Outfest has just announced the award winners of the 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, which ran from August 13th—opening with the LA premiere of Everybody's Talking About Jamie—until August 22nd, closing with Fanny: The Right to Rock. Sunday's closing night gala also saw Outfest's annual honors bestowed upon Octavia Spencer, who received the... Continue Reading →
As the 39th annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival drew to a close with the LA premiere of Bobbi Jo Hart's rousing documentary feature Fanny: The Right To Rock, Oscar-nominee Elliot Page was honored by Outfest with the organization's 2021 Achievement Award, making him the first publicly identifying trans person in the history of... Continue Reading →
Writer-director Natalie Morales' Language Lessons, which played Outfest LA 2021 on Saturday August 14th, is an absorbing two-hander starring Morales as Cariño, a Costa Rica-based Spanish teacher who has been hired to give California-dwelling Adam (Mark Duplass, who's also co-writer) 100 weekly lessons as a surprise birthday gift from his husband. Initially taken aback by... Continue Reading →
Watching so many films in a row can prove daunting at times. You can almost picture a room full of filmmakers shouting at once, “Look at me here!” or “My topic is most important!” As you ping-pong from one subject to another, it feels difficult to digest one before quickly, and kind of grossly, moving... Continue Reading →
After graduating from Southern Methodist University, Texas born and raised writer-director Lauren Hadaway went on to forge a career as a dialogue and ADR supervisor, working on movies like Justice League (both cuts), The Hateful Eight, and Whiplash. Damien Chazelle’s Oscar-winning film proved particularly impactful on her, and she describes her intense, utterly gripping debut... Continue Reading →
It’s that favorite time of the year for queer people and our allies in Los Angeles as Outfest kicks off another year with a stellar lineup of films, one which is more diverse than ever before. I would typically write longform reviews, but because I intend to watch so many features and shorts over the... Continue Reading →
Based on the hit West End show, which was inspired by a true story—or as the opening titles put it, "this really happened, then we added the singing and the dancing"—Everybody's Talking About Jamie is a gem of a movie musical. Director Johnathan Butterell's screen adaptation made its Los Angeles debut last night under (and... Continue Reading →
As the 39th edition of the world’s largest LGBTQIA+ film festival, Outfest LA 2021, opens this Friday August 13th—boasting 175 titles, with a mix of outdoor events, indoor screenings for vaccinated moviegoers, and online streaming options—Outfest's Director of Festival Programming Mike Dougherty offers an exclusive insider's guide to help you get acquainted with some of... Continue Reading →
Harri Shanahan and Sian Williams' feature documentary Rebel Dykes, which receives its Los Angeles premiere at Outfest LA 2021 on Saturday August 14th (also screening virtually August 15th-17th), is a rousing, celebratory, and considered examination of London's rebel dyke subculture of the 1980s and its legacy. The film's punky, DIY aesthetic captures the anarchic spirit... Continue Reading →
Inspired by J.M. Barrie’s 1902 novel The Little White Bird, which introduced the world to Peter Pan, writer-director Justice Jamal Jones’ lyrical debut short film, How To Raise A Black Boy, reframes that tale of childhood and adulthood within a queer Black narrative. Following its inclusion in April’s Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival, How To... Continue Reading →
