Outfest looked a little different this past weekend.
Instead of the usual 11-day window over the summer, the festivities ran for four days from July 23-26, with screenings and conversations held at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre in Hollywood. The program featured over 30 films and shorts, headlined by Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex,” Brydie O’Connor’s “Barbara Forever” and Alexandria Stapleton’s “The Brittney Griner Story.”
OutfestNEXT is all part of Outfest’s strategy to strategically scale down after a two-year hiatus, caused by financial troubles, a legal battle with a former executive director and unionization of the organization’s workforce that culminated in mass layoffs. “It really left a hole when we weren’t doing our traditional summer festival,” interim executive director Christopher Racster tells Variety. “It is a chance for us to experiment.”
But most screenings held at the Renberg Theatre, which holds 183 people, were sold out or on standby, and conversations with filmmakers and members of the community continued in the bustling courtyard long after the credits rolled. Clearly, there was a hole in the heart of L.A.’s queer film community without a yearly festival like Outfest bringing people together.
