Billy Porter’s ‘Anything’s Possible’ to Open 40th Annual Outfest Film Festival – Film News in Brief
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Outfest on Wednesday announced part of the lineup of galas and screenings that will headline its 40th anniversary LGBTQ+ film festival from July 14 – 24 around L.A.
Billy Porter’s directorial debut “Anything’s Possible” will open the festival at the Orpheum theater(and later debut on Amazon Prime Video). The film is an “uplifting teenage romance about an unflappable trans girl and a charming cis boy navigating a senior year relationship,” per Outfest. Porter will be present at Outfest to receive the 2022 Outfest Annual Achievement Award.
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Porter will be joined by “Anything’s Possible” producer Christine Vachon and cast, including lead actress Eva Reign, Abubakr Ali, Simone Joy Jones, Kelly Lamor Wilson, and Tony winner Renée Elise Goldsberry.
“What better way to celebrate our 40th year of Outfest L.A. than to honor Billy Porter at our Opening Night with his incredible directorial debut,” said Outfest Executive Director, Damien S. Navarro. “We’re excited to host audiences and fans across the city to celebrate just how far queer cinema and entertainment have come. The body of work we have curated from nearly every continent, increasingly represents adventurous styles and genres – from vibrant romantic comedies, where the trans lead gets the boy, to horror films that balance the scares and the sexy.”
The festival will close out on July 24 at the Theater at the Ace Hotel with the premiere of Oscar nominee John Logan’s directorial debut, the queer slasher film “They/Them.” Produced by Blumhouse and distributed by Peacock, the horror film set at an LGBTQIA+ conversion camp, the film stars Kevin Bacon, Theo Germaine, Quei Tann, Carrie Preston, Anna Chlumsky, Austin Crute and more who will be present at Outfest.
Other presentations include a 20th anniversary screening of Todd Haynes’ 2002 film “Far From Heaven,” with Haynes, producer Christine Vachon and star Julianne Moore all appearing for a Q&A. Another film from the festival, “Unidentified Objects” stars New Amsterdam actor Matthew Jeffers in a “road buddy comedy about a self-described ‘college-educated, homosexual dwarf’ and his alien-obsessed neighbor seeking answers on a journey to Canada,” per Outfest.
The full Outfest lineup will be released in the coming weeks. For more information and ticket information, visit OutfestLA.org
Trailer Released for ‘Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down’
Briarcliff Entertainment released the trailer for the documentary “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down,” which premiered in March at SXSW and tells the story of former Arizona Congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 and has undergone extensive therapy to regain her speech and motor skills. The film opens in theaters on July 15.
“I love to talk, I’m Gabby,” Giffords says in the trailer.
The documentary features interviews with former President Barack Obama and other colleagues and friends of Giffords. Tracking her new life as an activist in the fight against gun violence, the film also tracks Giffords’ mission to promote understanding the language condition aphasia.
Watch the trailer below.
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