OUT ON FILM Sep. 24, 2018

by Julie Bookman

ABOVE: A scene from “When the Beat Drops,” the festival’s opening-night film, screening Sept. 27.

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Atlanta’s 31st LGBT film festival screens 128 features,

documentaries, shorts and more at 3 venues

over 11 days

IN WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY, Molly Shannon delivers a surprisingly upbeat take on 19th-century New England poet Emily Dickinson.

In The Happy Prince, Rupert Everett plays Irish poet-playwright Oscar Wilde in his twilight years, a role for which he’s received early raves.

Matt Smith, best known as the BBC’s 11th “Dr. Who” and “The Crown’s” Prince Philip, has the title role in Mapplethorpe, embodying the famous — some would say infamous — New York City photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who died in 1989 at age 42 of AIDS-related complications.

The biopics are among the highlights of the 31st annual Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBT film festival, running Sept. 27-Oct. 7.

The event screens 128 films in 11 days at one of three locations — Midtown Art Cinema, Out Front Theatre Company in West Midtown and the Plaza Theatre in Poncey-Highland. About 50 films are full-length narrative features or documentaries. The rest are short films and Web series (grouped into 16 programs).

The event expanded from eight to 11 days last year and attracted 10,000 moviegoers, according to fest director Jim Farmer. The year’s films speak to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender experience in 25 countries, including Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Tunisia, the U.K. and, of course, the United States.

The lineup includes a starry staged reading of The Laramie Project, about the 1998 gay-bashing death of Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard (7 p.m. Sept. 30 at Dad’s Garage Theatre Company). It features Atlanta-based TV, stage and film actors Amy Acker, Steve Coulter, Randy Havens, Jessica Meisel, Rosemary Newcott and Tara Ochs. All proceeds benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation, in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of his murder. Details, tickets HERE.

The festival’s opening film, When the Beat Drops, has a strong Atlanta connection, Farmer says. The 87-minute documentary details “bucking,” a term for athletic dancing created in the American South by gay African-American men who were banned from cheerleading or being major/majorettes because of homophobia.

Atlanta native Anthony Davis, who’s in the documentary, helped grow the dance into a nationwide program that now includes an annual competition in Atlanta. Davis, actor-choreographer-director Jamal Sims, producer Jordan Finnegan, and other cast and crew members will attend the screening.

Paul Rudd (left) and Steve Coogan in “Ideal Home.”

Also worth checking out:

• Lez Bomb, with Cloris Leachman, Bruce Dern and Steve Guttenberg, about a closeted young woman played by Jenna Laurenzo, who wrote and directed (Sept. 28, Landmark).

• 1985, with Cory Michael Smith as a closeted gay man coming home for Christmas.  Virginia Madsen and Michael Chiklis play the parents (Sept. 29, Landmark).

• Studio 54, a 90-minute documentary about the legendary New York City disco, a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival (Sept. 29, Landmark).

• Ideal Home, with Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan as a bickering gay couple shaken by the 10-year-old on their doorstep (Oct. 6, Plaza).

In the festival’s first two decades, Farmer says, the lineup was dominated by coming-out stories. “And while those are still here and always relevant, we’re dealing with so many other things.”

A scene from the documentary “TransMilitary.”

Several films address transgender issues: The 93-minute documentary TransMilitary (winner of the 2018 audience award at the SXSW film festival) looks at 15,500 transgender individuals in the U.S. military (Oct. 6, Out Front); Man Made follows four men in a bodybuilding competition (Oct. 3, Landmark).

The fest holds its first horror night (Oct. 5, Out Front), with a late-night program of shorts preceded by the feature films What Keeps You Alive, about a lesbian couple’s not-so-cheery anniversary getaway, and Devil’s Path, in which two men meet on a gay-cruising park trail.

Pick up the free 78-page Out on Film guidebook at the screening venues and throughout Midtown. It includes the full schedule and information on every film. Details and festival passes ($175 + $200); three-packs ($30); and single tickets ($11 per screening) available HERE. Daily updates also on Out on Film’s Facebook page HERE.

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AJFF 2018 arrives Jan. 24, with 192 films screening in 23 days

by Encore Atlanta

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival opens in less than two weeks, promising 192 screenings in 23 days and a slew of special events. The ambitious festival begins Jan. 24 and ends Feb. 15, and comprises narratives and documentaries representing 27 countries. For the full lineup, schedule, tickets and program guide, go HERE.

The fest will be all around town. Opening and closing screenings are at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. All other screenings take place at one or multiple venues: Atlantic Station Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX, Hollywood Stadium 24, Perimeter Point 10, Springs Cinema & Taphouse, Tara Cinemas 4 and the Woodruff Arts Center.

Most screenings feature post-film Q&A conversations with filmmakers, actors, community leaders and academics. That lineup includes director Neil Berkeley (Gilbert); comedian Gilbert Gottfried; director Ofir Raul Graizer (The Cakemaker); director Amichai Greenberg (The Testament); director Astrid Schult (Winter Hunt); and director Ferenc Torok (1945).

General admission tickets are $15; $13 for senior citizens, students and children; and $12 for matinees. Ticket details HERE.

Special events include:

A still from the documentary “Sammy Davis Jr: I’ve Gotta Be Me.”

OPENING NIGHT. 

The documentary Sammy Davis Jr: I’ve Gotta Be Me (U.S., 100 mins) screens at 7:30 p.m. The 2017 film includes interviews with Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis and Kim Novak, among others.

A post-screening conversation with filmmaker Sam Pollard follows.

$36. Includes admission and parking. It has no other screenings.

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS NIGHT. On Feb. 3, The Boy Downstairs (U.S., 91 mins) screens at 8:30 p.m. Director Sophie Brooks’ 2017 feature, her first, is described as a “fresh take on the girl-meets-boy story, with a lightly comic and deeply touching contemplation of modern relationships, life choices and independence.” The night begins with a 7 p.m. party. $36, includes the party and the screening. Young Professionals Night is at the Woodruff Arts Center. The movie also screens at 1:40 p.m. Feb. 4 at Regal Atlantic Station and 12:20 p.m. Feb. 9 at Springs Cinema & Taphouse.

A scene from “The Last Suit.”

CLOSING NIGHT. 

The Last Suit (Argen-tina/Spain, 86 mins) screens at 7 p.m. Feb. 15.

This 2017 feature follows an 88-year-old Jewish tailor who leaves his home in Argentina for Poland, hoping to find the man who saved him from certain death during the Holocaust. A discussion with writer/director Pablo Solarz and a dessert reception follow. $36. Includes parking, the screening and the reception. It has no other screenings.

AJFF films are generally for adults, but several selections are family-friendly, including the Israeli teen dramedy Almost Famous (three screenings, two locations) and an adventure about family titled A Bag of Marbles (five screenings, four locations).

Topical movies include The Cakemaker (five screenings, five locations), which documents unconventional relationships; An Act of Defiance, which explores race relations; and The Cousin, Shelter and Remember Baghdad, which looks at political-religious extremism. The Cousin screens four times at four locations; Shelter screens five times at three locations; and Remember Baghdadscreens twice at two locations.

[RELATED: ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FEST RELEASES FIRST 8 TITLES]

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