Based on ballots collected at the end of each program, and votes of the Film Festival jury, the following films have been selected as this year’s winners:
Audience Award – Best Feature
Winner:
Ideal Home
Runner Up:
Snapshots
Special Mention:
Close-Knit
Ideal Home is a hilarious comedy – with an underlying serious message about family values – about a gay couple in a strained relationship who unexpectedly become parents to a ten-year-old boy. Snapshots is a multigenerational drama about a grandmother with a secret past, and the effect her secret has on her daughter and granddaughter. Close-Knit, Japan’s first feature-length transgender-themed film, is a story about a man, his transgender girlfriend and the niece they take into their home to form a close-knit family where everyone is loved and valued for who they are.
Audience Award – Best Documentary
Winner:
Every Act of Life
Runner Up:
Mr. Gay Syria
Special Mention:
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Every Act of Life is fascinating look at the life and career of four-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally, who wrote numerous masterpieces like Love! Valour! Compassion! and who worked with just about every actor who graced a Broadway stage in the last forty years. Mr. Gay Syria chronicles the struggles of gay Syrian refugees as they try to build a new life in Turkey and compete in a gay pageant. Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood is a dishy tale about closeted gay and lesbian screen stars of the 1930s and 1940s who turned to procurement specialist Scotty Bowers when they needed to find a special companion for the evening.
Jury Award – Best Short
Winner:
Curmudgeons
Runner Up:
Zolushka
Special Mention:
Mrs. McCutcheon
Curmudgeons, starring Danny DeVito, is a touching story about two elderly men who find love in a retirement home. Zolushka is a creative and naughty reimagination of the Cinderella tale, where the wicked stepsisters are two self-absorbed gay barflies and Cinderella is the mistreated club janitor who has a special talent that beguiles Prince Charming. Mrs. McCutcheon is a sweet story about a boy who is taunted for presenting as a girl and then captures the affection of a boy who is taunted for his race.
Jury Award – Best Feature
Winner:
Close-Knit
The jury selected Close-Knit (pictured above) because of the beauty and humanity of its story, and its positive portrayal of a transgender woman as a kind, caring person who radiates love and compassion.
Jury Award – Best Documentary
Winner:
Every Act of Life
The jury selected Every Act of Life for its deft storytelling and compelling interviews with a veritable Who’s Who of Broadway stars that seamlessly wove in the backstory of LGBT social and cultural history.
Festival Director Shane Engstrom named Ideal Home director Andrew Fleming as the winner of the Director’s Award. Engstrom cited the film’s quality and overall impact, as evidenced by its exceptionally high audience score, as well as Fleming’s thoughtful responses during the post-screening Q&A session that left a lasting impression on the audience.
The Festival will return next year for a sensational 32nd season, May 31 – June 8, 2019.
HARTFORD — As the LGBTQ pride season kicks off, the annual Out Film CT festival gets underway June 1.
Films this year include entries from across the world, Japanese, Turkey, Italy, Germany and the U.S. are represented. The festival includes documentaries, features and shorts.
Films will be shown this year a Cinestudio, Spotlight Theaters, Real Art Ways and The Aetna Theater at the Wadsworth Atheneum. As in years past, a program of lesbian, gay and transgender short films will be featured during the week.
See trailers for many of this years films. (ADVISORY: Some of them deal with mature themes, brief nudity, and contain obscenity.)
Ideal Home –
My Best Friend –
The Ring Thing –
Anchor and Hope –
After Louie –
Snapshots –
Mr. Gay Syria –
Close-Knit –
Mario –
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood –
My Big Gay Italian Wedding –
The Feels –
