Established in 1982, Outfest is a Queer arts, media and entertainment organization offering programs designed to increase access, diversity and visibility for both storytellers and audiences.

The Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival 2023, which will take place between July 13 and 23, brings together the best of queer and trans cinema every year, offering recognized spaces for Latino talent, such as Latinxcellence Shorts.

The festival’s organizers point out in the programming:

From imagining futures where our toiling hands are replaced by artificial intelligence, through living out a present where cultural and self acceptance create new realities, to honoring our elders and ancestors for their wisdom and spirit of resistance, this cinematic collection of the queer Latine experience focuses in on our fight, our families, and our felicidad.

Latino Talent

In addition to having the film chosen for opening night, “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” the festival will offer an extensive list with some of the incredible LGBTQ+ films that showcase Latino stories.

Also striking is the adaptation of Benjamin Alire Sáenz's sensational novel about two Mexican-American teenagers in El Paso, Texas, who develop an intimate friendship that turns into something more. The film features the presence of Eva Longoria, Eugenio Derbez and the revolutionary performances of Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales.

Programming

Latinxcellence Shorts — Saturday, July 22 at 9:30 p.m.

A fixture of our festival each year, Latinxcellence captures the depth and beauty of Latine stories here in Los Angeles and around the world.

Mutt — Friday, July 14 at 7:00 p.m.

Over the course of one bustling New York City day, a young transgender man named Feña weathers the challenges of his present moment while relationships that define his past and future intercede.

From late night encounters with past lovers, to the drudgery of hungover shifts, to surprising visits with family, Feña manages the upheaval of transition with stunning complexity and complete authenticity.

This directorial debut by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where the film’s star Lío Mehiel won a Special Jury Prize for Performance.

Rotting in the Sun — Friday, July 14 at 9:30 p.m.

In this self-reflexive dark comedy, director Sebastián Silva and influencer Jordan Firstman play fictionalized versions of themselves whose stories collide in a mystery marked by missing persons, graphic gay sex, and potent existentialism.

In this wild film, director Silva wields a sharp needle to thread today’s disposable pleasures of urban gay life with the creative bankruptcy of modern entertainment by suggesting that if you gaze into the navel long enough, all you’ll find is the void looking back.

El Intercambio — Saturday, July 15 at 11:00 a.m. 

Part of our Hi Gay! Shorts (formerly called Boys Shorts), be enthralled by a hot and peculiar summer night romance that will forever change the relationship between Mateo and with his best friend Lucas.

Lady Los Angeles — Saturday, July 15 at 1:30 p.m.

When Backpage is seized by the FBI, a young trans woman is forced to find a new way to make rent in this propulsive and edgy film. Part of our She Works Hard for the Money shorts. 

The #OutfestLA trailer is here! We are an act of radical imagination and nothing will stop us from telling our stories. Thank you @FriendsAtWork for the trailer. Here's to a #FutureWithoutFear!

Join us July 13 - 23 in LA and virtually. Get tickets here: https://t.co/30eLHjmimF pic.twitter.com/BFpTvUhdx6

— Outfest (@Outfest) July 1, 2023

Almamula — July 16 at 11:30 a.m. 

Young Nino is grappling with non-stop guilt and anxiety over his impending confirmation.

But, relentlessly bullied by his peers finding no sympathy from him and his family’s community, they relocate to the seemingly-tranquil countryside of Argentina for the boy’s protection.

But they find that amidst the dense foliage of the forest, the legend of the Almamula — a beast that preys upon those engaged in impure acts — looms large. In this world infused with religious fervor and deep-rooted superstitions, Nino embarks on a perilous journey of clandestine desire, where reality and illusion intertwine.

Anhell69 — Sunday, July 16 at 4:30 p.m.

A young director tells the story of his past in his violent and conservative city. He recruited the youth of the Medellín, Colombia queer scene in his first film, a vampire flick, but the main character dies of a heroin overdose at age 21, like many of his friends.

The film explores the dreams, doubts, and fears of an annihilated generation torn about by drugs and suicide in a city defined by violence.

Flores del Otro Patio — Friday, July 21 at 5:00 p.m.

In the north of Colombia, a group of queer activists use extravagant performative actions to denounce the disastrous exploitation by the country's largest coal mine. Part of Express Yourself Shorts.

El Dance-Off — Friday, July 21 at 5:00 p.m. 

In rural Argentina, a young man decides to follow his dreams of becoming a dancer after a run-in with a heartbroken drag queen. Part of our free Soulful Whimsy shorts.

About Outfest

What started as a Queer film festival has grown into a movement. After 40 years of bringing LGBTQIA+ stories to regional, then national and now global audiences, Outfest has become “a force for change in the world.”

The festival seeks to tell human stories, doing so with authenticity and compassion.

“We tell human stories. When told with authenticity and compassion, the stories we tell not only provide inspiration to those within LGBTQIA+ communities, they hold the power to change hearts and minds of those who do share our lived experience. Because our stories are human stories.

Stories with the power to unite. Stories that speak to the outsider in us all. It’s Not About Entertainment. It’s About Empowerment. Outfest Is Representation That Resonates,” highlights Outfest.