{"id":115249,"date":"2022-07-13T23:23:45","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T17:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/outfest-directors-on-bringing-the-fest-in-festival-back-for-40th-anniversary\/"},"modified":"2022-07-13T23:24:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T17:54:26","slug":"outfest-directors-bringing-the-festival-in-festival-back-for-its-40th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/outfest-directors-bringing-the-festival-in-festival-back-for-its-40th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Outfest Directors: Bringing the Festival in Festival Back for its 40th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Nonprofit Outfest will celebrate its 40th year with the launch of the 2022 edition of the festival. This festival is held in Los Angeles LGBTQ+ and will feature new awards, programming, and more than 200 screenings.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that I really did like is that [the festival] wasn\u2019t in June, because I think there\u2019s this way of thinking about queerness as if it is siloed within the space of one month,\u201dFaridah Gbadamosi, Outfest’s artistic director, spoke in a recent interview. \u201cI like the idea that it exists beyond the month of June because it kind of brings this idea that our identities can\u2019t be siloed within the space of one month.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gbadamosi, who has been working with Outfest for more than a year, stressed a collaborative approach for programming the festival in Los Angeles. This year, Outfest was sensitive to the presentation and depiction of trauma that came out of such a difficult past few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that\u2019s been really interesting to come out of COVID is the way in which programmers interact with programming trauma because for marginalized communities, you always have externalized trauma, but it\u2019s become more socially aware that there is anxiety and stress,\u201dShe spoke. \u201cSo the way you program is inherently in response to the community at large. So it\u2019s also the way that you look at certain films like is this a necessary harm to show, is this a necessary story to center at this particular point in time?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Outfest<\/p><\/div>\n

This year\u2019s 11-day festival anticipates the attendance of 30,000 people in-person throughout seven different venues \u2014 with an increasing number of allies attending over the last couple of decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve increasingly seen allies to the tune of 20 to 25% that are coming with their friends now to experience these things together,\u201d executive director Damien Navarro told . \u201cThere was a world in which those that were \u2018in the closet\u2019 had to sneak in the back doors of Outfest back in the \u201980s and the \u201990s because simply by walking through, people would sit there and question and point, and it was terrifying for many to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festival will begin with an Opening Night Gala hosting the world premiere of Billy Porter\u2019s directorial debut \u201cAnything\u2019s Possible,\u201dA trans girl and her charming teenage boyfriend form a loving relationship during their senior year of highschool. The Closing Night Gala will feature a screening of Blumhouse Productions\u2019 \u201cThey\/Them,\u201dKevin Bacon stars. <\/strong>Many other activities and screenings will take place in between these nights, including a 20th Anniversary screening of Todd Haynes\u2019 \u201cFar From Heaven\u201dHaynes, Julianne Moore, and Christine Vachon were there.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Elliot<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe \u2018out\u2019 in Outfest means many different things. It can also mean outsider. Never before have so many people come together that have felt like outcasts or outsiders, and I think when we look at the youth today identifying increasingly more as queer, it\u2019s not necessarily always about just sexuality and gender,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cYou can be anything you want, and it\u2019s okay and those spaces are really important for us to continue to foster and create so that Outfest can eventually become known as a space in which anybody can thrive. I guarantee there\u2019s several films that anybody will see themselves in, regardless if they consider themselves necessarily gay or lesbian or queer or any of the acronyms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outfest will screen films of \u201cGirl Picture,\u201dThey were awarded the Sundance Audience Award and their U.S. Centerpiece \u201cUnidentified Objects,\u201dThe documentary centerpiece \u201cMama Bears.\u201dThe lineup is divided into Narratives (documentary), Platinum Section, Episodics, and an Episodic Showcase. \u201cStay on Board: The Leo Baker Story,\u201d a documentary from Drew Barrymore\u2019s Flower Films and Pulse Films and an advanced showing of the first two episodes of Prime Video\u2019s \u201cA League of Their Own\u201d series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of go through a combination of the films that have been submitted directly to us and then the films we\u2019ve kind of seen out in the world in the curation process,\u201dGbadamosi expressed concern about the programming. \u201cFor me personally, the concept of good and bad is inherently a flawed one. But whether or not the story accomplishes what it intends to do, whether or not to serve an audience, whether or not it serves a filmmaker \u2014 these are all things that we have in discussion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Michaela<\/p><\/div>\n

A variety of engagement programs, including live read performances and screenings will take place in addition to the screenings. \u201cOur Lady of the Six,\u201d a script by Dominic Col\u00f3n to be featured in the scripted podcast series \u201dLove in Gravity,\u201c the 6th Outfest Los Angeles Trans, Nonbinary & Intersex Summit \u2014\u00a0 consisting of a keynote address from writer and activist, Raquel Willis, two timely filmmaker perspectives, an artist to artist conversation on intersex visibility, and a comedy showcase featuring D\u2019Lo, Nori Reed, Jes Tom, 7g, River Butcher, and Kai \u2014 and dance classes from Tiffany Billings\u2019 J\u2019Et\u00e9, House of Ebony and Rashida KhanBey Miller\u2019s (Lizzo\u2019s \u201cWatch Out for the Big Grrrls\u201dMessy Movement Workshop for Female Spectrum Actors\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really trying to bring the fest in the festival back,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cObviously film will always be centered around this particular festival, but we have lots of activities for whether you\u2019re a fan, an audience member, a cinephile or an industry insider that is interested in film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navarro joined Outfest before the outbreak of the pandemic in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe irony of COVID was I had spent the better half of nearly 20 years of my career in streaming media technology, and so there was definitely a bizarre moment in which I realized that perhaps that might be valuable in ways that I didn\u2019t exactly expect to be a fit,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cIt was a very analog kind of more traditional festival. Many of us had to change our thinking when COVID came along. However, I have come to realize that the COVID crisis forced many of us to pivot in ways we never imagined. [they\u2019re have]It was a great opportunity to show off concepts that have become mainstay programming. So it\u2019s bittersweet.\u201c<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Outfest<\/p><\/div>\n

COVID was a catalyst for the festival’s adaptation in ways that made it easier to access people beyond Los Angeles and the United States. The Out Museum<\/a>This allows the nonprofit to claim space in the streaming market with its many offerings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve created is an online queer media museum, and every two to three weeks we put up a new exhibit,\u201d Gbadamosi said. \u201cThey last for about six weeks, and they\u2019re a combination of short films, and either story ideas or a panel discussion, kind of a more creative approach around a different topic. We do pay all the short filmmakers who are on the platform, we pay the panelists, and then we also bring in guest curators who come in and kind of get to hone their craft through the Out Museum. So we\u2019re both simultaneously showcasing work and creating opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through a partnership with The Colin Higgins Foundation, three $15,000 grants will be given to filmmakers under 25. The Paul D. Lerner & Stephen Reis Grand Jury Awards for Outstanding Documentary Feature will come with funding. The Platinum section will also present two awards \u2014 the Platinum Maverick Award to writer and filmmaker Clive Barker (\u201cHellraiser\u201d) prior to a live conversation\u00a0with Barker, followed by a screening of the Director\u2019s Cut of Barker\u2019s \u201cNightbreed\u201d \u2014 and the Platinum Alchemy Award will be presented to bounce music artist Big Freedia, who will perform live at the Platinum Alchemy Party, headlining a performance roster that also includes 700 Bliss (Moor Mother and DJ Harem), Seth Bogart, Moonily, Commando, Tally T, Sevyn, Sunkee Angel, and p_a_g_o_t_o.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Kevin<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIn terms of additional programming, the industry Summit that we\u2019re doing this year, which is kind of a state of queer media open to our industry guests, and our filmmakers, [will have] four to five panels that are really focusing on where are we now when it comes to representation and access for film professionals,\u201d Gbadamosi said \u201cNot just like actors on screen, but also having conversations with media execs about how they got into the space and to navigate that and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navarro is optimistic about the future and hopes to break down any barriers between content and viewers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to remove as many barriers whether that be financial, geographical, technologically, for everybody to be able to access our programs,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cRegardless of the iteration or the format of the programs, those three things are very important to us as an organization that we commit to. Because if we can\u2019t solve this then we will always be within these like smaller bubbles and not really necessarily able to reach the millions and millions of people who we know will be transformed by the types of work that we do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gbadamosi echoes Navarro\u2019s comments, also highlighting the need to shift with the various changes in LGBTQ+ media that have occurred since Outfest was started by a group of UCLA students in 1982.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Why<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe are an advocacy space, but we\u2019re also a film space, so [we\u2019re] really trying to figure out, what does queer cinema look like?\u201d Gbadamosi said. \u201cBecause we started 40 years ago, new queer cinema was a little more than 20 years ago, and now we\u2019re in this new space in which what it means to be queer is fundamentally changing and shifting for different people. One of the things that we\u2019re really interested in is like, what does queer film look like? And how do we move away from strictly \u2018there\u2019s a queer person in it\u2019 to figure out, what is it that the film community really wants to see centered?\u201d<\/p>\n

Navarro outlined his views on what is missing in queer film now.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, we need a much greater abundance and diversity of projects across genres \u2013 from horror to procedurals \u2013 romantic comedies to road trips \u2013 action thrillers to animation \u2013 our representation as the lead characters across the mainstream space is sorely still missing,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cAlso, the fact that women, much less queer women, much less BIPOC queer women, screenwriters and directors are so poorly represented across narrative features and scripted television, and that the industry feels there just isn\u2019t enough \u2018out\u2019 queer actors and trans\/non-binary\/intersex talent to play the roles we see and it\u2019s quickly apparent we have just barely tipped the iceberg on what we feel is still missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outfest 2022<\/a> runs from July 14 \u2013 July 24.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u2018A<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nonprofit Outfest will celebrate its 40th year with the launch of the 2022 edition of the festival. This festival is held in Los Angeles LGBTQ+ and will feature new awards, programming, and more than 200 screenings. \u201cOne of the things that I really did like is that [the festival] wasn\u2019t in June, because I think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":115250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,3,105,106],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1657734827_Outfest-Directors-on-Bringing-the-Fest-in-Festival-Back-for.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115249"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115251,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115249\/revisions\/115251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}