Celebrating its 35th Anniversary, Outfest – the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization promoting equality by creating, sharing, and protecting LGBT stories on the screen – recently 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.”
With 194 films from 30 different countries, Outfest Los Angeles brings together the highest quality of LGBTQ film in the world along with highlighting efforts in the mainstream media to tell those stories.
“The theme tying these films together is activism. Today’s queer filmmakers have gender parity, trans justice and racial equality top of mind,” explains Racster.
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;” and a screening of “Chasing Amy” in honor of the film’s 20th Anniversary followed by a conversation with director Kevin Smith and Guinevere Turner.
For more information and for a complete listing of films in 2017 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival, visit outfest.org.
