Outfest Alumni Spotlight: Aitch Alberto 

Aitch Alberto, a trans Latina woman with brown hair put up in a bun, stands at a podium on stage at the Opening Night Gala of the 2023 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival, speaking to a crowd off screen.

Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival made history this year bookending the festival with two films directed by trans filmmakers and alums of Outfest’s Artist Development programs. It was a homecoming of epic proportions, especially for Aitch Alberto, the director of the opening night film Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe. The films script was first workshopped at the Outfest Screenwriting Lab and, through the program, saw the script read out loud for the first time in public at Outfest Los Angeles back in 2007.

With Aristotle and Dante hitting theaters tomorrow, Outfest caught up with Alberto to discuss what she learned from the experience and what she hopes audiences get out of the film.

Two Latino boys with short dark hair look into eachothers eyes on the side of the road. A still from Aitch Alberto’s Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe. Courtesy of the filmmakers.

OUTFEST: What key advice or creative vision has sustained your journey from Outfest to your feature premiere?

AITCH ALBERTO: My biggest piece of advice is don’t wait for permission. Create space for yourself. 

OUTFEST: So much has happened between when you started this film and now. What is your greatest memory of directing Aristotle and Dante?

ALBERTO: People often talk about indie films as a ‘labor of love.’ This was a labor of passion that attracted a lot of love.

Production was magical and I’ll never forget the space we, the cast and crew, created for this very urgent and necessary story.

OUTFEST: What do you hope audiences take away from your film?

ALBERTO: I hope this is a multi-generational experience that starts a conversation about how we can better love ourselves and those around us. 

Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe will be in theaters across the US starting tomorrow, September 8. To learn more and get tickets, visit their website here.