OUTFEST 2009 Announces Their Line-up From 7/9-19

Outfest, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing, showcasing and protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media, has announced an innovative and diverse programming lineup for Outfest 2009: The 27th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. The nation's leading LGBT festival and the oldest continuously running film festival in the city will be held July 9 to 19.

In addition to the 181 films (65 features and 116 shorts) from 25 countries, Outfest hosts over a dozen panels and special events at seven venues across Los Angeles including West Hollywood, Hollywood, Santa Monica and Downtown.

The impressive list of films and filmmakers involved with this year's festival include writer-director Peter Bratt's powerful drama "La Mission" starring Benjamin Bratt, as the Opening Night Gala; Adam Salky returns to Outfest with his stunning debut feature "Dare" starring Emmy Rossum, Alan Cumming and Zach Gilford, as the Closing Night Gala.

Other gala screenings include: the touching drama "Mississippi Damned" as the U.S. Dramatic Centerpiece, the mystery thriller "El Niño Pez (The Fish Child)" as the International Dramatic Centerpiece, and "Fig Trees," a visually riveting documentary opera about AIDS activism by John Greyson as the Platinum Centerpiece.

"At a time when the film industry is constantly shifting, Outfest once again proves to be ahead of the curve by pushing boundaries with a diverse, provocative and entertaining crop of new films," says Kirsten Schaffer, Executive Director of Outfest. "In response to the passing of Proposition 8 in California and similar bans against gay marriage and adoption across the United States, we are proud to put a particular focus on LGBT rights and equality, and believe that this is a great time for the entire Los Angeles community - gay or straight - to come out and support one another during Outfest 2009."

LGBT Rights-themed titles include a 40th Anniversary Screening of "Before Stonewall," "On These Shoulders We Stand," "Patrik Age 1.5," "City of Borders," "Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement," "Fish Out of Water," "Misconceptions," "Fig Trees" as well as the 25th Anniversary Screening and Restoration World Premiere of "Choosing Children." One of the first movies about lesbian families, this emotionally potent documentary by Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff and co-director Kim Klausner will be the Legacy Project Gala film, as part of the Outfest Legacy Project, a collaboration with the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the only program in the world devoted to saving and protecting LGBT film. Chasnoff's new film "Straightlaced - How Gender's Got Us All Tied Up" also screens.

Outfest 2009 also continues its tradition of cultivating fresh and emerging talent and films by hosting a number of world premieres including: "Lucky Bastard," "Motherland," "Fish Out Of Water" and "On These Shoulders We Stand." "Choosing Children" and "Of Heaven and Earth," a retrospective of short films from avant-garde provocateur Tom Chomont, are both Restoration World Premieres.

"Outfest 2009 represents the broadest spectrum of LGBT stories, as told by an equally diverse group of filmmakers," said Kimberly Yutani, Director of Programming for Outfest. "Featuring a slate of films from first-time and established filmmakers, this year's program truly represents the commitment of Outfest to challenge, entertain and bring our audiences a dynamic 11-day experience, starting with our opening night gala presentation of ‘La Mission'."

In its 4 in Focus series, Outfest celebrates a quartet of first-time feature film directors who have boldly established their careers with accomplished, independently-produced debut features. The selections this year include: Nancy Kissam's "Drool", H.P. Mendoza's "Fruit Fly", Jason Bushman's "Hollywood, je t'aime" and E.E. Cassidy's "We Are The Mods".

For more information and for a complete listing of films in the Festival, log on to www.Outfest.org or call 213-480-7065. Festival tickets go on sale on June 8 to Outfest members and on June 15 to the general public. Special ticket packages are also available. Outfest's 27th film festival is presented by HBO and the grand sponsors are Absolut Vodka and V Australia, with Premiere sponsors: The Directors Guild of America, My104.3 FM, One Hope Wineries, Regent Media and Stella Artois.

Galas
Opening Night Gala - "La Mission" (July 9 at 8:00pm - Orpheum Theatre)
In San Francisco's Mission District, reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic Che (Benjamin Bratt) is a bus driver and single father. His joie de vivre lies in socializing with his circle of friends and transforming old cars into lowrider masterpieces, but more than anything, he loves his son, Jesse (Jeremy Ray Valdez), who is about to graduate from high school. When he discovers that Jesse is gay, Che's world is thrown into turmoil, and he reacts in the only way he knows - with physical violence. In his battle with his demons, Che's old friends and new neighbor Lena (Erika Alexander) and his deep connection to his Native roots become increasingly important in his life.

Peter Bratt trains an affectionate eye on the titular neighborhood, capturing both its joyous spirit and its harsh reality. Vibrant production design, an R&B soundtrack and colorful scenes of lowrider cruising accentuate Bratt's skillful storytelling. The talented cast shines, and in one of his most impressive performances to date, Benjamin Bratt complexly reveals the searing pain and humanity beneath Che's macho veneer. A story from the heart, LA MISSION is about the unrelenting power of love, family and community - that ultimately calls for change.

Outfest will also once again celebrate the Opening Night Gala with its renowned After-Party, which this year will take place at the premiere nightspot Club 740, which has transformed the historic Globe Theatre into a three-story nightclub bursting with excitement and classic style.

Closing Night Gala - "Dare" (July 19 at 8:00pm - Ford Amphitheatre)
Based on their award-winning short film, writer David Brind and director Adam Salky return to Outfest with DARE, a stunning debut feature that poetically captures the confusion, longing, thrill and lust of teenage life.

The film opens with Alexa (Emmy Rossum), a beautiful, studious, aspiring thespian whose dreams are shattered when acclaimed actor Grant Matson (Alan Cumming) tells her that she has brains but no edge. This devastating blow motivates Alexa to shed her good-girl image. She ditches her best friend Ben (Ashley Springer) - a closeted, melancholy outsider - slips into a hot miniskirt and seduces the gorgeous and popular, but troubled, Johnny Drake (Zach Gilford). No sooner do they become an item than Ben decides he wants a piece of the action and kisses Johnny. Johnny is confused, Ben is ecstatic and Alexa is furious, but in typical teen style, they work it out... and in the process, they discover what it means to become an adult. Stellar performances from the three young leads are bolstered by the comic genius of Ana Gasteyer, Alan Cumming and Sandra Bernhard.

Outfest Legacy Project Gala (Restoration Premiere) - "Choosing Children" (July 13 at 8:00pm - DGA 1)
One of the first movies about lesbian families, CHOOSING CHILDREN is an emotionally potent film that challenges society's definition of family by exploring the ways lesbians are raising children in couples, alone, with gay men and in extended families of friends.

IN PERSON: Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff and co-director Kim Klausner along with documentary subjects will talk about the making and restoration of CHOOSING CHILDREN and discuss the current state of LGBT families in California in their struggle for civil rights.

U.S. Dramatic Centerpiece - "Mississippi Damned" (July 14 at 8:00pm - DGA 1)
Alternately steeped in joy and despair, MISSISSIPPI DAMNED is a stark chronicle of the bravery inherent in hopelessness. In fact, writer/ director Tina Mabry's remarkably assured debut remains relentlessly uplifting even as it tracks the monumental struggles of an African- American family sunk into a quagmire of addiction, poverty and abuse. As the years pass and the disappointments mount, the characters still summon the courage to dream.

Mabry's film succeeds because she grounds it in a strong sense of place, in this case the rural barrens of Mississippi. Adding to the memorable tone are the excellent production design and Bradford Young's gorgeous, seemingly tea-stained cinematography. The large ensemble cast distinguishes themselves as well, ably populating a sprawling narrative that covers more than twenty years and is a veritable almanac of dysfunction. Especially notable is Chastity Kershall Hammitte's heartbreaking portrayal of young lesbian Leigh, whose fantasy of escape and coming out is doomed by her commitments to her family.

International. Dramatic Centerpiece - "El Niño Pez" (The Fish Child) (July 15 at 7:15pm - DGA 1)
Writer-director Lucía Puenzo won awards - including two prizes at Cannes - and critical acclaim all over the world for XXY, and now the Argentine filmmaker returns with a lesbian romance that's also a Chabrol-esque mystery thriller and a scathing examination of class differences in the South American nation.

Lala (Inés Efron, whose performance has inspired comparisons to the early film roles of both Sissy Spacek and Chloë Sevigny), the privileged daughter of a powerful judge, wants to run off with her Paraguayan lover La Guayi (Mariela Vitale), a maid who works for Lala's family. As the two prepare for their imminent escape from Buenos Aires to Paraguay - to live in a dream house that Lala has already sketched out on paper - Lala's cruel father is murdered, and circumstantial evidence appears that makes La Guayi look guilty. With the help of the shady Pulido (Carlos Bardem, brother of Javier), will Lala make the ultimate sacrifice for true love? And can the mythical, titular water-child protect these amour fou lesbians?

Platinum Centerpiece - "Fig Trees" (July 10 at 7:00pm - REDCAT)
At the center of this playfully perverse video opera are AIDS activists Tim McCaskell, the Canadian founder of AIDS Action Now!, and Zackie Achmat, whose drug strike in South Africa made international headlines. Documentary footage of their political battles is intercut with a fictional plot about Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson, who, having finished their play Four Saints in Three Acts, have created a sequel portraying the activists as modern-day saints. Dark humor abounds in this surreal production as St. Peregine, the patron saint of amputees and leather, and St. Martin, embodied by an albino squirrel, jam on toy instruments, and the courageous leads rebel, refusing to be martyrs for the AIDS cause.

"Of Heaven And Earth - A Tribute To Tom Chomont"
The expanded Platinum Section, Outfest's showcase of cutting edge work that pushes the boundaries of cinema, will bestow its third-ever tribute to short filmmaker Tom Chomont. Since 1961,Chomont has created over 60 experimental films that capture the beauty of everyday encounters and illuminate the transcendental possibilities of the physical world. This year Platinum and the Outfest Legacy Project pay tribute to Chomont's pioneering aesthetic with a special screening that includes nine newly restored early films and a selection of later film and video work. Created from 1967-1971, the restored 16mm works document a significant historical moment when sexual liberation and homoerotic experimentation defined American avant-garde film.

Other titles in the Platinum Section include "Fig Trees," "Maggots and Men," "Who's Afraid of Kathy Acker," "Callin All The Churen: Kalup Linzy Live" and "The Young And Evil."