August 28, 2023
12 Movies to See at FilmOut San Diego
READ TIME: 14 MIN.
The FilmOut San Diego LGBTQ+ film festival will take place across four days, from Sept. 7-10, with in-person screenings of feature films, documentaries, and shorts scheduled to take place at The San Diego Natural History Museum (THE NAT) and The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA). Both venues are "located in San Diego's historic Balboa Park," according to a press a release from FilmOut.
"We will feature award-winning films from Sundance, SXSW and Berlin Film Festivals, along with independent features and a variety of short films," the release promises. "The Opening Night Film and Party will take place on Thursday, September 7, 2023 @ 7:00pm at THE NAT and our Closing Night Film will end the festival on Sunday, September 10, 2023 @ 7:15pm at MOPA with a Closing Night Dessert Reception after the film."
Centerpiece Films:
Jay Arnold's comedy "Shoulder Dance" will be this year's Men's Centerpiece. When two old friends reunite, the rekindling of their bond brings about unexpected opportunities for sexual and emotional connection.
Sacha Polack's "Silver Haze" will be the festival's Women's Centerpiece film. Franky (Vicky Knight) is consumed by a need for vengeance, until a new love – Florence (Esma Creed-Miles) – opens her eyes to different possibilities.
Andy Vallentine's "The Mattachine Family" takes the Festival Spotlight. A family drama that focuses on two foster dads – and the ways in which they respond to their foster child no longer being in their care when the boy's biological mother re-enters the picture – the film interrogates notions of family, fatherhood, and commitment as the men re-examine what they each want from life.
Going super-local, the festival presents its San Diego Spotlight Film, "INTERSECTIONAL LENS: The Black, Trans & Queer Experience." The hourlong documentary "explores the marginalized communities of those who are Black and identify as part of the San Diego LGBTQ+ community," the Film Out press release details.
Bill Oliver's "Our Son," starring Billy Porter and Luke Evans, is the U.S. Spotlight film. A longtime couple in the verge of divorce reckon with the idea of a midlife re-invention, while also taking care of their young son.
For International Spotlight, the fest features Florent Gouëlou's "Three Nights a Week," a drama that couldn't be timelier given the political attacks on the time-honored theatrical art of drag.
Tickets, including an all-access pass, and more information, are available at https://filmoutsandiego.com/lgbtq-film-festival/.
12 Festival Must-See Movies
1. Opening Night Selection: "Glitter & Doom"
Director Tom Gustafson and screenwriter Corey Krueckeberg join forces once more to tell the story of Glitter, a young man looking to forge a career in the circus, and his new heartthrob, Doom, a budding singer-songwriter. In a musical milieu where unexpected faces pop up for wild cameos and dance numbers might break out at any moment, can the two find their way toward their dreams without passing each other up?
Screening Thursday, Sept. 7 at 7:00 pm at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Screened together with the short film "Aikane"
2. "Big Boys"
Corey Sherman's comedic coming-of-age movie centers on Jamie (Iasaac Krasner), a teen whose disappointment at a stranger, Dan (David Johnson III) joining his family's camping trip soon transforms into fascination... and a growing awareness of his own authentic identity.
Ira (Matt Dallas) and Roger (Rick Cosnett) were best buds when they were young. Now, a quarter century later, they are suddenly reunited... to the skeptical bemusement of Ira's partner, Josh (Taylor Frey). Love and commitment threaten to boil over into desire and jealousy in director Jay Arnold's drama.
Screening Saturday, Sept. 9, at 7:15 pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts, along with short film "Polywood."
4. San Diego Filmmaker Spotlight: "Intersectional Lens: The Black, Queer, & Trans Experience"
This hourlong doc by Pamuela Halliwell & Todd A. Jacks gets local, exploring the obstacles faced by San Diego's Black and LGBTQ+ community – with particular emphasis on trans people, whose very existence is challenged today as never before.
To see the trailer, follow this link.
Screening Sunday, Sept. 10 at 11:00 at the Museum of Photographic Arts, together with short films "Diving for Rays" and "Bistro #1"
5. "Our Son"
Out actors Billy Porter and Luke Evans star as a married couple contemplating a divorce, and what that will mean to their seven-year-old son, in Bill Oliver's gay family drama – a powerful movie that's drawn comparisons to the classic film "Kramer vs. Kramer."
Screening Saturday, Sept. 9 at 3:00 pm at the San Diego Museum of Art
6. "In Bed"
This explicit Israeli film (adults only will be admitted!) tackles a plethora of weighty themes – anti-gay violence and chemsex – in an erotic and psychological thriller. Friends Guy and Joy retreat to Guy's apartment in the wake of shooting at a Pride celebration. Along the way they pick up a third, Dan, and as the intense manhunt continues outside, in Guy's apartment the tension – erotic and otherwise – climbs.
Screening Friday, Sept. 8 at 9:15 pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts
Director Olivier Peyon adapts Philippe Besson's 2017 novel for the screen, delving into memory and the enduring force of love with a dramatic feature that finds middle-aged novelist Stéphane Belcourt making a return to Cognac, France after more than three decades. In his past: The resonances of a first love between himself as a young man (Jérémy Gillet) and another young man, Thomas (Julien De Saint Jean). In the present: A growing attracting to Lucas (Victor Belmondo) – Thomas' son.
Screening Friday, Sept. 8 at 5:00 pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts
8. "Three Nights a Week (Trois nuits par semaine)"
In Florent Gouëlou's film, photographer Baptiste – who is already together with Samia (Hafsia Herzi) – finds himself captivated by drag queen Cookie Kunty, at first as a new subject of Baptiste's art – but then, as Baptiste gets to know Quentin (Romain Eck), the man beneath Cookie's makeup, as a surprising new love interest.
Screening Sunday, Sept. 10 at 3:00 pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts, together with short film "Your Scissors in My Ear"
9. Women's Centerpiece: "Silver Haze"
Fleeing personal tragedy – and falling for another woman, Jane (Sarah-Jane Dent) – Franky (Vicky Knight) discovers what it means to be embraced by a chosen family, and to come to terms with rage and forgiveness, in Sacha Polack's drama.
Screening Saturday, Sept. 9 at 1:00 pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts, together with the short film "Nature's Bounty"
10. Festival Spotlight:"The Mattachine Family"
Andy Vallentine's family drama explores what happens when two foster dads, Thomas (Nico Tortorella) and Oscar (Juan Pablo di Pace) lose their place as the center of their son's family life when the boy's biological mother re-enters the picture. Few losses can strain a relationship like the loss of a child, and as the two men wrestle with the shift in their lives, it sends them on different paths.
To see the trailer, follow this link.
Screening Friday, Sept. 8 at 5:00 pm, together with the short film "Honey & Milk"
Chita Rivera, Lance Bass, Bruce Vilanch, and others open up on camera about the West Hollywood gay disco that offered gay men a place to call their own for two decades of drama and dancing.
To see the trailer, follow this link.
Screening Friday, Sept. 8 at 3:00 pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts
12. Closing Night Selection: "Golden Delicious"+ Dessert Reception
Canadian filmmaker Jason Karman's coming-of-age film follows high schooler Jake (Cardi Wong) as he navigates the expectations and assumptions of everyone from his dad (who has ambitions of a pro basketball career for his son) to his girlfriend (Parmis Sehat). Where can he finally be himself... if not with Aleks (Chris Carson), the athletic new boy next door?
Screening and Dessert Reception are Sunday, Sept. 10 at 7:15 pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts. Screened together with short film "The Dalles"
For tickets, passes, and more information, follow this link.
