OPENING NIGHT GALA:
An Evening of SEX, LOVE & LIFE to celebrate OUTFEST's 20th anniversary
Thursday, July 11




Join us at the spectacular Orpheum Theater as we blow out the candles on two decades of sexy, groundbreaking gay and lesbian film! Already the best party on LA’s annual queer calendar, this year’s gala will be a star-studded night to remember - awash in divas of every description and some surprises you won’t want to miss. The evening will feature a stunning program of short films from the last 20 years - the joyous, delightful and visionary work that blazed our trails and helped define this community’s artistic heritage. Outrageous, moving, rarely-seen tales of gay and lesbian sex, love and life...celebrity presenters...a huge after-party with sumptuous eats from 20 restaurants...dancing to the hippest all-girl DJs on the scene. A can’t miss mix! Stay up with OUTFEST and watch the stars come out (you never know!) at the birthday party of the new century.

EVENT SCHEDULE
6:30pm VIP Cocktail Reception
in honor of Strand Releasing Hors d'oeuvres courtesy of Susan Feniger and Border Grill Santa Monica & Border Grill Pasadena

8:00pm Gala program
preceded by the presentation of the OUTFEST Achievement Award


10:00pm Opening Night Gala After-Party
Dance and schmooze the night away under the stars! Open bar courtesy of hbo Vodka. Tempting dishes prepared by 20 of LA's most acclaimed restaurants.

TICKET PACKAGES
$125 VIP Ticket
VIP Cocktail Reception
Loge or Center Orchestra Seating
Opening Night Gala
After-Party

$75 Gala Screening Ticket
Side Orchestra or Front Balcony Seating
Opening Night Gala
After-Party

$40 Gala Screening Ticket (limited availability)
Rear Balcony Seating
Opening Night Gala
After-Party



Opening Night Sponsors

OUTFEST's 20th Anniversary commemorates our coming together as a community around
queer film. As such, it is a time for appreciating the rich experiences we've shared, and perhaps the most rewarding of these is our collective experience with short film. Truly the foundation of lesbian and gay film festivals, shorts have made up the bulk of most OUTFEST programs. The best of them demonstrate incredible artistry, creating entire worlds within ephemeral timespans. In their diversity and in the freedom they grant filmmakers, shorts represent the truest independent spirit in filmmaking--and sometimes, the queerest.

Tonight's selection bears this out. BALLAD OF THE SKELETONS honors a cherished gay forefather, as ONE FINE DAY celebrates the power of women throughout history. The sublime ADAM and MAJORETTES IN SPACE (DES MAJORETTES DANS L'ESPACE) both evoke humanity and universality with the simplest elements. A SUMMER DRESS (UNE ROBE D'ETE) celebrates sexuality while smashing sexual categories, as the inspired and hilarious BOOT CAMP locates irony in gay life with pinpoint accuracy. WAVELENGTHS, and RICK AND STEVE: THE HAPPIEST GAY COUPLE IN ALL THE WORLD present complex and fabulously entertaining depictions of queer sex, love and life, re-configured for modern times. We are thrilled to reprise these unforgettable works, and to share them as a community on this special evening.

Shannon Kelley

BOOT CAMP
DIR: JOHN S. MATTHEWS, 1996, USA, 16MM, 6 MIN.

ONE FINE DAY
DIR: KAY WEEVER & MARTHA WHEELOCK, 1984, USA, 16MM, 5 MIN.

ADAM
DIR: ANDREA STOOPS, 1996, USA, 16MM, 4 MIN.

RICK AND STEVE: THE HAPPIEST GAY COUPLE IN ALL THE WORLD
DIR: Q. ALLAN BROCKA, 1999, USA, 16MM, 6 MIN.

MAJORETTES IN SPACE
DIR: DAVID FOURIER, 1997, FRANCE, 35MM, SUBTITLED, 6 MIN.

WAVELENGTHS
DIR: PRATIBHA PARMAR, 1997, UK, 35MM, 15 MIN.

A SUMMER DRESS (UNE ROBE D'ETE)
DIR: FRANCOIS OZON, 1996, FRANCE, 35MM, 15 MIN.

ALLEN GINSBURG'S BALLAD OF SKELETONS
DIR: GUS VAN SANT, 1996, USA, 35MM, 5 MIN.

6th Annual OUTFEST Achievement Award:
strand RELEASING
Among individuals and groups that have helped to build queer film culture, few have been as influential as Strand Releasing. The most important distribution company in the history of queer film, Strand has distributed hundreds of world and independent films over more than a dozen years. Consistently championing defiant lesbian and gay images and stories, Strand has launched and advanced the careers of an array of filmmakers now essential to queer film culture, including François Ozon (CRIMINAL LOVERS), Ana Kokkinos (HEAD ON), Gregg Araki (THE LIVING END) and Andre Techine (WILD REEDS). Throughout, Strand has demonstrated its faith in a vibrant, sophisticated gay audience - a favor and a compliment to us all. It is no coincidence that we celebrate them in our anniversary year with the festival’s highest honor.




SILENT AUCTION: TWO DECADES OF DREAMS
What are you dreaming of? Dream Lover? Heaven on the Seventh Floor? Double Fantasy? Well dream on! The Two Decades of Dreams Silent Auction may not fulfill those desires, but it will definitely make you feel like your head is in the clouds when you marvel at all the fantastic items up for bid in our dreamy display. If every cloud has a silver lining, then our Silent Auction is a sterling collection highlighting travel, leisure, entertainment, art, electronics, collectibles and much more! Do you need a holiday? Is a Vacation all you ever wanted? Then visit Destiny's Cloud. If you think There's No Business Like Show Business, visit The Celluloid Cloud. Searching for inner peace and tranquility? A trip to Cloud Nine should soothe your soul. Perhaps you are simply searching for that perfect purchase that you never knew you absolutely had to have. Then go cloud hopping! A visit to the Silent Auction will definitely make you feel like you've looked at clouds from Both Sides Now. But until you do, you really don't know clouds . . . at all. Take a look. Your dreams await you.

Swiss Dreams, Baby -- Take off into the stratosphere and leave the clouds behind as you and your Swiss Miss or Mister jet off to scenic Zurich, Switzerland, courtesy of Swiss International Airlines. Settle in for a stay at the elegant Hotel Zum Storchen situated on the scenic Limmat River. If you picture yourself in the majestic Alps savoring chocolate delicacies and yodeling "Riiiicolaaaa," then smile and say "Swiss Cheese!" This trip will make Swisstory!

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Caribbean Queen -- Get ready to jump into this Billy Ocean! It's an all-gay vacation for two with Atlantis Events on board the Sky Exotic Caribbean Cruise. Whether you're in your Superior Ocean view Stateroom on the Viking deck, lounging on your balcony, or enjoying the view from your large porthole! Yeah, now we're sharing the same dream. And our hearts beat as one. No more love on the run!

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Walk-on in LA -- Nobody walks-on in L.A! Except you! That's right, a visit to the set of the award-winning mega-hit, HBO’s “Six Feet Under!” Bid for your very own 15 minutes of fame in front of the cameras and prepare for this role of a lifetime with a stay at one of LA's most luxurious hotels and a limo ride to the studio. OK, repeat after me: "Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my walk-on!" May this package make you rest in peace!

Get DOWN Dog! -- You definitely won't be barking up the wrong tree when you bid on the yoga package of your dreams. Whether it is a set of private training sessions with a yoga mistress, a series of classes at West Hollywood’s Antara, the new hip place to go for Yoga, or Divine Motion, LA’s ultra-cool Yoga and Martial Arts Studio and Emporium, we have the yoga bare necessities and much, much more. Don't namastay away from these deals!


Silent Auction Sponsors


Click here for information on the Live Auction at OUTFEST Honors!