Delayed from its usual May dates, Out Film CT gets underway Friday with a virtual program, in addition to a three films that will be shown drive-in style.
The festival, which is Connecticut's longest-running screen festival runs from October 2 through 10, 2020.
Organizers have lined up nearly 120 features, documentaries, and shorts films
The festival has added three feature film events at the Parkade Cinema Drive-In in Manchester, after the pandemic forced rescheduling from earlier this year.
Festival Director Shane Engstrom said, "As in recent years, we received hundreds of submissions from LGBTQ filmmakers from across the United States as well as around the globe. In keeping up with the massive cultural shifts this year with the pandemic and the Black Lives Matters movement, we have assembled our most diverse and inclusive festival ever plus launched a virtual platform to allow everyone across Connecticut and surrounding states to enjoy the best of LGBTQ cinema safely."
Highlights of the 33rd Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival include:
Feature Films
Festival opener Stage Mother, a heartfelt and hilarious comedy, tells the story of a conservative choir director who unexpectedly inherits her deceased son's drag nightclub. (Virtual opening Friday, October 2 at 7pm; Drive-In screening Friday October 2 at 7:30pm.
Cicada, the Connecticut LGBTQ Festival 2020 Jury Award winner for Best Feature Film, follows a young bisexual man as he comes out to the world and develops an intense relationship with a man of color struggling with deep wounds of his own. (Virtual opening Saturday, October 3 at 7pm)
For They Know Not What They Do, a powerful documentary on the intersection of conservative politics, religion, and the fight for LGBTQ rights, is the 2020 Jury Award winner for Best Documentary Feature. (Virtual opening Monday, October 5 at 7pm)
Festival Centerpiece film Ahead of the Curve, 2020 Jury Special Mention for Documentary, chronicles the beginnings and rise of the landmark lesbian magazine Curve. (Virtual opening Wednesday, October 7 at 7pm; Drive-In screening Wednesday, October 7 at 7:30pm)
The moving drama Two of Us, 2020 Jury Award Special Mention for Feature Film, details a relationship between two older women that have kept their love secret for decades. (Virtual opening Thursday, October 8 at 7pm).
New Zealand's Rūrangi, an emotional story of a trans man returning home to the family farm, is told in five 20-minute segments. (Virtual opening Saturday, October 10 at 7pm)
Festival closer Breaking Fast finds two gay men in West Hollywood - one a practicing Muslim and the other an "All-American boy" - tentatively moving toward a relationship. (Virtual opening Saturday, October 10 at 7pm; Drive-In screening Saturday, October 10 at 7:30pm)
Organizers said, “In addition to several other feature-length films and documentaries, the 33rd Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival will include a greatly expanded slate of short films. In addition to Gay (two programs), Lesbian (two programs), Trans/Non-Binary, Youth, and International shorts, there will be all-new programs of Drag/Cross-Dressing, Bisexual, Queer People of Color, and Documentary shorts. There will also be an inaugural program of "Connecticut Connections" shorts featuring films with filmmakers, actors or locations associated with the Nutmeg State.”
Ticket Prices:
Individual tickets: $8 for individuals; $12 for households for features, documentaries, or shorts programs.
Individual Drive-In Features: $20 per car. Space is limited and advance purchase necessary.
5-Show FestiPass (access to 5 features, documentaries, and/or shorts programs): $30 for individuals; $45 for households. Drive-In features not included.
All Shorts FestiPass (access to all 12 shorts programs, not valid on full-length features or Drive-In films): $40 for individuals; $60 for households.
All-Access FestiPass: $100 for individuals; $150 for households. Includes access to all virtual programs and Drive-In features.
Another innovation for 2020 is that tickets will be good for each virtual program at the stated start time and will be available for viewing up to at least 72 hours later. The complete lineup of features, documentaries, shorts, and Drive-In events, as well as tickets and FestiPasses, can be accessed at OutFilmCT.org.
