Outfest 2023: And the Winners Are...

The Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival 2023 has unveiled the winners of its Jury Awards.

The jurors — a pool comprised of filmmakers, journalists, artists, and entertainment executives — unveiled their selects on Sunday at the conclusion of the 11-day festival. The Audience Awards winners will be announced at the end of the festival's virtual viewing period.

Mike Dougherty, Outfest’s director of programming, said, “In a truly exceptional year for LGBTQIA+ film, in which our artists delivered such a diverse collection of provocative, insightful, and fearless work, the choices made by our esteemed juries could not have been easy. Congratulations to every filmmaker in our festival for their commitment to unapologetically queer cinema in all its forms, and to these awardees for their much-deserved recognition.”

In addition to its Jury Awards, Outfest also honored Fire Island filmmaker Andrew Ahn with the Outfest Achievement Award, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone with the James Schamus Ally Award, multihyphenate Amandla Stenberg with the Platinum Maverick Award, electronic music icon Madame Gandhi with the Platinum Alchemy Award, and White Houe press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre with the inaugural Outfest Achievement Award for Press and Media.

See the Outfest Jury Award winners below.

The Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Award for Documentary Feature
Anhell69, directed by Theo Montoya

Documentary Feature Special Mention
Queendom, directed by Agniia Galdanova

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature
Something You Said Last Night, directed by Luis De Filippis

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance, North American Narrative Feature
Isaac Krasner (Big Boys)

Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting, North American Narrative Feature
Sebastián Silva (Rotting in the Sun)

North American Narrative Feature Special Mentions
Fancy Dance, directed by Erica Tremblay
The People’s Joker, directed by Vera Drew

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature
The Fabulous Onesdirected by Roberta Torre

Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting, International Narrative Feature
Asog, screenplay by Seán Devlin, Jaya, and Arnel Pablo

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance, International Narrative Feature
Choi Hae-jun (Peafowl)

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Short Film
An Avocado Pit, directed by Ary Zara

International Narrative Short Special Mention
Christopher at Sea, directed by Tom C J Brown

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Short Film
Love, Jamie, directed by Karla Murthy

Documentary Short Special Mention
Here, Hopefully, directed by Hao Zhou

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding U.S. Narrative Short
Dilating for Maximum Results, directed by Nyala Moon

U.S. Narrative Short Special Mention
As You Are, directed by Daisy Friedman

Special Programming Awards

Emerging Talent
Alice Maio Mackay (T Blockers)

Artistic Achievement
Rumpelstiltskin, directed by Ethan Fuirst

Social Impact
Truth Be Told, directed by Nneka Onuorah

Hornitos First Shot Award
A History of Sitting in Waiting Rooms (or Whatever Longer Title You Prefer), directed by Lorena Russi