive Director, Damien S. Navarro.
For more information and for a complete listing of films in 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, log on to OutfestLA2021.com.
