Outfest Fusion Celebrates 19 Years With 2022 Lineup Announcement

Outfest Fusion is turning the big 1-9 this year!

A branch of the iconic, long-running LGBTQ+ film festival Outfest, which is also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Outfest Fusion is back for 2022 and will run from April 8-17 with both in-person and virtual programming.

Featuring 7 feature films, 52 short films, 3 episodics, and a "One-Minute Movie" contest, Outfest Fusion is a film festival that specifically highlights the stories of the QTBIPOC (queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and people of color) community and that "showcases the work of queer and trans filmmakers of color, providing the audiences and storytellers alike with the critical visibility that is needed to build careers, opportunities, and empathy for our stories."

"As we find ourselves back in a moment where our rights as LGBTQIA+ people are being taken away and our very existence silenced, we know these moves have a greater impact on LGBTQIA+ communities of color. We have continued to evolve Outfest Fusion in ways we hope empower the next generation of storytellers to reshape their own narrative and to drive cultural change, '' Outfest's executive director Damien S. Navarro said in a statement about the continued importance of events like Outfest and Outfest Fusion.

"The programming at Outfest Fusion exists to directly close and challenge the systemic access gap for LGBTQIA+ people of color," Outfest's artistic director Faridah Gbadamosi added in their own statement. "With this year's festival we continue to grow upon that mission and I'm very excited to work on creating solutions to these systemic problems."

Scroll through to see the slate of features hat will be running at the 2022 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival! And for the full lineup and more information on how you can attend, make sure to visit the festival's official website at OutfestFusion.com!

FEATURES

BLACK AS U R directed by Micheal Rice

In the wake of Black Lives Matter, filmmaker Michael Rice addresses the trans/homophobia within the Black community by magnifying the stories of Black LGBTQ+ people and their contributions to the Black liberation movement.

FINLANDIA directed by Horacio Alcala

Belonging to a community of muxes -- untethered by the gender binary -- Delirio, Amaranta, Mariano traverse their past, present, and future.

KEEP THE CAMERAS ROLLING: THE PEDRO ZAMORA WAY directed by William T. Horner, Stacey Woelfel

He was clever, articulate, and good-looking. At only 22, Pedro Zamora, a gay Cuban immigrant, had the American public at the palm of his hands as he stepped into the limelight on MTV's REAL WORLD. After contracting AIDS as a teenager, he dedicated his life to destigmatizing the narrative around the illness - and being the sympathetic beauty on national television helped do that. While KEEP THE CAMERAS ROLLING is an exhibition of Zamora's most joyous moments, like his televised wedding, it also explores the role of the media in shaping a generation's understanding of social issues. An amalgam of home videos, archival footage, and interviews with the Zamora family, REAL WORLD cast members, and various activists, the film examines the legacy of a young man who helped change the face of AIDS in America.

MUSTACHE MONDAYS (ARTBOUND)directed by Marianne Amelinckx

"It was the best party in L.A. hands down."

See how a roving LGBTQ nightclub event in Los Angeles called "Mustache Mondays" became a creative incubator for today's leading-edge contemporary artists. This film examines the history of these spaces and how they shaped the Queer cultural fabric unique to Southern California.

TRANSVERSALS directed by Emerson Maranhao

Emerson Maranhao's documentary brings together the stories of five transgender people living in the state of Ceara in Brazil, recounting stories of being fearless alongside their absolute commitment to thrive.

WHITE FROG directed by Quentin Lee

Nick is a high school freshman on the Autism spectrum who idolizes his older brother Chaz, a popular straight-A student whose future seems set. When Chaz is suddenly killed in a tragic accident, Nick attempts to reconstruct the life his brother left behind, uncovering secrets that threaten to rip their family apart. Quentin Lee directs a tremendous ensemble cast of veteran and rising stars including B.D. Wong, Joan Chen, Harry Shum Jr., Henry David Hwang, Tyler Posey, Amy Hill, and Booboo Stewart in a gripping mystery of loss and redemption at the intersections of queerness, neurodiversity, and Asian-American identity.

WILDHOOD directed by Bretten Hannam

Two brothers embark on a journey to find their birth mother after their abusive white father had lied for years about her whereabouts; along the way, they reconnect with their indigenous heritage and make a new friend.

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