Harvey Milk’s legacy as a gay icon endures decades after his death. From his groundbreaking election to the San Francisco city board of supervisors as an openly gay man to his tragic assassination, his successes and his martyrdom have reverberated throughout contemporary pop culture.

And while much has been written about Milk, it’s his presence in film that has helped to keep his memory alive, from the powerful, Oscar-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk to the acclaimed, Oscar-winning drama Milk. The Outfest UCLA Legacy Project has archived three collections of footage involving Harvey Milk:

Outtakes From the Times of Harvey Milk: Donated by Telling Pictures, nearly 1,000 outtakes, including interviews, news clips, and other footage from the production of the Academy Award–winning documentary.

Harvey Milk Supervisor Rally – OCTOBER 1, 1973: Three minutes of silent, 8mm film footage from one of Milk’s earliest (unsuccessful) campaigns for office, shot by amateur filmmaker Victoria Lord. THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK director Rob Epstein, upon viewing the footage, noted, “This footage is a newly discovered treasure and warrants immediate preservation. Heretofore, we found virtually no footage of Milk this early in his career. This footage would have definitely been utilized in my documentary  The Times of Harvey Milk had we known of its existence back then, or even when we did the Criterion DVD re-issue two years ago.” This restoration is a work in progress, with support from a grant by the National Film Preservation Foundation.

1978 Hope Speech: Three minutes of Super 8 footage, shot by filmmaker Pat Rocco, of the legendary “You’ve gotta give ‘em hope” speech, featured in both The Times of Harvey Milk and Milk. The restoration is a work in progress.

–Alonso Duralde, Senior Programmer at Outfest

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DAVID SEDARIS ADAPTATION “C.O.G” SELECTED AS OPENING NIGHT GALA OF 31st OUTFEST LOS ANGELES LGBT FILM FESTIVAL

KIMBERLY PEIRCE TO RECEIVE 2013 OUTFEST ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

July 11-21, 2013

Los Angeles, May 17, 2013 – Outfest – the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization promoting equality by creating, sharing, and protecting LGBT stories on the screen – announced today that Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s “C.O.G.,” the first film adaptation of David Sedaris’s work, has been selected as the Opening Night Gala of the 31st Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival on Thursday, July 11.  “C.O.G.” is written and directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez, based on the short story by David Sedaris, and stars Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson and Troian Bellisario.

Outfest will also present its 17th annual Achievement Award to writer/director Kimberly Peirce (“Boys Don’t Cry,” “Stop-Loss,” “Carrie”). The Achievement Award is Outfest’s highest honor and is presented in recognition of a body of work that has made a significant contribution to LGBT film and media. The Achievement Award will be presented to Peirce prior to the Opening Night Gala screening of “C.O.G.” on Thursday, July 11 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.

“One of Outfest’s principal goals has been to celebrate the many voices of LGBT storytelling on film, and we couldn’t be more excited to honor Kimberly Peirce’s extraordinary filmmaking career while also heralding writer-director Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s stunning sophomore feature capturing David Serdaris’ hilarious tone. The mix promises to make this our most memorable Opening Night,” commented Kirsten Schaffer, Outfest Executive Director.

Outfest has previously given this award to John Waters, Jane Lynch, Bill Condon, Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, Don Roos, Donna Deitch, Kenneth Anger, Gregg Araki, Todd Haynes, Jane Anderson, Christine Vachon, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, Gus Van Sant, Ian McKellen, John Schlesinger, and Strand Releasing.

The nation’s leading LGBT film festival, and the oldest film festival in the city of Los Angeles, will be held July 11 – 21, 2013.

The complete lineup for Outfest Los Angeles 2013 will be announced at the beginning of June.

The 2013 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival is presented by HBO.  Grand Sponsors include Absolut and Ease Entertainment.  For more information about Outfest Los Angeles 2013 sponsorship, visit www.outfest/org/sponsor.

About C.O.G

Recent college graduate David (Jonathan Groff, “Glee”) decides to get close to nature, and the working class, by spending a summer picking apples in Oregon with his friend Jennifer. Even after she blows him off, he charges ahead on a picaresque journey that will take him from orchard to processing plant to an arts and crafts workshop, guided along the way by an increasingly eccentric and motley bunch of mentors. Whether trying to interpret the possible flirtations of co-worker Curly (Corey Stoll, “House of Cards”) or resisting the religious hard-sell from Bible-thumping Jon (Denis O’Hare, “True Blood”), David finds himself on the most complicated path of all — figuring out who he is and what he wants. The first feature based on the writings of David Sedaris, C.O.G. captures the author’s stringently funny perspective and establishes writer-director Kyle Patrick Alvarez (making a triumphant follow-up to his acclaimed debut EASIER WITH PRACTICE) as a gifted young storyteller.

Kyle Patrick Alvarez is a 29-year-old, Los Angeles–based writer-director. C.O.G. is his second feature film, and premiered in competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. In 2010, his writing and directorial debut, EASIER WITH PRACTICE, won him the prestigious “Someone to Watch” Award at the Independent Spirit Awards while also being nominated for Best First Feature.

About Kimberly Peirce

Kimberly Peirce staked her place as a writer and director of singular vision and craft with her unflinching debut feature, BOYS DON’T CRY, which became one of the most acclaimed and talked about films of the year, earning numerous honors including the Best Actress Oscar and Golden Globe for the film’s star, Hilary Swank. Chloe Sevigny was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and along with Swank won the Independent Spirit, National Board of Review, CFCA, BSFC, NSFC, Boston, Chicago and LA Critics Awards for acting.

The film received the Independent Spirit Award, the International Critics prizes for Best Film at the London and Stockholm film fests, the Satyajit Ray Award at the London Film Festival, and was named “Best American Feature” by Janet Maslin. Peirce won honors as Best Debut Director from the National Board of Review and Best New Filmmaker from the Boston Society of Film Critics.

The next film Peirce directed and co-wrote, STOP-LOSS, starred Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Abbie Cornish and Ryan Phillipe, and was a topical and emotionally penetrating drama inspired by real-life stories of American soldiers, including her own brother, fighting in Iraq and coming home.  Peirce was honored with the Hamilton Behind the Camera True-Grit as well as the Andrew Sarris Directing Awards.

For her latest film, Peirce was honored to direct a contemporary version of Stephen King’s classic horror tale, CARRIE. Starring Chloë Grace Moretz as an outcast teenager with telekinetic powers, and Julianne Moore as her domineering, religious mother, CARRIE will be released in the fall. The film also stars Judy Greer, Portia Doubleday, Alex Russell, Gabriella Wilde and introduces Ansel Elgort.

An advocate on a broad spectrum of social issues, Peirce received the People for the American Way, the GLAAD Media, the Lambda Legal Defense, and the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project Awards for BOYS DON’T CRY. She was recently the featured speaker at Yale Transgender Awareness Week and the University of Iowa’s Pride Week.  In conjunction with STOP-LOSS, Peirce spoke before the National Press Club and along with Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ) and Congresswoman Betty Sutton (OH), before members of Congress on behalf of Soldiers and the Stop-Loss Compensation Act, which subsequently passed.

Peirce can be seen featured on the DVD and BLU RAY re-releases of THE GODFATHER TRILOGY, CHINATOWN and RAGING BULL as well in the documentary THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED.  She was featured along with Steven Soderbergh, the Duplass Brothers and James Mangold as part of the Directors Guild of America’s 75th Anniversary tribute to “GAME CHANGERS IN INDEPENDENT FILM.”

Peirce received her BA from the University of Chicago, her MFA from the Columbia University Graduate Film Program, and is a graduate of Sundance Institute’s Writing and Directing Film Labs.  She served on the 2011 Sundance Film Festival US Dramatic Jury. She is a member of the WGA, the Academy of Motion Pictures, and serves on the Directors Guild of America Independent Film Committee and the Academy Directors Branch Executive Committee.

About Outfest Los Angeles
Eleven days of world-class films, discussions and parties, Outfest Los Angeles ranks among the world’s leading events for LGBT cinema. Presenting nearly 150 new and classic short and feature films from around the world, panels featuring notable figures from all facets of the film industry and other special programs, Outfest Los Angeles shares our stories, pays tribute to legendary screen careers, unites our community and inspires new generations of filmmakers and filmgoers. Directors, producers, actors and writers from every corner of the globe converge upon the Directors Guild of America, the Ford Amphitheatre, the historic Orpheum Theatre and other Los Angeles locations to share their work and their knowledge with an audience of over 40,000.

About Outfest

Founded by UCLA students in 1982, Outfest is the leading organization that promotes equality by creating, sharing and protecting LGBT stories on the screen. Outfest builds community by connecting diverse populations to discover, discuss and celebrate stories of LGBT lives. Over the past three decades, Outfest has showcased thousands of films from around the world to audiences of nearly a million, educated and mentored hundreds of emerging filmmakers and protected more than 20,000 LGBT films and videos.

Stories are powerful. A good story, well told, has  the ability to transform a life or an entire community.

 This is why we made ‘Inspiring Storytellers’ one of the four pillars of Outfest. Our job is to develop LGBT storytellers and to help them get their films made – and in doing so, provide a greater diversity of stories for audiences to connect to. Three years ago writer-director Yen Tan participated in the Outfest Screenwriting Lab with his project Pit Stop a love story set in small-town Texas.

 Tan developed the script when he was taking a lot of road trips between Dallas and Houston and stopping at a lot of gas stations. He says, “I started observing the people at the convenience stores I was at, and wondering what kind of lives they had, and also if there were gay people who lived there. A lot of these guys were closeted or semi-closeted, and a lot of them had been married before and they have kids and they have wives or ex-wives.” Tan completed the film at the beginning of 2013 and it world-premiered at Sundance.    

 Pit Stop is the kind of unique story that the Outfest Screenwriting Lab nurtures and that Outfest members help support through your contributions. By becoming or renewing your Outfest membership you are helping to inspire storytellers and change lives.

Be a part of the story. Become an Outfest member.

Warmly,

In 1943, while the Allies are bombing Berlin and the Gestapo is purging the capital of Jews, a dangerous love affair blossoms between two women. One of them, Lilly Wust, married and the mother of four sons, enjoys the privileges of her stature as an exemplar of Nazi motherhood. For her, this affair will be the most decisive experience of her life. For the other woman, Felice Schragenheim, a Jewish woman and member of the underground, their love fuels her with the hope that she will survive.

A half-century later, Lilly Wust told her incredible story to writer Erica Fischer, and the book, Aimée and Jaguar, first published in 1994 immediately became a bestseller and has since been translated into eleven languages. Max Färberböck’s debut film, based on Fischer’s book, is the true story of this extraordinary relationship. The film was nominated for a 1999 Golden Globe Award and was Germany’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Both actresses received Silver Bears at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival for their portrayals of “Aimée” and “Jaguar”. (Synopsis from the Zeitgeist Films website)

Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison in Fried Green Tomatoes

The relationship between Idgie and Ruth is never explicitly a lesbian one, as it is in the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, but the chemistry between Mary-Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson makes this one of my personal favorite lesbian movies of all time.  Director Jon Avnet describes the film’s iconic food fight as the couple’s metaphorical love scene, but much to the chagrin of gay women everywhere, their relationship is never literally consummated on screen.  Sadly, Ruth succumbs to cancer with Idgie at her bedside.

– Annie Hollenbeck, Outfest Production Coordinator/Assistant Programmer.

At the 2013 Outfest Fusion LGBT People of Color Festival one film stood out for me in particular –  a short film called Uncle and Son (Hai Chú Cháu) directed by Dinh Anh Nguyen. The film is a Vietnamese fable brought to life and asks a very important question: Do you put your family’s needs above your own?

Uncle Lua takes care of his nephew, Hung after his parents abandon him. They live in a small village full of vicious gossips who discriminate against Uncle Lua because he’s gay. Lua dreams of the day when he will be reunited with his lover. But who will take care of Hung?

As a Filipina-American, I was brought up with a very strong sense of family obligation. I was taught to put the needs of my family above my  own dreams. I often felt stifled and trapped like the Uncle Lua.

I love the film’s lyricism and it’s quiet beauty that belies so much emotion.

–Kingsley Irons, Outfest Communications Coordinator, Filmmaker, Choreographer.

“Growing up in a small town in Kansas, I didn’t have the opportunity to meet any openly LGBT people. It wasn’t until I was twenty years-old and in college that I made my first gay friend. When I came out at twenty-one, I didn’t know a single lesbian or anything about the queer community. I educated myself on what it was to be gay through films, many of which screened at Outfest. One of my favorite movies was Lost and Delirious directed by Léa Pool and starring Piper Perabo. It was the first time I can remember seeing two female characters believably in love. Unfortunately, like what happens in many lesbian films, a tragedy inevitably occurred. I appreciate the film’s realistic approach to LGBT storytelling, but found myself wishing for a happier ending between the main characters. This desire to be exposed to more authentic portrayals of gay women and relationships ultimately inspired me to move to LA and attend film school. I knew I wanted to be part of a movement in queer filmmaking where I could tell stories about the community that might bring a sense of hope for our futures rather than one of despair.”

– Amy Walmann, Filmmaker and Corporate Relations Assistant at Outfest.

Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival. 31 years of groundbreaking filmmaking. Stories of discovery and romance, bravery and pride. Tales of individuals and families turned inside out and remade even stronger. Over 40,000 attendees every year, kissing, cheering and shedding sequins. The biggest and best LGBT film festival in the world! (OK, we’re biased.)

We all know about Outfest Los Angeles, love it, look forward to the Opening Night Gala and All-Girl Friday at the DGA. Maybe you’ve directed or acted in a film that screened there, or cheered on a filmmaker friend during her Q&A. Maybe you met your girlfriend/fiancee/wife at one of those awesome receptions where the Absolut flowed freely.

You know that telling our stories is powerful. It changes minds, and it changes lives.

Maybe you didn’t know, however, that Outfest doesn’t have a financial fairy godmother. Arts funding in the US of A is almost as hard to find as lesbian lead characters on primetime TV. We are grateful to our corporate sponsors, but Outfest and its essential programs survive largely thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment of individual donors like you.

Or…not like you. Did you know for every male-identified major donor, only 1/8 of a woman…wait…hold on…for every female-identified major donor, EIGHT guys have stepped up?

Ladyfriends, we can do better than this. Lesbian leaders of America, we need you! (That’s not Uncle Sam pointing at you, it’s Angelina Jolie.)

We realize there are a lot of places to put your charitable dollars. There are a thousand organizations putting their hands out: Environmental groups. Public radio. Animal rights, human rights, women’s rights. Children’s hospitals. The AIDS LifeCycle. (Feeling guilty yet?) All worthy causes…but we’d like you to consider how becoming an Outfest Major Donor can help transform the world for our communities, our families and loved ones, and for LGBT kids close to home and in places very far away from LA. Places where seeing a gay, lesbian or trans story can open closed minds, heal broken hearts and families, and change the trajectory of a life.

Becoming an Outfest Major Donor will make you a leader in our community. We won’t make you give any speeches. But you will instantly become part of a magnetic, super-hot cadre of women helping to grow the country’s leading LGBT arts organization, whose important programs include Outfest Fusion and the Fusion Lab, the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, OutSet, Outfest Forward, and even NewFest in NYC.

Major Donors will receive two OutPasses to this year’s Outfest Los Angeles film festival, which will get you to the front of every line, to the VIP section of every party, to every screening you and your lady care to take in (and possibly into the pants of that babe in the cocktail line. Never underestimate the power of a VIP badge.) You could spend the same amount on individual tickets and miss out on the unfettered access and grateful acknowledgement, not to mention the exclusive events scheduled throughout the year.

At our special Major Donor parties, you will meet and mingle with awesome celebrity guests who support Outfest’s goals, magnetic cultural leaders like yourself, and earnest filmmakers with interesting hair. Your tax-exempt contribution will help fund essential programs that restore historic LGBT films, support LGBT filmmakers, and aid in the creation of new narratives for the triumph of love, equality and freedom.

You will be part of changing the world…one LGBT story at a time.

Major Donors are invited to the Outfest Women’s Soiree this Sunday, April 21 from 2-6 pm at the beautiful home of comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer! Come connect professionally and personally with celebrities, filmmakers and intriguing women galore over delicious nibbles and sparkling cocktails. RSVP here to attend.

Don’t forget your company’s matching grants program! Many employers will match your charitable contribution. Double the impact, double the good karma. For more information about the benefits of being an Outfest Major Donor, click here.

To learn more about Outfest’s exciting year-round programs, click here.

If, for whatever reason, this is not the year for you to become a Major Donor, not to worry! Outfest offers several levels of membership and welcomes your involvement in any way that works for you. You can still enjoy screenings, programs and social events, and the fun and inspiration of our vibrant community. See you at Outfest!

– Kate Brandt
Outfest filmmaker alumna and proud member

For more information visit:http://www.dayofsilence.org/

Mosquita y Mari directed by Aurora Guerrero.
Studious, sweet-natured 15-year-old Yolanda feels the pressure to succeed under the eyes of her hard-working, immigrant parents. When she meets her new neighbor, the feisty and alluring, BMX-riding Mari, Yolanda’s humdrum high school routine gets a jolt. The two girls don’t have much in common on the surface but they become fast friends and their deep bond develops into a tension that neither one expected nor quite knows how to handle.

The Queen directed by Christina Choe.
Bobby, a Korean-American teenage outcast, is working at his parent’s dry cleaners on prom weekend. When the prom queen and her boyfriend, stop by with their dress and tuxedo, Bobby has his own prom to remember.

White Frog directed by Quentin Lee.
After the death of his popular brother Chaz, Nick struggles to carry on. Nick’s parents have their own problems coping with the loss, but Chaz’s best friend Randy takes Nick under his wing. As Chaz’s family comes to understand his secret life, they will be forced to reconcile the boy they thought they knew with the man he really was.

My Brother the Devil directed by Sally El Hosaini.
This moving story about two British Arab brothers in London follows Mo, a lonely, sensitive boy who idolizes his older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons.

Circumstance directed by Maryam Keshavarz.
In a vibrant contemporary Tehran, two beautiful teenage girls struggle for their personal freedom. Atafeh and her best friend Shireen are full of youthful exuberance and a healthy streak of rebellion as they drink, smoke and go dancing at underground parties.  When Atafeh’s brother Mehran returns from drug rehab, he embraces a new way of life and joins the Morality Police – much to the surprise of his affluent and liberal parents – and becomes increasingly obsessed with and involved in Atafeh and Shireen’s intimate relationship.

Ma Vie En Rose (My Life in Pink) directed by Alain Berliner.
Boys will be boys and girls will be girls, but one child isn’t so sure in this Belgian comedy drama. Seven-year-old Ludovic is happy, healthy, and good-natured,
but there’s a bit of a problem – he has decided that he’s a girl.

Tomboy directed by Céline Sciamma.
A little girl’s innocent deception quickly snowballs into something that gradually becomes a crucial component of her identity in this tender childhood drama.

Pariah directed by Dee Rees.
A Brooklyn teen unsuccessfully juggles multiple identities to please her friends and family.

But I’m a Cheerleader directed by Jamie Babbit.
A raucous satire that turns up the volume on the absurdity of “curing” homosexuality.  It is a swipe at so-called lesbian and gay rehabilitation camps that delivers lots of laughs
and a sexy love story.

Beautiful Thing directed by Hettie MacDonald.
In this alternately somber and witty coming-of-age drama, a pair of teenage boys growing up in a working-class neighborhood become aware of their homosexuality.

Show Me Love directed by Lukas Moodysson.
Elin and her teenage friends are growing up in small town Amal (Sweden).  Nothing ever happens until Elin makes an unexpected move–she goes to the wrong party and her life takes a new direction.  Stuck in the midsts of two love interests and a hilarious smalltown life, Elin tries to get to terms with her real self.

Bad Education (La Mala Educación) directed by Pedro Almodóvar.
A filmmaker gets a visit from an actor claiming to be an old school friend, drawing him into a twisted web of desire, revenge and murder.

Summer Storm directed Marco Kreuzpainter.
Achim and Tobi are best buds and stars of their Bavarian high school rowing team. Things are heating up between Achim and his girlfriend Sandra, but Tobi can’t seem to muster the same interest in beautiful, patient Anke. He clearly has eyes for Achim – though he doesn’t yet have the courage to name his love, even to himself. This uneasy foursome will have plenty of opportunity to mix it up at the national rowing regatta, where the delightfully familiar mainstays of adolescent drama pack on a host of unexpected additions. Most prominently, a last-minute change in the competition lineup substitutes the much-anticipated Berlin girls’ squad with an all-gay-male team that’s stacked with muscle and the last word in pride.

The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love directed by Maria Maggenti.
Romantic comedy about two young women from separate social backgrounds, Randy Dean a blue collar girl and the privileged Evie Roy could not be more different as they take their first tentative footstep’s into what will become a fully fledged romance.

Forgiving Heart directed by Adelina Anthony.
This throwback to the mid-’80s stays true to the music and fashion of the era and movingly captures the social pressures of high school that defy time and place.

April is National Volunteer Month, and we are celebrating the 450 volunteers who contribute the invaluable gift of time to Outfest every year. Some of our volunteers are visible: you see them handing out tickets at the box office,  managing theaters or setting up parties. Many work behind the scenes: securing auction items or reading scripts for the Outfest Screenwriting Lab or producing the OutSet shorts. Each one of these volunteers shares a commitment to Outfest’s mission and to a vision of creating change, one story at a time.

I still remember my first volunteer job. When I was 13, my best friend Tess and I volunteered at the Takoma Park food co-op. Our job was to cut the cheese; we giggled through our entire shift. Soon we were taking the subway all over Washington D.C. to volunteer for NOW, PETA and a women’s newspaper called Off Our Backs. I continue my volunteer service today on the El Rio School Board. Because I am a volunteer, I have even greater appreciation of Outfest’s volunteers.

There is one man in particular whose dedication these past few months has been inspirational. Chris Ranta, along with Outfest staffer Shari Greicar produce OutSet: Young Filmmakers Project from LifeWorks and Outfest. Chris spends months donating his time to OutSet. He secures volunteers from teachers to crew, along with the vendors who provide equipment, editing and post production. He is at every class and at all five long days of shooting. He works closely with the OutSet fellows to ensure they are getting the most out of this program and making amazing short films! If you missed the OutSet shorts at Fusion, you can see them this summer at Outfest Los Angeles. Thanks to all of Outfest’s volunteers, and Happy Volunteer Month!

Warmly,
Kirsten

To find out more about volunteering at Outfest click here

I’m extremely excited to be hosting a special retrospective screening of The Trip (2002) at the Real D Screening Room in Beverly Hills, on April 17th starting at 7:00pm. I decided to host this event because of the huge impact that the film made on me when I first saw it on TV at the age of 14, when it single-handedly inspired me to come out to my family and friends and become a proud activist in the LGBT community.

From the moment I turned the movie on after I happened to stumble on it while flipping channels, it completely changed my life for the better. And that’s not just unique to me, that’s the story that so many others have experienced with The Trip and the many other films out there like it that tell LGBT stories and give LGBT youth the courage and strength to be proud of their identity and to feel as though they belong.

This screening will pay homage to The Trip and those other films, and celebrate what a powerful tool cinema can be to make a difference in our world. Outfest has been one of the leading advocates on behalf of that idea, and that’s why I am so honored to be a member of the organization’s Board of Directors. Outfest’s mission is to create change, one story at a time, and I can’t think of a more important and valuable cause to be a part of than this one.

I hope you can make it and join in the celebration! Not only will you get to see the movie but the director, Miles Swain, along with the stars of the film Steve Braun, Larry Sullivan, Sirena Irwin and Alexis Arquette, will join in a Q&A session afterwards and there will be a cocktail reception as well. Look forward to seeing you there!

– James Duke Mason, Outfest Board Member

Tickets are $20 per person and go directly to benefit Outfest. Get your tickets!

Travis Mathews’ I Want Your Love earned praise at Outfest 2012 for skillfully mixing engaging drama with moments of explicit sexuality, but there was a moment in American cinema in which it seemed natural that sex scenes would enhance and advance a story in the same way that a musical number could. During that early-1970s era of “porno chic,” perhaps no film featured carnality as skillfully and as passionately as Radley Metzger’s Score. And certainly no other movie of the period was as sexually eclectic — straight sex and lesbian sex, then as now, were frequently featured on the big screen, but SCORE dared to include a sequence of gay lovemaking as well, featuring future queer erotica stars Casey Donovan (billed here under his real name, Calvin Culver) and Gerald Grant.

But Score isn’t just about sex; it’s a funny, naughty tale (written by Jerry Douglas, based on his off-Broadway hit play) about two married couples exploring the outer reaches of their relationships and discovering that both repression and hedonism have their limits. It’s that rare film in which people talk about sex with the same enthusiasm with which they participate in it, and one that assumes audiences can handle two men getting together as part of a full buffet of sensuality. (Of course, the man-on-man scene was cut from many early prints and went unseen for decades — we are thrilled to be able to present director Metzger’s original, uncut version.)

In an era when sexuality becomes ever more rare in the movies — it’s easier to get an R rating for violence than for sex, after all — Score takes us back to a time when just about everything between consenting adults seemed both exciting and possible.

Screening on April 3 at 7:00 p.m. at the Downtown Independent. Get your tickets here

By Alonso Duralde, Outfest Senior Programmer

Aurora Guerrero’s Mosquita y Mari, which will have a reprise screening at Outfest Fusion 2013, was one of last year’s most acclaimed debut features, but Guerrero is no overnight sensation. Her current success comes off of years of hard work, both in academia (she has a B.A. in Psychology and Chicano Studies from UC-Berkeley and an M.F.A. in Film Directing from Cal Arts) and on the set. In addition to her acclaimed short films Pura Lengua and Viernes Girl, Guerrero paid her dues working with the directors of such prominent Latino films as Real Women Have Curves and Outfest 2009 Opening Night Gala La Mission. It’s a thrill to have Guerrero back at Fusion with her latest film, which screened as the Fusion Centerpiece at Outfest 2012.

What film/s have you presented at Fusion in the past?

Pura Lengua and Viernes Girl

How has Fusion (and Outfest) helped you to get your stories to a wider audience?

They have always been a wonderful platform for bridging our work with predominately queer of color audiences. As a queer woman of color filmmaker this space is validating and empowering.

What challenges do POC filmmakers face in telling and sharing LGBT stories?

Challenges continue to be access to financing, largely because the industry doesn’t believe there is an audience for lgbt themed films.

Besides screening at Fusion, what advice do you have for other queer filmmakers of color in getting their work out to more viewers?

There are more digital platforms available to filmmakers. I think filmmakers have to stay up-to-date on what those opportunities are.

What are your strategies over the next few years to grow your audience?

Aside from continuing to work on my craft so as to tell stronger stories, I think my work continues to be about engaging communities throughout my filmmaking process. These grass-roots relationships ground my projects via a strong word of mouth which, in turn, results in a growing audience for my films.

Do you have a specific memory of attending a Fusion screening (either for your own film or someone else’s) that has stayed with you?

I can’t say I have a specific memory. More than anything I remember the immense pride I felt in being able to offer stories to Fusions’ audience that they could directly identify with.

– Alonso Duralde, Outfest Senior Programmer

Mosquita y Mari screens on Saturday, March 23 at 3:00 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre. Get your tickets.

More about Aurora Guerrero:

Aurora Guerrero is a queer-identified Chicana raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has over 10 years of filmmaking experience as a writer/director.

Guerrero wrote and directed Mosquita y Mari which is her debut narrative feature film. Mosquita y Mari premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT category and was recently selected to compete in the 2012 San Francisco International Film Festival. Since premiering, Mosquita y Mari has already garnered festival awards including Best Narrative Feature at Cinefestival and the Queer Award at the 2012 Torino LGBT Film Festival. During its making, Mosquita y Mari was awarded the 2011 San Francisco Film Society/Kenneth Rainin Post Production Grant, 2011 LG Cinema 3D Fellowship, 2010 Latino Public Broadcast Production Grant, 2006 ITVS Development Grant, 2005 Sundance/Ford Fellowship, 2005 Paul Robeson Development Grant, and was selected to participate in the 2005 Sundance Native Indigenous Filmmaker Lab, 2006 Tribeca All Access Filmmaker Program, and 2009 Film Independent Producer’s Lab.

Prior to making her feature, Guerrero directed short narrative films. In 2005, she directed Pura Lengua, an official selection of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Later in 2005, Guerrero won the HBO/NYLIFF short script competition for her script Viernes Girl, putting her in production that same year. Pura Lengua and Viernes Girl went on to play at numerous film festivals. Viernes Girl was later acquired by HBO Films. Guerrero’s achievements led to a slot in Filmmaker Magazine’s 2006 “25 New Faces of Independent Film.”

Guerrero is a 2012 Sundance Institute/Time Warner Storytelling Fellow and a 2005 Sundance Native Fellow.

Guerrero also assisted film directors Patricia Cardoso on Real Women Have Curves and Peter Bratt on La Mission.

Guerrero received her B.A. in Psychology and Chicano Studies from UC Berkeley and her M.F.A in Film Directing from Cal Arts in Los Angeles.