CINEMA OF EVERY ORIENTATION THIS YEAR'S OUTFEST OFFERS ONE OF THE MOST INCLUSIVE LINEUPS IN THE EVENT'S 23-YEAR HISTORY.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer Back in 1992, when actor-director Craig Chester appeared in a little independent film called ``Swoon,'' he remembers it being screened at what he considered to be a quaint little film festival for gay and lesbian films. Fast-forward 13 years: Chester's latest movie, ``Adam & Steve,'' will be a centerpiece movie at Outfest 2005, that same ``little'' film festival that on Thursday will begin to screen 232 shorts and feature films from a record 28 countries around the world over 12 days. ``I've seen it over the years become this massive thing,'' Chester said of Los Angeles' annual gay and lesbian film festival, now in its 23rd year. ``It's great mostly because of the audiences. The gay community in L.A. really does support the festival and loves going to see these movies, which I think is great. It's so well-attended and has such a great spirit about it.'' Outfest - the oldest film festival in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. - kicks off at the Orpheum Theater downtown with a screening of the French comedy ``Cote D'Azur,'' starring Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Gilbert Melki. Prior to the screening of ``Cote D'Azur,'' cutting-edge filmmaker Gregg Araki will receive the Outfest Achievement Award, the festival's highest honor, for his body of work, which has included such classic queer films as ``The Living End,'' ``Totally F***ed Up,'' ``Splendor'' and the current release ``Mysterious Skin.'' ``I am incredibly grateful for this prestigious honor,'' Araki said in a statement. ``I feel so fortunate and thankful that I get to make the films I do. And to be recognized in the company of extraordinary creative talents like Gus (Van Sant SANT South African Native Trust ), Todd (Haynes), John Schlesinger. It's pretty overwhelming to say the least.'' Outfest will close with the Sundance Film Festival favorite and much anticipated ``The Dying Gaul The Dying Gaul (in Italian: Galata Morente) is an ancient Roman marble copy of a lost ancient Greek statue, thought to have been executed in bronze, that was commissioned some time between 230 BC and 220 BC by Attalos I of Pergamon to honor his victory over the ,'' written and directed by Craig Lucas and starring Peter Sarsgaard, Campbell Scott Campbell Scott (born July 19 1961) is an American actor, director, producer, and voice artist. Scott was born in New York City, New York, the son of George C. Scott, an actor, director, and producer, and Colleen Dewhurst, a Canadian-born actress. and Patricia Clarkson Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress. Biography Personal life Clarkson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Jackie Clarkson (a prominent local New Orleans politician and councilwoman) . Between opening and closing nights will be an array of films from a variety of genres screened at nine different venues, including at the festival's headquarters, the Directors Guild of America. ``More than in past years, this festival reflects just how complex and sophisticated the gay and lesbian community has become,'' said Outfest executive director Steven Gutwillig. ``In addition to wonderful coming-of-age and coming-out-of-the-closet films, we are seeing an enormous breadth of themes and genres.'' The genres include comedy, drama, documentary, sports, foreign language, transgender transgender or transgendered adj. Transsexual. , crime-thriller, family interest, cultures and human rights. ``We used to be the only place that you could see a reflection of gay and lesbian experience,'' Gutwillig said. ``Now we are an anticipated annual family gathering and a launching pad for high-profile films and the only place that audiences will see most international gay and lesbian titles.'' Chester's ``Adam & Steve'' is a romantic comedy about life and love in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. that puts the gay couple (portrayed by Chester and ``Caroline in the City'' star Malcolm Gets Hugh Malcolm Gerard Gets (born December 28 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Richard in the American television sitcom Caroline in the City. Gets is also a dancer, singer, composer, classically trained pianist, vocal director, and choreographer. ) front-and-center with a straight couple (Parker Posey and Chris Kattan Christopher Lee Kattan (born October 19, 1970) is an American comedian and actor, perhaps best known for his work on the sketch show Saturday Night Live. Biography Early life Kattan was born in Sherman Oaks, California. ) as their friends. ``I wanted to show what it's like to have two guys be in a relationship,'' Chester said. ``There's a lot of gay couples who go to these festivals and they'd say, 'When is someone going to make a movie about us?' Usually it's about hot guys or someone is in love with a go-go boy or a straight guy. They are about longing as opposed to actually being in a relationship.'' Other films with high-profile actors or directors include Don Roos' ``Happy Endings'' with a cast that includes Lisa Kudrow, Jason Ritter and Maggie Gyllenhaal; Tim Kirkman's ``Loggerheads Log´ger`heads` n. 1. (Bot.) The knapweed. loggerheads npl at loggerheads (with) → de pique (con) loggerheads npl ,'' starring Kip Pardue and Bonnie Hunt; ``Say Uncle,'' the debut feature from Peter Paige of ``Queer as Folk''; and ``Wilby Wonderful,'' which stars Sandra Oh and others. Among the more highly personal offerings is the documentary ``Little Man,'' about the harrowing first year of life of the son of filmmaker Nicole Conn and political activist Gwen Baba. The film, which won HBO's Best Feature Audience Award at the Miami Film Festival this year and best documentary at the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Film Festival, details the struggle for life of a baby born 100 days early weighing only a pound. ``It was the mother of all roller-coaster rides,'' Conn said. ``I wanted to bring the viewer into our experience: the good, the bad, the ugly. I don't consider it a gay film, I really don't. Audiences see us as parents struggling to survive.'' Conn didn't set out to make a film about her child's struggle for life. She had decided to do a documentary about surrogate motherhood surrogate motherhood Practice in which a woman (the surrogate mother) bears a child for a couple unable to produce children, usually because the wife is infertile or unable to carry a pregnancy to term. and bought a camera nearly sixth months into the pregnancy. The next day, the baby was born unexpectedly. Conn said she is eager, but also nervous, about showing ``Little Man'' to a hometown audience. ``It's freaking freak·ing adv. & adj. Slang Used as an intensive: Traffic was a freaking nightmare. [Alteration of frigging, present participle of frig.] me out!'' she said. ``The film is so intimate and I know a lot of people in L.A. There is flawed humanity spilled all over the floor.'' Other nonfiction offerings include ``Based on a True Story,'' which explores the real events that inspired the classic film ``Dog Day Afternoon''; ``Tammy Faye: Death Defying,'' which is scheduled to be screened with the film's heroine, Tammy Faye Messner Tamara "Tammy" Faye Messner (March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American Christian singer, evangelist, entrepreneur, author, talk show host, and television personality. , present; and ``Pursuit of Equality Pursuit of Equality is a documentary about the struggle of same-sex couples for marriage equality in the United States. It's focus is primaily on the same-sex marriages that took place in San Francisco. ,'' a look at San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's challenge to California's marriage law. Newsom is expected to attend that film's screening. Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com OUTFEST 2005: THE 23RD LOS ANGELES GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL Where: Nine venues: Directors Guild of America (festival headquarters), 7920 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E., Hollywood; Laemmle Monica, 1332 Second St., Santa Monica; Orpheum Theater, 842 S. Broadway, Los Angeles; Regent Showcase, 614 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood; Laemmle Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center's Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles; and REDCAT REDCAT The Roy and Edna Disney/Calarts Theater : Roy and Edna Disney/Cal Arts Theater at Disney Hall, 631 W. Second St., Los Angeles. When: Thursday through July 18. Tickets: $12 (weekend and evening screenings), $5 (weekday matinees), $15 (Ford Amphitheatre shows). Prices very for special galas. Call (213) 480-7065 or go to www.outfest.org/fest2005/ CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) ``Adam & Steve,'' Craig Chester's film starring himself, left, and Malcolm Gets, is one of the more anticipated titles of Outfest 2005. (2) A baby born 100 days early and weighing 1 pound clutches an adult's finger in ``Little Man,'' a documentary film about a lesbian couple's infant. |
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