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Outfest Lineup Includes Opening Night Outdoor Screening of ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’

“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” will open the 39th edition of Outfest, the Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival.

The big-screen adaptation of the West End musical of the same name will kick off the festival Aug. 13 with its first ever outdoor gala hosted by Cinespia at Hollywood Forever cemetery. Closing night on Aug. 22 will feature a screening of “Fanny: The Right to Rock,” a film about the first female rock band to release an album with a major label. The evening will include a reunion performance by Fanny.

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Outfest returns to in-person screenings and events after having gone virtual in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year’s lineup includes nearly 200 films with more than 50 international entries. There will be seven world premieres Charles Busch’s “The Sixth Reel”; “Homebody”; Outfest alum Jeffrey Schwarz’s true story of Gloria Swanson’s quest to star in a Sunset Boulevard musical, “Boulevard! A Hollywood Story”; “Gemmel and Tim,” a documentary about disgraced politico Ed Buck and the drug-related deaths of two men in his West Hollywood apartment; Lyle Kash’s doc on trans representation, “Death and Bowling”; portrait of Los Angeles Latina transgender activist, Bamby Salcedo, “La Queenciañera”; and the Grindr-produced comedy series, “Bridesman.”

Also premiering is “Right to Try,” director Zeberiah Newman’s documentary short about casting director Jeffrey Drew’s participation in an experimental trial for an HIV cure. Variety exclusively reported last week that Octavia Spencer joined the film as a producer through her production company Orit Entertainment. Spencer will produce along with her partner Brian Clisham and creative executive Stephanie Kluft.

Centerpiece films include the Tribeca Film Festival prize-winner “The Novice” and “Being BeBe,” a documentary about “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season one winner BeBe Zahara Benet. The premiere of “The Sixth Reel” will include a memorial tribute to late producer and Outfest alum Ash Christian.

“We’re thrilled to be coming back in-person carefully and with intention to celebrate this amazing community, its stories and its resiliency and spirit with so many incredible films and special events,” Outfest executive director Damien S. Navarro said in a statement Monday morning. “Activating at some of our creators’ and audiences’ venue favorites like the DGA, Hollywood Forever, the Orpheum and Redcat in DTLA, we hope it brings all the ‘feels’ everyone is ready for. We can’t wait for everyone to see the festival we have curated — I believe the slate of programming not only meets the moment but distinctly presents the work of some of the most talent contemporaries in queer cinema.”

For the complete lineup, go to outfest.org.

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