Going into its 27th year, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival may be one of the best summer events in LA. Offering student discounts and an opportunity to lounge with a picnic and wine (a few screenings are at the Ford Theatre !), Outfest gives you the opportunity to ‘see a movie made for an LGBTQ audience with and LGBTQ audience.’
While the festival is drowned in everything feminist, gender, and queer related, a couple movies sparked my feminist interest:
WHO'S AFRAID OF KATHY ACKER? - (84min, Germany and Austria) Sat. Jul 11th at 7:15pm - WHO'S AFRAID OF KATHY ACKER? explores the life and ideas of the late literary pirate, feminist intellectual and punk icon whose groundbreaking and sexually explicit postmodern novels blasted conventions of gender, heteronormativity and the male artistic canon. Fusing rotoscoped animation, rare archival footage and interviews with a who's who of the literary and punk worlds, director Barbara Caspar's essay film channels Acker's seductive, disarming and sometimes vulnerable spirit and keeps the legacy of this important feminist thinker alive
Straightlaced-- How Gender's Got Us All Tied Up - (67min, USA) Sun. Jul 12th at Noon - Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff crafted this powerful documentary about the lives of teens and young adults as seen through the gender lens. Approaching society's ideas and ideals of gender through clothes, sexuality, sports, dance, safety, consumerism and emotion, the film addresses the complexities of conceptions of masculinity and femininity for Generation Z. STRAIGHTLACED is a striking and diverse film for all ages, genders and sexualities.
Lion's Den - (113min, Argentina) Sat. Jul 11th at 7:30pm $13 - After murdering her abusive boyfriend, pregnant Julia is sent to the special maternity wing of a notorious Argentinean jail. There she discovers a cruel world utterly different from the one she left outside, one where the female inmates must depend on each other for support, protection and love. LION'S DEN takes the familiar tropes of trashy 'girls behind bars' flicks and deepens them, creating a tale of survival that is both inspiring and devastating.
Off and Running - (75 min, USA) Sat. July 12th, 5 PM - Avery, a model student and track star, appears to be an average American girl, but when the search for her birth mother causes rifts in her seemingly comfortable sense of identity, she is forced to confront long-suppressed tensions. With the help of her adoptive lesbian moms, Avery must examine what it means to be an African American girl raised white and Jewish while discovering insights about her mysterious birth mother. An inspiring portrait of a modern family founded on love.
The Stories We Tell - (19 min, USA) Friday, July 10th, 8 PM and Wednesday July 15th, 7 PM - A documentary about the drive, challenges and unique perspectives four queer women of color filmmakers bring to the craft when they pick up the camera and make the films they want to see.
With 182 films from 25 different countries, in 7 venues over 11 days, dubbed as one of the Oldest, Continuous Film Festival in LA, WOW! I will see you there!
To find out more information and locations go to: www.outfest.org
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