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After 37 years as the nation’s premier Lgbtq film festival, Outfest shows no signs of slowing down. The 2019 festival, scheduled to take place in Los Angeles from July 18-28, has just announced its full schedule. The lineup features a combination of festival favorites and rarely-seen foreign films, placing Lgbtq cinema in a truly global context.

The festival opens on July 18 with “Circus of Books,” the Tribeca hit about a daughter’s learning about her parents’ groundbreaking gay porn shop. It closes out with Sundance breakout “Before You Know It,” and will feature 28 world premieres during its run.

From features and documentaries to shorts and episodic content, this is truly an all-inclusive launching pad for Lgbtq filmmakers. The festival continues to push the boundaries of progress, with a majority of this year’s films directed by filmmakers from groups underrepresented in queer film.

“As my tenure comes to an end I...

Now in its 37th year, Outfest serves up an inclusive and intersectional slate of programming, two-thirds of which includes content directed by women, people of color and trans filmmakers. The fest, which will be held July 18-28 in Los Angeles, will open with Rachel Mason’s documentary Circus of Books which spotlights L.A.’s iconic brick-and-mortar gay erotica emporium and bookstore. Sundance favorite Before You Know It directed, co-written and starring Hannah Pearl Utt, as well as Judith Light, Alec Baldwin and Mandy Patinkin, will serve as the festival’s closing night film.

The fest will have films from 33 countries and in 26 languages and will include appearances from Kathy Griffin, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Trixie Mattel, Pose actress Angelica Ross, horror icon Robert Englund, musician and actor Sam Harris and others.

“As my tenure comes to an end I am most proud of Outfest’s increased...

Set deep in the heart of Texas, Daniel Laabs’ Jules of Light and Dark explores the landscape of recovery as an unlikely friendship is formed between college student Maya (Tallie Medel) and divorced oil worker Freddy (Robert Longstreet). Both are coming to terms with past baggage as Maya recovers from a breakup with Jules (Betsy Holt), a bi-sexual rave girl who is unfortunately not as well developed or as interesting as Maya and Freddy. Laab’s sparse narrative occasionally finds itself bogged down by too little exposition, relying heavily on the poetry of cinematographer Noe Medrano Jr.’s camera and the excellent, natural performances of Medel and Longstreet to do the heavy lifting. It’s a gamble that for the most part works well, even if too often repeats concepts and frames constantly. A favorite shot used too often is Medel’s Maya looking off into the distance, contemplating, a...

The Montclair Film Festival will hold the world premiere of the restoration of the 1959 movie “The Diary of Anne Frank,” Variety has learned exclusively.

The black-and-white film, directed by George Stevens, has been restored by Twentieth Century Fox and the Film Foundation. The holocaust drama was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won three, including best supporting actress for Shelly Winters.

The festival, now in its eighth year, will take place May 3-12 in Montclair, N.J., and features more than 150 films, events, discussions and parties. The festival had previously announced that it would open with a screening of Tom Harper’s “Wild Rose,” with star Jessie Buckley attending for a post-screening Q&A.

This year’s Storyteller Series will include A Conversation with Mindy Kaling, moderated by Stephen Colbert, taking place May 4 and A Conversation with Ben Stiller, moderated by Colbert, on May 5. Olympia Dukakis will attend for a...

NewFest, the New York-set Lgbtq film festival that is celebrating its 30th year, has unveiled its full linuep of movies ahead of its run October 24-30. As previously announced, the fest opens with Yen Tan’s AIDS drama 1985 starring Gotham‘s Corey Michael Smith, The Gifted‘s Jamie Chung, Aidan Langford, Virginia Madsen and Michael Chiklis.

This year’s slate includes the New York Centerpiece screening of the Matt Smith-starring Mapplethorpe; the Telluride-bowing Boy Erased starring Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Lucas Hedges as the U.S. Centerpiece; and the International Centerpiece Rafiki, Wanuri Kahiu’s pic that has been banned in its native Keyna for centering on a relationship between two women.

Also on tap is the Documentary Centerpiece film Dykes, Camera, Action. The fest will close with Robert Clift and Hillary Demmon’s Making Montgomery Clift.

This year’s lineup features programming from 32 countries, with 46 feature films,...

Now in its eighth year, the American Film Festival offers a unique perspective on recent developments in U.S. indie filmmaking. That’s because it happens in Poland, staged at the stylish Kino Nowe Horyzonty film center in Wroclaw, also home to the summer New Horizons festival, which has more of a European tilt.

Although the festival, which recently concluded, surveys many favorites from Sundance and South by Southwest, the curation doesn’t merely transpose selections to a new setting. It imports a lively assortment of filmmakers, as well, and creates a cozy, engaged atmosphere more akin to the communal vibe of the Maryland Film Festival. Indeed, to rub shoulders in a crowd that included Jody Lee Lipes, Noel Wells, Dustin Guy Defa, Nathan Silver, producer Mike Ryan, Jessica Oreck and Mike Ott is to experience a deep dive into the creative bustle of current indie ferment.

That spirit is...

Year-long fellowship awarded to 10 first-time filmmakers.

The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) has announced the projects selected for the 13th Ifp Narrative Labs.

Ifp’s year-long fellowship provides an all-encompassing mentorship and resources for 10 first-time filmmakers currently in post-production on their debut narrative feature.

The selected fellows for the 13th Ifp Narrative Labs are:

American Thief Miguel Silveira writer-director, Melissa Hernandez co-writer, Michel Stolnicki writer-producer;

Cubby Mark Blane writer-director, Carolina Gimenez producer, William Colby editor;

Dead Pigs Cathy Yan writer-director;

The Garden Left Behind Flavio Alves director, Roy Wol producer, Alex Lora editor;

Geppetto Z Behl writer-director, Sam Kuhn director of photography, Justin Cox music supervisor;

Jinn Nijla Mu’min writer-director, Avril Z. Speaks producer, Collin Kriner editor;

Jules Of Light And Dark Daniel Laabs writer, director and editor, Jeff Walker producer, Judd Myers producer-editor;

Kids Go Free To Fun Fun Time Ben Hicks writer-director;

Nancy Christina Choe writer-director, Amy Lo producer, David Gutnik editor...

[Editors Note: Project of the Day is presented in partnership with Blackmagic Design, one of the world's leading innovators and manufacturers of creative video technology.] Here's your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress -- at the end of the week, you'll have the chance to vote for your favorite. In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments. Jules of Light and Dark Logline: A thrilling police procedural that follows two unlikely heroes, who must overcome their darkest secrets to find the truth. Elevator Pitch: "Jules of Light and Dark" is an emotionally riveting police procedural that follows the aftermath of a mysterious small-town tragedy and the journey of its two survivors, Maya and Sally. Ben, a loner deputy assigned to the case, races to unravel the mystery and finds himself at odds with his own dark secrets, which hold him back. Production Team: Director: Daniel Laabs...

The Austin Film Society, founded in 1985 by Texas native Richard Linklater (“Boyhood,” “School of Rock”), has announced the winners of this year’s Afs grants. Awarding over $100,000 in cash and $30,000 in goods and services to artists working across the Lone Star State, the grants have rewarded a total of $1.5 million to Texan filmmakers in the past two decades. Among the winners are feature-length narrative filmmakers Kelly Daniela Norris and T. W. Pittman’s for “Nakom,” Daniel Levin for “Bagatelle,” Daniel Laabs for “Jules of Light and Dark,” and Paul Gordon for “Wolves,” which was also given the new Powered by Dell Technology Grant which includes state-of-the-art equipment from Dell. For more information on membership, other opportunities for Texas-based filmmakers, and tickets to Afs’s frequent screenings, visit austinfilm.org. Inspired by this post? Check out our Texas audition listings!

Exclusive: Indie film subcription service Fandor has acquired sci-fi short film The Sand Storm ahead of its Telluride debut this weekend, and has set a day and date release coinciding with its world premiere this Sunday, August 31. The narrative short is directed by Jason Wishnow, the filmmaker behind the viral idea-fostering Ted Talks. It co-stars Chinese art star Ai Weiwei (Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry) in the dystopian tale of a city facing a water crisis in the near future, told from the perspectives of a woman, a man, a lover and a water smuggler. Wishnow co-wrote the script with Li-Anne Huang.

Fandor is the indie subscription VOD service that independent producer Ted Hope took the reins of in January. The company will make The Sand Storm available online on Fandor.com simultaneous to its world premiere at Telluride this Sunday at 4pm Mt. Earlier this summer the filmmakers launched a...

Fandor has won the distribution rights for "Easy," the new short film by Dallas-based writer/director Daniel Laabs. The film follows two brothers, one entering adulthood, the other becoming a teenager. The film will play on Fandor starting March 7, the day of its debut at SXSW. Laabs's earlier films "Sleet/Snow" and "8" will also play as part of a Laabs showcase, part of Fandor's "Spotlight on Texas." The program will also feature work by Richard Linklater, the Zellner brothers, the Duplass brothers, Eric Steele's "Cork's Cattlebaron" starring Robert Longstreet, the debut film by Tobe Hooper, "Eggshells," and Eagle Pennell's "The Whole Shootin' March," alongside a documentary about Pennell, "The King of Texas." In addition to wining the Grand Jury Prize for Texas Shorts for "8" at SXSW 2011, Laabs' "Sleet/Snow" played at SXSW in 2009 as a part of the Austin Film Society Shorts Showcase.

Easy is a semi-autobiographical short about brothers from former Austinite/current Dallas resident Daniel Laabs. The director recently completed a successful crowdfunding campaign to cover post-production costs for the film, which will have its world premiere at SXSW. The short he co-directed with Julie Gould, 8, premiered at SXSW in 2011, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Texas Short. 

Easy will be shown as part of the Texas Shorts program at this year's festival. Laabs answered some questions I had via email before SXSW Film.

What drew you to tell the story of the two brothers in Easy?

Daniel Laabs: I tend to write films that come from personal experience. The idea of showing what it is like to be both an older brother and a younger brother was very interesting (I'm a middle child).

read more...

Elizabeth filled us in on the Austin and Texas feature films that are going to be playing at this year's SXSW Film Festival.  In an effort to keep you in the loop, as well as to proudly support our local filmmakers, we here at Slackerwood bring you the Lone Star short films that are playing in the 2014 film lineup. Most but not all are in the Texas Shorts block.

Texas Shorts

Dig -- Fellow contributor Debbie Cerda got to check out this film (her review), which premiered at Sundance last month. This is the directorial debut of Dallas-area producer Toby Halbrooks, and was produced by Dfw-based production company Sailor Bear. The film stars the very adorable Mallory Mahoney as Jenny, a young girl who is intrigued by the hole her father (Austin actor Jonny Mars) is digging in their backyard. 

Easy -- Dallas filmmaker Daniel Laabs brings us a short...

Here's the latest Austin film news. 

Austin Film Society recently announced the participants in its inaugural Artist Intensive, a program designed to mentor narrative feature writers/directors in the development stages of their projects. Last weekend, Austin and New York-based independent bigwigs, like Amy Hobby (producer of Gayby) and Austinite Jeff Nichols (Mud), mentored six filmmakers, which included Austinites Mallory Culbert and Carlyn Hudson with The Big Spoon; 2012 Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund recipients Andy Irvine and Mark Smoot with Lovers Crossing; 2011 Tfpf recipient Daniel Laabs with an untitled project about the aftermath of a fatal car accident in Pennsylvania; and the Texas revenge thriller Seize The Body by James M. Johnston and Todd Connelly. The Houston Film Commission has announced this year's Texas Filmmaker's Showcase, a selection of short films representing the Lone Star State. The showcase will be screened in Los Angeles on June 30 for producers, agents and studio reps.

The Independent Film Festival of Boston [1] recently released their full line-up and it's a doozy. Sundance favorites such as The Future [2] and Submarine [3] will be there, along with awesome documentaries like Being Elmo [4] (With Elmo In Attendance!!!) and Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times [5]. I'm looking forward to films I wasn't able to catch at Sundance and SXSW, such as the legal documentary Hot Coffee, the heartbreaking How to Die in Oregon, and the new fascinating Conan O'Brien film. Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins [6] also looks like it will rock the house. The full line-up is below. The festival is April 27th through May 4th, and it's one of my favorite movie events of the year. If you live anywhere in New England, I invite you to come and check it out. You can follow IFFBoston on Facebook for updates [7] or buy your passes now [8]! Narrative Features 13 Assassins...

Last night (even though SXSW runs into the weekend) the Jury and Audience Award-winners were announced during the award's ceremony which was hosted by comedian Owen Egerton. We've got the full list of all the winners from the festival, but filmmaker Robbie Pickering won big with his Natural Selection taking home both the Audience and Grand Jury Awards.

Documentary Feature Competition

Grand Jury Winner: Dragonslayer

Director: Tristan Patterson

Best Editing: Where Soldiers Come From

Editors: Kyle Henry & Heather Courtney

Best Cinematography: Dragonslayer

Director of Photography: Eric Koretz

Best Score/Music: The City Dark

Music by: The Fishermen Three, Ben Fries

Narrative Feature Competition

Grand Jury Winner: Natural Selection

Director: Robbie Pickering

Breakthrough Performances:

Evan Ross – 96 Minutes

Rachael Harris – Natural Selection

Matt O’Leary – Natural Selection

Best Screenplay: Natural Selection

Writer: Robbie Pickering

Best Editing: Natural Selection

Editor: Michelle Tesoro

Best Cinematography: A Year in Mooring

Director of Photography: Elliot Davis...

Austin, Texas, filmmaker Robbie Pickering’s “Natural Selection” was named Best Narrative Feature by both jurors and the audience and took home a total of seven honors at the annual South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival awards ceremony Tuesday night at the Vimeo Theater in the Austin Convention Center. (Pickering writes for Moving Pictures about the making of “Natural Selection” here.)

Meanwhile, director Tristan Patterson’s “Dragonslayer” was chosen as the Best Documentary Feature, while Vikram Gandhi’s “Kumaré” was the audience’s pick in the Documentary Feature category.

“Natural Selection” is the story of Linda White (Rachael Harris), a barren Christian housewife, whose world is turned upside-down when she discovers that her dying husband, Abe (John Diehl), has a 23-year old illegitimate son named Raymond (Matt O’Leary) living in Florida. On the edge of guilt and loneliness, Linda grants Abe’s final wish and sets off on...

Austin, Texas, filmmaker Robbie Pickering’s “Natural Selection” was named Best Narrative Feature by both jurors and the audience and took home a total of seven honors at the annual South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival awards ceremony Tuesday night at the Vimeo Theater in the Austin Convention Center. (Pickering writes for Moving Pictures about the making of “Natural Selection” here.)

Meanwhile, director Tristan Patterson’s “Dragonslayer” was chosen as the Best Documentary Feature, while Vikram Gandhi’s “Kumaré” was the audience’s pick in the Documentary Feature category.

“Natural Selection” is the story of Linda White (Rachael Harris), a barren Christian housewife, whose world is turned upside-down when she discovers that her dying husband, Abe (John Diehl), has a 23-year old illegitimate son named Raymond (Matt O’Leary) living in Florida. On the edge of guilt and loneliness, Linda grants Abe’s final wish and sets off on...

Last night, the SXSW Film Festival presented most of its awards, except for a few audience awards. It's a pleasure to see Austin-connected films all over the list. Natural Selection, shot in nearby Smithville, practically swept the Narrative Feature categories, including the Audience Award; while former/sometimes Austinites Kyle Henry and Heather Courtney won the Best Editing award in the Documentary Feature category for Where Soldiers Come From. (I agree that the editing in that film is absolutely amazing.) The Narrative Shorts jury award went to Pioneer from Dallas filmmaker David Lowery, a short that premiered at Sundance this year.

In the Texas-specific awards categories, Steve Mims and Joe Bailey's documentary Incendiary: The Willingham Case (pictured above) won the Louis Black Lone Star Award. The Texas Shorts jury award winner was 8, directed by Julie Gould and Daniel Laabs, which Don Clinchy says was "the most poignant and bittersweet film...

Still from Natural Selection which took home the Grand Jury Award, Audience Award and other awards in the Narrative Feature category

The Jury and Audience Award-winners of the 2011 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced tonight at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony, hosted by comedian Owen Egerton in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature categories. New for 2011, films in competition were also eligible for Jury Awards for Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Score/Music, Best Screenplay (narratives) and Breakthrough Performance (narratives). Films in these categories, as well as Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, Lone Star States and 24 Beats Per Second, were also eligible for 2011 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards. Only Narrative and Documentary Feature, Spotlight Premieres and Emerging Visions Audience Awards were announced tonight. Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters Audience Awards will be announced separately on Saturday,...

The big winner at SXSW Film 2011 was Rachel Harris comedy Natural Selection, which took prizes for screenplay, editing, score and the grand jury prize in the narrative film competition, announced last night. While the Interactive events have come to a close in Austin, music is just starting and film will continue with several encore screenings, The Film Stage will continue its South By Southwest coverage including interviews and reviews. Signaling the festival’s shift to music, two rock documentaries bowed last night – Foo Fighters: Back and Forth and Hit So Hard, at events which included a Foo Fighters secret show at legendary Stubbs following the screening. (As soon as they took the stage, Dave Grohl announced “We’re movie stars now”).

“It’s been completely exciting to witness the overwhelming appreciation and acclaim for the 2011 SXSW Film lineup,” said Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “The unique combination creative talents from music,...

"Natural Selection," an unusual road trip comedy about a woman who fulfills her dying husband's wish to find his long estranged son, was the clear winner at this year's SXSW Film Awards, where it picked up both the Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature and audience award, in addition to four other awards for breakthrough performances (Rachael Harris and Matt O' Leary), best editing and best score. The narrative features jury was led by Roger Ebert, New York magazine's Logan Hill and Sundance Institute's Michelle Satter. Evan Ross, awarded for breakthrough performance for his turn in the thriller "96 Minutes," and "A Year in Mooring" cinematographer Elliot Davis were the only ones honored to keep "Natural Selection" from a clean sweep.

In the documentary category, Tristan Patterson's coming-of-age documentary "Dragonslayer" took home the top prize and a nod for best cinematography (Eric Koretz) while the more controversial "Kumaré," about...

SXSW Film Festival Announces Midnight Features & Shorts

Austin, TX – Today the SXSW Film Festival revealed their Midnight Features & Shorts program.

The Midnighters section of SXSW is known for premiering the work future stars of the horror genre. Filmmakers Eli Roth, and Ti West, are a few notable directors who have had their films screened during the Midnight Features.

”Our midnight programs are the bloody, beating heart of SXSW,” said SXSW Film Conference & Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “Since the beginning, midnight films have been an essential ingredient to what makes SXSW so exciting and fun, and this year’s selections are no exception.”

Out of over 3000 short films submitted, only 150 were chosen, and will screen as part of twelve overall shorts programs.

“After months of reviewing a record number of submissions, we’re tremendously happy to share the final program,” said Shorts Programmers Claudette Godfrey and Stephanie Noone, “The short films...

Following the unveiling of the fantastic 2011 feature line-up last week, the South by Southwest Film Festival has announced the films selected to play at midnight throughout the nine-day event, as well as the complete list of short films.

Insidious, a haunted house flick from Saw director James Wan, is among the midnight program, along with Xavier Gen’s sci-fi thriller The Divide, Sundance favorite Hobo With a Shotgun, Argentinean entry Phase 7, and Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block. In previous years, the midnight and SXFantastic programs has helped launch the careers of Gareth Edwards (Monsters) and Eli Roth (Hostel).

Spike Jonze returns to the festival with another short film titled Scenes from the Suburbs, his second collaboration with (and about) the band Arcade Fire after his moving feature Where the Wild Things Are.

For those of you attending the festival, the schedule will be released on February 15 along with details about film-related panels.

Today the midnight features and short sections were announced for SXSW 2011.

This year the midnight features section has some awesome films, including Hobo With A Shotgun, James Wan’s Insidious, Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block, Xavier Gens’ The Divide, and Ben Wheatley’s Kill List. This years shorts include 150 films including, Spike Jonze’s Scenes from the Suburbs and a doc short from Jay Duplass.

Here's the full list of SXSW 2011 midnights and shorts:

Midnight Features

Midnighters

Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.

Films screening in Midnighters are:

Attack The Block (UK-England)

Director & Writer: Joe Cornish

A funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen gang against an invasion of alien monsters. It turns a tower block into a sci-fi playground. It’s inner city versus outer space. Cast: Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard,...