Following its opening night screening at NewFest's New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival last month, Emmy and Sundance Grand Jury Award-winning director Jesse Moss' feature documentary Mayor Pete will be released globally on Amazon Prime Video this Friday November 12th. In 2019, the Boys State filmmaker gained surprisingly intimate access to 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate hopeful... Continue Reading →
NewFest & Frameline present It’s A Sin advance screening plus cast & creator panel discussion moderated by Russell Tovey
RSVP now for free to get exclusive access to the first two episodes of Russell T. Davies' It's A Sin before the series premiere on HBO Max on Thursday, thanks to NewFest in partnership with Frameline. Then join NewFest for a panel with the creator and cast on Friday February 19th at 8:30pm ET, moderated... Continue Reading →
NewFest 2020 Film Review: Tahara ★★★1/2
Following the suicide of one of their peers, best friends Carrie (Madeline Grey DeFreece) and Hannah (Rachel Sennott) are forced to spend the afternoon at their upstate New York Hebrew school reflecting on the passing of a classmate they apparently hardly knew in this queer dark comedy. Unfurling compellingly more or less in real time,... Continue Reading →
NewFest 2020 Film Review: Sublet ★★★★
Veteran Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox's outstanding new feature Sublet, co-written with Itay Segal, opens with the arrival of a jetlagged and disorientated fifty something gay man, Michael (The Inheritance's John Benjamin Hickey) to bustling Tel Aviv. He's a travel writer for The New York Times who has come to uncover the "real" city over a... Continue Reading →
NewFest 2020 Film Review: Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story ★★★★
Posy Dixon's debut feature documentary Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story is a delicate, nuanced and life-affirming tribute to the experimental folk-jazz turned synth singer-songwriter. With an interview with the musician, who now goes by Glenn Copeland, at its centre, the film paints an intimate biographical portrait focused on his emotional and creative journey, with... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: director Kimberly Reed on episode 2 of HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ rights docu-series Equal “to tell these stories about trans resistance was powerful”
The second episode of HBO Max's impactful four-part LGBTQ+ rights docu-series Equal, focuses on stories of trans pioneers and trans resistance. Bookended by the Compton's Cafteria riot, we're presented with figures that might already be familiar like Christine Jorgensen as well as names we're far less likely to have encountered, such as Black trans socialite,... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: cinematographer Ava Benjamin Shorr on HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ rights docu-series Equal “it’s a deeply emotional experience to recreate these people from the past”
Following her work as director of photography on Sam Feder's groundbreaking documentary Disclosure, Ava Benjamin Shorr has now lensed the dynamic and stirring four-part LGBTQ+ civil rights docu-series Equal, which premieres on HBO on Thursday October 22nd. Her work on the series saw her collaborate with directors Stephen Kijak and Kimberly Reed to create visually... Continue Reading →
32nd NewFest LGBTQ Film Festival goes nationwide & virtual October 16-27th
NewFest, the 32nd New York LGBTQ Film Festival launches today Friday October 16th at 8pm ET with the NYC premiere of God's Own Country filmmaker Francis Lee’s Ammonite. Oscar-winner Kate Winlset who stars opposite Saoirse Ronan in the film, will virtually present Lee with NewFest's inaugural World Queer Visionary Award ahead of the opening night... Continue Reading →
Inside Out 2020 Film Review: Ahead of the Curve ★★★★
The experience of watching Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow's feature documentary Ahead of the Curve, which just played Toronto's Inside Out film festival before heading on to New York's NewFest, is much like spending an hour and half getting lost in the pages of your favourite queer magazine; insightful, stimulating, empowering, with a deep-dive... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: And Then We Danced filmmaker Levan Akin
Following its world premiere at Cannes in 2019 writer/director Levan Akin's gay coming of age drama And Then We Danced went on to enjoy a hugely successful international festival run, including showings at last month's Sundance, picking up awards in cities such as Chicago, New York and Montréal. The premiere in Tbilisi, Georgia, where the... Continue Reading →