Despite COVID-19, the show will go on for Outfest 2020 this summer with some inventive changes, such as drive-in movies in Malibu, festival organizers said.
Los Angeles’ largest LGBTQ movie festival will take place from August 20 to 30 and showcase more than 160 films. Additionally, some of the premieres will be available for in-person viewing with Outfest LA Under the Stars, a drive-in theater experience at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu.
In a press statement, Mike Dougherty, Outfest director of festival programming, called this year’s event “uncharted territory of digital festivals.”
Diversity and inclusion are at the forefront for this year’s slate of films — 70% of the movies are directed by female, transgender, and people of color filmmakers, festival organizers said.
Here are some festival highlights.
Drive-in movies
- Outfest LA Under the Stars will be held for two extended weekends at Malibu’s Calamigos Ranch on two lots. It will host the opening and closing nights of the festival:
- The opening night will feature the L.A. premiere of the Sundance title “The Nowhere Inn,” which stars musicians Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein in a reality-bending interpretation of Clark’s pop star persona St. Vincent.
- Outfest’s closing film will be the world premiere of Travis Fine’s century-spanning triptych “Two Eyes.” The story follows queer and transgender people from three time periods in the American West who discover how their identities fall within a multitude of expressions. The film stars Kiowa Gordon, Benjamin Rigby, Nakhane Toure, musician Ryan Cassata, and non-binary activist and performer Kate Bornstein. The film will also premiere on the digital platform.
The long-unavailable 1986 documentary “Lily Tomlin: The Film Behind the Show” chronicles Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner’s creation of their hit Broadway show “The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.” Tomlin, right, and Wagner, left, have been a couple more than 45 years. Photo: Outfest
Documentaries
- “Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story” catalogs the career resurgence of the transgender musician who remained active into his 70s.
- The long-unavailable 1986 documentary “Lily Tomlin: The Film Behind the Show” chronicles Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner’s creation of their hit Broadway show “The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.” Tomlin and Wagner have been a couple more than 45 years.
- “Cured” will have its world premiere at Outfest. The film tells the story of a group of activists who successfully campaigned to remove homosexuality from the American Psychiatry Association’s list of mental illnesses. “Cured” was recently optioned for adaptation into a limited series by “Pose” co-creator Steven Canals, who will moderate the Q&A with the film’s directors and participants.
A complete schedule of films and showtimes, and tickets are available at Outfest.
