The 40th Annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival is almost here!
This year, Outfest will open with the world premiere of Billy Porter's directorial debut Anything's Possible. The film is being described as "an uplifting teenage romance about an unflappable trans girl and a charming cis boy navigating a senior year relationship."
Porter will also be honored with the Outfest Achievement Award on the festival's opening night, which is scheduled to feature appearances from Julianne Moore, Eva Reign, Theo Germaine, Todd Haynes, Big Freedia, Kevin Bacon, Christine Vachon, and Clive Barker.
Outfest will take place between July 14 and 24 around different venues in Los Angeles. On that very last day, the festival will screen the with the world premiere of Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan's directorial debut They/Them - a horror-thriller film set at an LGBTQ+ conversion camp.
Outfest executive director Damien S. Navarro wrote in a statement:
"What better way to celebrate our 40th year of Outfest LA than to honor Billy Porter at our Opening Night with his incredible directorial debut. We're excited to host audiences and fans across the city to celebrate just how far queer cinema and entertainment have come. The body of work we have curated from nearly every continent, increasingly represents adventurous styles and genres - from vibrant romantic comedies, where the trans lead gets the boy, to horror films that balance the scares and the sexy."
The festival will also feature Centerpiece films such as Unidentified Objects, Mama Bears, and HeBGB TV, as well as the 20th anniversary screening of 2002's Far From Heaven.
In the Platinum section of Outfest, Clive Barker will be presented with the Platinum Maverick Award and Big Freedia will be presented with the Platinum Alchemy Maverick Award.
The 40th Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival will take place between July 14 and 24. For full details and event information, visit OutfestLA.org.
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