Every summer, Outfest brings the best in LGBT film to Los Angeles and this year’s line-up is particularly exciting for women. From the opening night selection (more on that below!) to celebratory screenings of long-time lesbian favorites (including Bound, The Watermelon Woman and The Hunger), the film festival has a lot to offer when it officially opens Thursday night.
While some of the features coming to this year’s Outfest might already be on your must-see list, here are our suggestions for can’t-miss movies and events over the next two weeks.
This four-minute short, showing as part of the Global Girls program, is directed by Carmen Jimenez and tells the story of one woman pining for her long-distance love.
A comedy starring Natasha Negovanlis and Elise Bauman as best buds from the gals behind the Gay Women Channel.
Guinevere Turner, Julie Goldman and Brandy Howard star in this 20-minute look at unlikely roommates.
Lola Kirke and Breeda Wool have a smoldering but world-altering affair in this highly-anticipated film that made its premiere at Tribeca.
This German short follows one Barbie’s “feelings for another woman [that] are concealed by murderous repressions.”
An Israeli coming-of-age love story that we loved and know you will, too.
A lesbian love story emerges within an illegal fight club.
A cross-cultural love story that tackles domestic violence within a same-sex relationship.
Israeli artist Zohar asks her ex-girlfriend to recreate memories they shared for a new exhibit in this 23-minute short.
Zoe and Joanna are struggling with their on-again/off-again relationship in this Brooklyn-based web series.
You’re going to see Kate McKinnon anyway, might as well see it at Outfest with a theater full of queers.
The long-awaited feature film adaptation of the hit web series Chica Busca Chica introduces new characters and high drama.
The hilarious and relatable story of one woman’s first time with another member of the fairer sex.
A 70-year-old woman reunites with her first love.
Madison Paige stars as a transitioning FTM who finds that taking testosterone has given him “an insatiable surge in sexual hunger.”
A young QWOC gets pressured into making a move on her crush in this short.
Clea DuVall wrote, directed and starred in the opening night gala selection for this year’s festival, which also has an all-star cast including Natasha Lyonne in the role of Clea’s girlfriend.
A documentary about one of L.A.’s most famous gay discos and the Black lesbian who was behind it all.
Transparent star (and AfterEllen Chat Room personality) stars as a feminist stand-up comic and a cooler version of herself in this short.
A Vietnamese love story between two teen girls that deals with “the relatable issues of familial obligation and societal disapproval.”
A teen Colombian girl discovers her sexuality in this short from Camila Saldarriaga.
New moms deal with sleepless nights in this four-minute short.
Rita is a grandmother who wants to see her granddaughter come out of the closet before she dies, so she decides to offer her help.
See Tig Notaro‘s Amazon pilot on the big screen before the full season premieres later this year.
A documentary about “an East LA Xicana bicycle crew fighting to reclaim the streets from the forces of misogyny and colonization that have oppressed them all their lives.”
Living with your girlfriend isn’t always as fun as you think it might be. This short explores that very theme.
This documentary about four political powerhouses who also happen to be lesbians will inspire all viewers, but especially LGBT women.
QWOC poets take cameras on the road with them for their final cross-country tour.
A can’t-miss documentary that will incite anger and rage about the injustice four Latina lesbians faced and continue to face after being falsely accused and convicted of a heinous crime.
A Chicana poet falls for an alcoholic in this short out of Outfests’s Outset program, which pairs film and video industry veterans with young mentees.
Laura Zak and Fawzia Mirza star in this comical look at home insemination.
Lindsay Hicks and Jasika Nicole star in this highly-improvised feature about two queer couples and one suicide note.
A Belgian film set in ’70s France, following two women who fall for one another during the feminist revolution.
Keely Weiss directs this short starring Alexandra Roxo (Be Here Now-ish, Bare) as someone who confronts the feelings she has for a friend when they run out of gas in the middle of nowhere.
A rugby player has close relationships with both her coach and her new team captain.
Creator Jill Soloway and other special guests will be in attendance for a sneak peek at the next season of the super-queer Amazon dramedy.
Transparent‘s Emily Robinson wrote, directed and stars in this film about a teen girl figuring out her sexual identity.
Whitney Mixter stars as a woman whose fiancee is trapped in a marriage she can’t get out of because of pre-marriage equality divorce laws for same-sex couples.
Homeless trans teen Andre finds love with a gorgeous rockabilly girl in this short starring Devanny Torres.
Ingrid Jungermann makes her directorial debut in this dark comedy about possibly falling for a murderer.
Tickets are on sale now at Outfest.org.
