Outfest 2015 Screenings to Include Tig, Gore Vidal Doc, and Kristen Wiig

Outfest has announced its gala screenings for this year, along with other centerpieces in its impressive lineup. Tig, the documentary about comedian Tig Notaro and how she famously announced to the audience at one of her shows in 2012 that she had cancer, will launch the festival. Her approach made her an overnight sensation and shoved her into the stardom. The documentary gives a glimpse into a comedian's process and features Sarah Silverman, Louis C.K., and Zach Galifiankis.

The drama Nasty Baby, by Sebastian Silva, starring Silva and Kristen Wiig shocked audiences at Sundance and won the Teddy Award for Best Feature at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival. A gay Brooklyn couple played by Silva and Tunde Adebmipe ask their best friend (Wiig) to be their surrogate, and as they contemplate remaining one big, progressive family, a disturbed neighbor becomes a source of danger and instability.

The Eisenstein in Guanajuato biopic, centering on the gay coming-of-age of Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin), should be eye-opening. As well as directors Morgan Neville (the Oscar-winning 20 Feet From Stardom) and Robert Gordon's documentary about the famous televised debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley during the Vietnam War, Best of Enemies. The format of the show allowed a passionate discussion of politics and culminated when Vidal called Buckley a "crypto-Nazi", and Buckley responded by calling Vidal "queer" on national television. Those verbal skirmishes paved the way for the right-wing vs. left-wing talking heads that populate news channels today.

"This year's gala selections underline the fact that our community is empowered openly identifying as LGBT," Christopher Racster, the interim executive director of Outfest, said. "The program truly represents Outfest's commitment to use the power of film to reflect our community; highlighting our struggles and our triumphs, and ultimately creating greater understanding and change within society."

The full Outfest 2015 lineup will be announced on June 3.