The ATL is reel gay this month with Out on Film
Celebrating its 36th anniversary, Out on Film, the Atlanta LGBTQ film festival, has a number of winning options that it is hard not to want to take a trip to the ATL during its two week festival starting September 21, 2023.
As someone who has seen many of the films, I am thrilled the festival is thriving and getting a lot of great content. While I can’t see everything, here’s a few highlights.
Our Son opens the festival with Billy Porter and Luke Evans as a couple divorcing and having to deal with divorce. Very much a gay Kramer vs. Kramer with the same amount of heartbreak.
The Mattachine Family deals with parental dramas as well in which some foster parents have conflicts about whether they should make things more permanent – with a child and themselves.
Big Boys was my favorite from San Francisco’s Frameline festival and excited it’s getting more exposure here with a young man coming of age during a camping trip with a beefy older gentleman catching his eye.
Healed is another favorite from the SF Queer Film Fest and the concurrent Cinema Diverse — my nails still haven’t grown back from biting them off in this intense lesbian drama that has a lot going on below the surface.
Egghead & Twinkie is the sweetest road trip you’d ever tag with a couple of young adults on the run after coming out of the closet in pursuit of the perfect love they found on the internet.
Glitter & Doom is quite a stylized story of two musician getting together. What makes this stand out is the craftsmanship of director Tom Gustafson and writer Cory Krueckeberg that put their special stamp on everything they do.
Pornomelancholia is a sexually charged movie that almost seems like a documentary of a man trying to gain fame and money using his sexuality (quite frank) to make things happen.
Stuck in Greece: An LGBT Refugee Crisis is a documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Gerald McCullough who discovers many refugees who fled their own countries in fear of persecution and now are in Greece, yet shows troubles of being able to work and even survive.
There’s also some buzz worthy movies that I’d love to see:
Cora Bora looks like a riot and with Megan Statler (Hacks) in the lead and Margaret Cho on board, it’s just got to be fun. F.L.Y. I’ve tired to screen but alas no luck. But hearing good things from this comedy about two former boyfriends who must quarantine together.
A Big Hairy Gay Hit! Where the Bears Are: The Documentary the story behind the bear-oriented web series comes to life and the three creators of the show are just as delightful as their characters.
Check out the entire program at https://outonfilm.org/festival/2023.
