- Outfest Los Angeles has selected Clea Duvall’s drama "The Intervention" as its opening night film on July 7, Variety reports.
"The Intervention" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, marking Duvall’s directorial and screenwriting feature debut. It stars Duvall, Cobie Smulders, Melanie Lynskey, Natasha Lyonne, Jason Ritter, Ben Schwartz, and Alia Shawkat.
"The Intervention" will screen at The Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.
The festival will close on July 17 with Vertical Entertainment’s comedy-drama "Other People," written and directed by "Saturday Night Live" actor Chris Kelly, and starring Molly Shannon, Jesse Plemons, Zach Woods, Bradley Whitford, Maude Apatow, and June Squibb.
Outfest will include a July 13 screening of Paul Feig’s "Ghostbusters," two days before its opening. The festival’s gala screenings include: U.S. centerpiece "Spa Night," international centerpiece "Esteros," documentary centerpiece "Kiki," legacy centerpiece "Different From the Others," and special centerpiece "King Cobra," starring James Franco, Christian Slater, Keegan Allen, Molly Ringwald, and Alicia Silverstone.
"I am proud and honored to present a program that focuses on the most talented queer voices across all media – from film to television to the web," said Outfest executive director Christopher Racster. "Each year we see a snapshot of the lives of LGBT people from around the world. Honest reflections and celebrations of our experiences. These depictions take us on intensely personal journeys, which increasingly show that our similarities are greater than our differences."
"At a time when the cultural zeitgeist is using differences to drive us apart, these films intimately show us that each of our stories matter and each need a platform to be heard, understood, and respected."
The slate includes 162 films from 19 different countries.
"It is an amazing year for LGBT cinema," added Outfest director of programming Lucy Mukerjee-Brown. "Outfest Los Angeles continues to raise the profile of queer film, and launch the careers of LGBT filmmakers. This year we are particularly proud to spotlight women in the industry with 43% of the festival’s content helmed by female directors."
Spotlight screenings include the season three premiere of Amazon’s "Transparent"; season two premiere of Hulu’s "Difficult People"; debut of the new TBS comedy "Search Party"; screening of "The Hunger" in honor of David Bowie; HBO’s "Looking: The Movie" and "The Trans List"; and Tig Notaro’s new Amazon comedy series "One Mississippi."
