Monday, July 24, 2023 – Outfest — the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization promoting equality by creating, sharing, and protecting LGBTQ+ stories on the screen — has announced the Grand Jury award winners of the 41st Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival presented by Genesis Motor America and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Select award winners will be available to view on Outfest Los Angeles’ virtual platform through July 30. Audience Award winners will be announced at the end of the virtual viewing window.
The Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature, now in its second year thanks to a generous donation from Lerner and Reis to the Outfest Empathy Fund, will see the awarded filmmaker receive a $5,000 cash prize.
Outfest’s Director of Programming Mike Dougherty said, “In a truly exceptional year for LGBTQIA+ film, in which our artists delivered such a diverse collection of provocative, insightful, and fearless work, the choices made by our esteemed juries could not have been easy. Congratulations to every filmmaker in our festival for their commitment to unapologetically queer cinema in all its forms, and to these awardees for their much deserved recognition.”
The jurors for Outfest Los Angeles represented a diverse cross-section of filmmakers, artists, journalists, and industry executives:
North American Narrative Features Jury
Tuck Dowrey, Creative Executive, Page Boy Productions
Allegra Madsen, Director of Programming, Frameline
Breeda Wool, Actor
International Narrative Features Jury
Jamie Gonçalves, Producer (Dos Estaciones)
Anna Li, Film Programmer
Evan Schwartz, Vice President of Content, Wolfe Releasing
Documentary Jury (Features and Shorts)
Anja Block, Documentaries, Discovery+
Aurora Brachman, Filmmaker (Joychild)
Anita Raswant, Film Programmer
U.S. & International Narrative Short Film Jury
Anto Astudillo, Lead Programmer, TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival
Nava Mau, Actor
Cameron Scheetz, Entertainment Editor, Queerty
Outfest Los Angeles 2023 Award Winners
Grand Jury Awards
The Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Award for Documentary Feature: Anhell69, directed by Theo Montoya
Documentary Feature Special Mention
Queendom, directed by Agniia Galdanova
Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature
Something You Said Last Night directed by Luis De Filippis
Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance, North American Narrative Feature
Isaac Krasner in Big Boys
Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting, North American Narrative Feature
Sebastián Silva for Rotting in the Sun
North American Narrative Feature Special Mentions
Fancy Dance directed by Erica Tremblay
The People’s Joker directed by Vera Drew
Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature
The Fabulous Ones directed by Roberta Torre
Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting, International Narrative Feature
Asog, screenplay by Seán Devlin, Jaya, and Arnel Pablo
Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance, International Narrative Feature
Choi Hae-jun in Peafowl
Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Short Film
An Avocado Pit directed by Ary Zara
International Narrative Short Special Mention
Christopher at Sea directed by Tom C J Brown
Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Short Film
Love, Jamie directed by Karla Murthy
Documentary Short Special Mention
Here, Hopefully directed by Hao Zhou
Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding U.S. Narrative Short
Dilating for Maximum Results directed by Nyala Moon
U.S. Narrative Short Special Mention
As You Are directed by Daisy Friedman
Special Programming Awards
Presented by the senior Outfest programming team.
Emerging Talent: Alice Maio Mackay, T Blockers
Artistic Achievement: Rumpelstiltskin directed by Ethan Fuirst
Social Impact: Truth Be Told directed by Nneka Onuorah
Hornitos First Shot Award
A History of Sitting in Waiting Rooms (or Whatever Longer Title You Prefer), directed by Lorena Russi
The festival opened with Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, directed by Aitch Alberto, and closed with Chasing Chasing Amy, directed by Sav Rodgers. For the first time in Outfest’s LGBTQ+ Summer Film Festival history both the Opening and Closing night films were made by trans artists, underlining the deep roster of trans, non-binary, and intersex talent working in the entertainment industry as well as the diversity of trans storytelling at this moment in history.
This year’s festival honored filmmaker Andrew Ahn with their Outfest Achievement Award, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone with the James Schamus Ally Award, actor/producer/ musician Amandla Stenberg with their Platinum Maverick Award, electronic music icon and activist Madame Gandhi with their Platinum Alchemy Award and presented Karine Jean-Pierre with their inaugural Outfest Achievement Award for Press and Media. This inaugural Achievement Award for Press and Media is the organization’s highest honor and celebrates the representation of the LGBTQ+ community in the media. The award comes as Outfest makes new investments in journalism for the first time with the Outfest Inclusive Press Initiative, the first ever press initiative explicitly for LGBTQ+ entertainment journalists. The program offers emerging film critics, broadcasters and other journalists unrestricted access to cover the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival while receiving a stipend and mentorship from journalists at media outlets including Reuters, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter , KABC-TV and more. This year’s fellows include Gisselle Palomera, Jireh Deng, Joey Harvey, Kayla Thompson, Kelsey Brown, Kristian Fanene Schmidt, Lindsay Lee Wallace, Marcus’Anthony II, Ose Ehianeta Arheghan, Eli Press-Reynolds and Shahamat Mohammed Uddin.
Genesis Motor America and Warner Bros. Discovery are the presenting sponsors of Outfest LA. Grand Sponsors are IMDb and Friends at Work. Additional sponsors include West Hollywood Travel + Tourism Board, Gilead Sciences, Comcast NBCUniversal, Hornitos, Sony Pictures, The Fight Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, ABC7 and On The Red Carpet, APLA Health, Bank of America, UTA, Second Home Hollywood, Amazon and Glamazon, and West One Music Group.
About Outfest
Founded by UCLA students in 1982, Outfest is the world’s leading organization that promotes equality by creating, sharing and protecting Queer and Trans stories on the screen. For forty-one years, Outfest has showcased thousands of films from around the world, educated and mentored hundreds of emerging filmmakers, and preserved more than 40,000 LGBTQ+ films and videos. Outfest programs include The Outfest Screenwriting Lab, which has mentored and helped launch the careers of nearly 150 screenwriters, and The Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, which, in partnership with the UCLA Film & Television Archive, is the only film archive in the world exclusively dedicated to preserving LGBTQ+ images, among others.
About Genesis Motor America:
At Genesis, we put the customer at the center of every decision we make. Genesis is a global automotive brand that delivers the highest standards of performance, design, safety, and innovation while looking towards a more sustainable future. Genesis designs customer experiences that go beyond products, embodying audacious, forward-thinking, and distinctly Korean characteristics within its unique Athletic Elegance design identity. With a growing range of award-winning models — including G70, G80, and G90 sedans, along with GV60, GV70, and GV80 SUVs — Genesis aims to lead the age of electrification, starting with its Electrified G80, GV60, and Electrified GV70 models. Genesis has stated its commitment to becoming an all-electric vehicle brand by 2030 and to pursuing carbon neutrality by 2035. www.Genesis.com
Follow Genesis Motor America on: Facebook | Instagram | Lin
About Warner Bros. Discovery:
Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film and streaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, DC, Eurosport, HBO, Max, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com.
