Category Archives: Film Festivals

Tomorrow, Thursday, July 9 sees the kick off for the 33rd edition of Los Angeles’ Outfest, one of the leading LGBT fests in the world, which will present just over 60 new features until its wrap on Sunday, July 19. Among these are 24 new documentaries, including opening night selection, TIG, Kristina Goolsby and Ashley York’s portrait of a tumultuous year in the titular comedian’s life; and centerpieces BEST OF ENEMIES, Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon’s Vidal vs Buckley chronicle; and OUT TO WIN, Malcolm Ingram’s look at LGBT athletes.

Documentaries appearing in the main program of the festival include a mix of brand new work and other highlights from the past year of LGBT programming from larger festivals like Sundance, SXSW, Toronto, and Berlin. Among the offerings are: Cammie Pavesic and Michael Gough’s ADD THE WORDS, on the fight for workplace protections for LGBT people; Marc Serena and Pablo García Pérez de Lara’s TCHINDAS (pictured), a portrait of a transgender Cape Verdean woman preparing for Carnival; Alex Berry’s DRAG BECOMES HIM, about a RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE contestant; Parvez Sharma’s A SINNER IN MECCA, a personal journey to Mecca by the gay Muslim filmmaker; and Ron Nyswaner’s SHE’S THE BEST THING IN IT, a portrait of celebrated character actress Mary Louise Wilson.

Nonfiction also appears in the fest’s Special Events section, such as Lauren Fash and Ryan Suffern’s OUT & AROUND (pictured), which follows a lesbian couple as they meet with LGBT rights advocates around the world; and in the avant-garde Platinum section, which includes Brad Besser’s BEAVER TRILOGY PART IV, the story behind a cult classic which was made three times.

The 32nd edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival begins this Thursday, July 9, and presents just over 100 new features through Sunday, July 19. Compared to last year’s nearly 50 nonfiction features, this year’s event offers just over 30, including a fair number of new Israeli work, noted below:

Seven titles vie for recognition in the Documentary Competition, including: Herz Frank and Maria Kravchenko’s BEYOND THE FEAR, which profiles Yigal Amir, who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, and his tabloid-fodder wife; Silvina Landsmann’s HOTLINE, focused on a Tel Avis nonprofit that serves refugees and migrants; Badran Badran’s PENNIES (pictured), about child beggars who support their Palestinian family; and Nirit Aharoni’s STRUNG OUT, a look at the lives of drug-addicted prostitutes. Separately, four docs compete for the Spirit of Freedom Award, including Anat Goren’s MUSSA, about a mute twelve-year-old African refugee in Tel Aviv.

Outside of competition, the JFF Docs section includes Francois Miron’s portrait of experimental film pioneer PAUL SHARITS; while the Israeli Cinema sidebar offers Helen Yanovsky’s profile of teenage boxing hopefuls, JERUSALEM BOXING CLUB; and Tzvika Binder’s strange story of a once popular father/son magic act and their scandalous fall from grace, LIVING IN ILLUSIONS (pictured).

Hitting the half-century mark this year, the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opens tonight, Friday, July 3, and runs through next Saturday, July 11. In addition to several retrospective screenings, the prestigious event features approximately 135 new feature-length films, of which just under 30 are documentaries, matching the reduced number of nonfiction offerings evident since last year’s edition. With a handful of exceptions, the nonfiction programming primarily is set apart in its own competitive and non-competitive sections, highlighted below: Continue reading →