Nicola Marsh and Giovanni Reda's riveting and inspiring portrait of trailblazing pro skateboarder Leo Baker, Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story, received its world premiere at last month's Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival, ahead of its global launch on Netflix this Thursday, August 11th. Produced by Alex Schmider (Changing the Game, Disclosure, Framing... Continue Reading →
Oscar-nominated veteran screenwriter John Logan (Skyfall, Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator) makes his directing debut with his own skillfully-crafted screenplay for the gripping and bloody terrifying slasher, They/Them (pronounced They-slash-Them), which received its world premiere tonight as it closed the 40th anniversary Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Carrie Preston as Cora Whistler, Anna Chlumsky as... Continue Reading →
Director Mercedes Kane's touching and surprisingly expansive feature documentary Art and Pep, which received its world premiere at the 40th anniversary Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival, introduces us to two Chicagoans, Art Johnston and José Pepe Peña, who've been at the centre of the city's queer community together for nearly fifty years. Partners in... Continue Reading →
I’ve always enjoyed Michelle Ehlen’s films, such as Butch Jamie, Heterosexual Jill, and S&M Sally, and consider them a maverick in that they write, direct, produce, edit and star in their own films. Full disclosure: Michelle wore many hats on my feature debut, Eating Out: All You Can Eat, and our pre-existing relationship scared me... Continue Reading →
Many film festival programmers look at a collection of films and realize they’re all speaking with each other, the themes reverberating across the divide, that they’re tapping into the zeitgeist, crying out together. Perhaps due to the past couple of years of COVID lockdown and loss, a deep well of loneliness has informed many filmmaking... Continue Reading →
If you enjoyed Take Shelter, Midnight Special, Bug, and Safety Not Guaranteed, four films which had you wondering if the sci-fi events depicted were real or a result of of a mental break, then you may respond to director Juan Felipe Zuleta and writer Leland Frankel’s Unidentified Objects, Outfest LA’s U.S. Centerpiece. Otherwise, your mileage... Continue Reading →
Created by and starring Tory Devon Smith, The Baldwin Archives, which receives its US premiere at the 40th anniversary Outfest LGBTQ+ Film Festival, breathes new life into a 1963 interview with James Baldwin (Tory Devon Smith) conducted in London for the BBC by journalist Peter Duval Smith (Jordan Gavaris). Taking the concept of films like... Continue Reading →
Outfest LA is back and in hybrid form once again, offering audiences in-person and virtual screenings. With a daunting 200+ selections, it’s impossible to see everything and sometimes decisions as to what to watch come down to educated guesses, coin flips, or a provocative still. I’ll end up watching way more movies than I end... Continue Reading →
Abubakr Ali, who graduated the Yale School of Drama alongside Jeremy O. Harris in 2019, made entertainment industry headlines last September when he was cast as the first Arab Muslim man to play a lead role in a screen comic book adaptation. Following TV guest spots on shows like The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Katy... Continue Reading →
Following its world premiere at Tribeca last month, directors Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed's delectable ALL MAN: The International Male Story plays the 40th Anniversary Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival on Saturday, July 16th. The feature documentary chronicles the history of the alluring men's fashion catalogue, International Male, with insights from the insiders... Continue Reading →
