OUTFEST ANNOUNCES FILM COMPETITION WINNERS!

OUTFEST, the largest film festival in Southern California and the
largest arts and culture event for the gay and lesbian community in the
region, is concluding its milestone 20th Anniversary with 15 competitive
film awards in three categories: Grand Jury Awards, Audience Awards and
Special Programming Awards.

In a highly-entertaining ceremony hosted by Bruce Vilanch last night at
the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, with such celebrity presenters as
Peter Paige and Bobby Gant (both from "Queer As Folk"), Jennifer
Coolidge ("Best in Show"), Paris Barclay ("NYPD Blue") and T.C. Carson
("Living Single") in attendance, the eighth annual film competition was
sponsored by Universal Studios. All 15 award-winning films shared cash
prizes that totaled $11,000.00. Following the Awards Night ceremony was
the Los Angeles debut screening of "The Cockettes," in which directors
Bill Weber and David Weissman have unearthed a goldmine of vintage
footage as well as filming their own rich assortment of testimonials of
the living Cockettes, the glamorous, glorious, glittering, historic
gender-benders. Several of the original Cockettes were also on hand in
costume for the festivities.

"This has been a tremendous year for OUTFEST, not just in terms of our
Anniversary but also because the calibre of films has been so high,"
said Stephen Gutwillig, Executive Director. "We were able to program an
assortment of feature films, documentaries and short subjects that
certainly varied in scope and size, but yet their one main trait in
common was their overwhelming appeal to our audiences."
The winners of the Grand Jury Awards are as follows:

* OUTstanding American Narrative Feature - The Politics of Fur
Director: Laura Nix

* OUTstanding International Narrative Feature - Daughters of the Sun
Director: Mariam Shahriar

* OUTstanding Documentary Feature - E Minha Cara (That’s My Face)
Director: Thomas Allen Harris

* OUTstanding Screenwriting - Sherman Alexie
For "The Business of Fancydancing"

* OUTstanding Actor in a Feature Film - Evan Adams
For "The Business of Fancydancing"

* OUTstanding Actress in a Feature Film - Katy Selverstone
For "The Politics of Fur"

The winners of the Audience Awards are as follows:

* HBO OUTstanding First Narrative Feature - AKA
Director: Duncan Roy (AKA also received the largest cash prize of the
Festival - $2,500.00 - courtesy of HBO)

* OUTstanding Narrative Feature - Km.0 (Kilometer Zero)
Director: Yolanda Garcia Serrano & Juan Luis Iborra

* OUTstanding Documentary Feature - Ruthie & Connie: Every Room in the
House
Director: Deborah Dickson

* OUTstanding Narrative Short Film - You 2
Director: Pascale Simons

* OUTstanding Documentary Short Film - No Dumb Questions
Director: Melissa Regan

* OUTstanding Soundtrack - Karmen Gei
Composer: David Murray

The winners of the Special Programming Awards are as follows:

* Freedom Award - Puntos De Encuentro
For "Sexto Sentido"

* Emerging Talent - Laura Muscardin, director
For "Giorni" ("Days")

* Artistic Achievement - The Laramie Project
Moises Kaufman, director

OUTFEST 2002: The 20th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is the
largest and most international in its history as the 12-day festival -
July 11-22 - featured a record 241 films and videos from 30 countries in
all parts of the world. This work was shown in seven venues to an
expected audience of more than 40,000.

The remarkable array of countries represented at the festival include
Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, France,
Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Iran, Israel, Italy , Japan, Lebanon,
Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Palestine, Russia,
Senegal, Slovenia, Spain , Switzerland, Tunisia, UK and the USA.

OUTFEST 2002: The 20th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is
presented by Absolut and HBO. Other sponsors include The Advocate; Directors
Guild of America; Dreamworks; Fine Line Features; Luxury Edition; MTV;
Ramada West Hollywood; Showtime; USA Films and Perrier; Jet Blue
Airways; Human Rights Campaign; Capital Drugs; Spectacor Films, as well
as Stiefel Entertainment; Artisan Entertainment; Bud Light; The Real
World; ifp/west; Lewis Adams and Anthony Vigliotta; Carsey-Werner Co.;
Cinemax; Daily Variety; Frontiers; Genre; Kodak; LA Weekly; Landmark
Theatre; Lesbian News; The Motor Group; Miramax Films; New Times; DA/si
Tours & Events; Warner Brother Records; Audio Rents; United Talent
Agency; Style Brokers.com; New York Times and Southern Wine & Spirits.