Outfest Los Angeles Film Festival Announces 2022 Award Winners

Wednesday July 27, 2022 – Outfest — the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization promoting equality by creating, sharing, and protecting LGBTQIA+ stories on the screen — has announced the award winners of its 40th Anniversary Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival, presented by Warner Bros. Discovery and IMDb.

Top prizes went to Amanda Kramer’s Please Baby Please, starring Andrea Riseborough, Henry Melling, Karl Glusman, and Demi Moore, for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature; Gabriel Martins’ Brazilian family drama Mars One took the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature, and the newly-named Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Feature went to Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, about the Lebanese female thrash metal band Slave to Sirens. The Academy Award-qualifying festival’s two Grand Jury prizes for Narrative shorts went to April Maxey’s Work (Outstanding U.S. Narrative Short) and Dania Bedir’s Warsha, both of which are now Oscar eligible. Outstanding Documentary Short went to Brydie O’Connor’s Love, Barbara.

Audience awards went to Juan Felipe Zuleta’s crowd-pleasing Unidentified Objects, and documentary feature Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story, which chronicles the life of trans pro skateboarder Leo Baker and was recently acquired by Netflix. Complete list of winners is below.

Select 2022 jury and audience-favorite award-winning films, including popular features Unidentified Objects, My Emptiness and I, and Jeannette, will be available for a special 72 hours of encore viewing, as well as the vast majority of the festival’s short film program. Streaming packages range from $8 to $24.99. Catch the winners below streaming at outfestla.org.

The nation’s leading LGBTQIA+ festival which just ran from July 14th to July 24th in its 40th year, was bookended by two world premiere screenings. The fest opened with Billy Porter’s directorial debut Anything’s Possible at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, where Porter was on hand to receive Outfest’s Achievement Award and gave a fiery acceptance speech addressing the political moment. The festival closed at the Theater at the Ace Hotel with the world premiere of Peacock and Blumhouse Productions’ They/Them, with the star-studded cast including Kevin Bacon, Carrie Preston, Theo Germaine, Austin Crute, and Quei Tann in attendance, and a surprise musical performance by Perfume Genius wowing the crowd.

Just over 30,000 attendees experienced Outfest LA programming this year. This included dozens of red-carpet premieres, parties and receptions at the DGA, REDCAT and Ford Amphitheater; a private event celebrating the 2022 Architects of Outfest; as well as educational and industry programming, including; a week-long breakfast filmmaker breakfast series held at Second Home, Hollywood, the Festival’s inaugural Industry Summit: State of Queer Media, held at NeueHouse Hollywood, and a heralded Industry Networking Event, held at The West Hollywood EDITION hotel.

The world-renowned festival has continued to be a lucrative deal-making hub for filmmakers and artists, with Narrative Feature selection Chrissy Judy and Documentary Feature selection A Run for More, both being picked up by The Film Collaborative for worldwide festival distribution during the Festival.

Outfest also awarded filmmakers over $100,000 in grant and prize money at its awards ceremony on Sunday, July 24th at the Edition Hotel, West Hollywood. The Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grant, presented in partnership with the Colin Higgins Foundation, awarded three young LGBTQIA+ filmmakers from this year’s festival lineup with $15,000 grants to continue their work. This year’s winners were Alexis G. Zall (the beginning & the middle), Eliana Pipes (¡Nails!) and Jacob Roberts (Half).

The #Outfest40 Concord Pitch Competition, a partnership between Outfest and Concord Originals, awarded three film teams a collective $50,000 to produce new short films based on select songs from Concord’s music library. This year’s winners are Chanelle Tyson, Zoë Hodge and Miles Lopez & Jonathan De La Torre.

The winners of the Grand Jury Prizes for Outstanding U.S. Narrative Short, Outstanding Documentary Short, Outstanding International Narrative Short, Outstanding International Feature, and Outstanding North American Feature all received a $1000 cash prize awarded in partnership with Entertainment Partners, and the U.S. and International Narrative Short Grand Jury prize winners are now Academy Award eligible.

New this year, due to the support of Outfest Empathy Fund Benefactors’ Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis, the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Feature section will now proudly carry their names, and the awarded filmmaker receives a $5,000 cash prize. For the next ten years, the Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Feature will not only mark true queer excellence in the field of documentary filmmaking but also, through their generosity, directly support the growth and development of a filmmaker’s career.

The jurors for Outfest Los Angeles represented a diverse cross-section of filmmakers, artists, programmers, journalists, and industry executives:

North American Narrative Features Jury

Editor-in-Chief of The Advocate Tracy Gilchrist

Filmmaker Javier Fuentes-León

Roadside Attractions’ Senior Director of Acquisitions Angel An

International Narrative Features Jury

Director of Programming for the Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Brighid Wheeler

Actor-Producer Dalila Ali Rajah

Filmmaker Patricia Vidal Delgado

Documentary Jury (Features and Shorts)

Manager, Nonfiction Programs and Fiscal Sponsorship at Film Independent Daniel Cardone

Filmmaker Whitney Skauge

Director of L.A. Times Short Docs Nani Walker

International Narrative Shorts Jury

Co-Director of Programming for the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles Ritesh Mehta

Filmmaker Jett Garrison

Shorts Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival Irene Suico Soriano

U.S. Narrative Shorts Jury

Film Programmer Robert John Torres

Film Critic at Autostraddle Drew Gregory

Film Education & Narrative Inclusion Consultant Martine McDonald

“This incredible response to this year’s festival, our 40th-anniversary milestone, has been nothing short of stunning. As we reflect on the decades before us and the decades that lie ahead for Outfest, we are proud to have brought together this heart-felt and inclusive festival for our members, fans, and filmmakers, and are in awe of the sense of community and solidarity that has been palpable at each and every event. We celebrate our 2022 winners, and as an organization we leave this festival more energized than ever to continue to listen to our queer family and stand beside them in our fight to move forward as a community,” commented Outfest Executive Director Damien S. Navarro.

Outfest Los Angeles 2022 Award Winners

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Audience Awards

Audience Award for Best Documentary Short

CANS Can’t Stand, directed by Matt Nadel & Megan Plotka

Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature

Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story, directed by Nicola Marsh & Giovanni Reda

Audience Award for Best Narrative Short

Troy, directed by Mike Donahue

Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature

Unidentified Objects, directed by Juan Felipe Zuleta

Audience Award for Best Platinum Short

Remnants, directed by Primo Justice Schiappa

Audience Award for Best Episodic

Sleep With Me, directed by Samantha Lee

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GRAND JURY AWARDS

Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Feature

SIRENS, Directed by Rita Baghdadi

For its nuanced and universal perspective of an all-female queer metal band in Lebanon against the backdrop of conflict, the Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Feature goes to SIRENS, directed by Rita Baghdadi.

Honorable Mention for Documentary Feature

JEANNETTE, Directed by Maris Curran

For its evocative observation of one woman’s journey through grief — as a mother, an athlete, and a survivor of gun violence

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature

PLEASE BABY PLEASE, Directed by Amanda Kramer

For its dazzling and inspired vision, its confident and inventive direction, it’s daring and committed performances, its luscious visual style, its thematic relevance and its delightful queer sensibility, one that pays homage to legendary queer filmmakers like Kenneth Anger and Fassbinder, and yet manages to stand on its own.

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance in a North American Narrative Feature

Matthew Jeffers in UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS

For his funny, heartrending, and hopeful performance as a man discovering himself while on a road-tripping odyssey.

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Screenplay in a North American Narrative Feature

Juan Pablo González, Ana Isabel Fernández, and Ilana Coleman for DOS ESTACIONES.

This film speaks volumes using minimal dialogue, displaying the power of its conceptualization. For presenting an unique perspective of a queer woman taking on the traditionally macho role of a tequila factory owner.

Honorable Mention for North American Narrative Feature

YOUTOPIA directed by Scout Durwood

For her innovative, hilarious, and politically erudite storytelling and exceptional musical numbers.

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature

MARS ONE, Directed by Gabriel Martins

For its nuanced, layered and touching portrayal of family life that will linger in our hearts.

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Screenplay in a International Narrative Feature

SUBLIME, screenplay by Mariano Biasin

For its subtle and heartfelt representation of young love and connection.

Honorable Mention for Screenplay in a International Narrative Feature

ATTACHMENT, screenplay by Gabriel Bier Gislason.

For its perfect balance between camp, suspense and heart and its original and unique take on the horror genre.

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance in a International Narrative Feature

Aamu Milonoff for GIRL PICTURE

For the understated genius of her performance that was so dynamically conveyed in the quiet moments.

Honorable Mention for Performance in a International Narrative Feature

Raphaëlle Perez in MY EMPTINESS AND I

For the emotional journey that she took us on with her depiction of her authentic and vulnerable self.

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Short

WARSHA, Directed by Dania Bedir

Poised between prayer and ecstasy, WARSHA suspends audiences in an eternal waltz between the self and the sublime, as we witness the transformation of its protagonist from an everyday laborer and refugee to an everyday super person.

Honorable Mention for International Narrative Short

TANK FAIRY, Directed by Erich Rettstadt

A film whose lead character turns heads in Taipei City, rocking a blue pleather jumpsuit while riding a hot pink and purple motorbike as she performs her daily job of delivering tanks of gas with a dash of sass. After she befriends young JoJo, who is in desperate need of a queer fairy god-mother, you’ll never think of Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for A Hero” the same. With minimal dialogue and a delicious dance routine, this film plays out like a silent movie with heightened, truthful emotions.

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Short

LOVE, BARBARA Directed by Brydie O’Connor

For its sincere and intimate remembering of the trailblazing queer filmmaker Barbara Hammer

Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding U.S. Narrative Short

WORK, Directed by April Maxey

For its tenderly observed portrait of queer heartbreak in a specifically queer community.

Honorable Mentions for U.S. Narrative Short

ELE OF THE DARK, Directed by Yace Sula

For its formal ingenuity and layered explorations of self.

LOLLYGAG, directed by Tij D’oyen

For its visual confidence and playfully twisted nostalgia.

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Special Programming Awards

Emerging Talent

This artist entranced and devastated us simultaneously in his directorial debut, masterfully juxtaposing the vivid glimmering promise of downtown glam with the harsh LA reality of a struggling Black performer. For his unflinching clarity of vision, punctuated by an exquisitely choreographed noir dance number set to a sizzling jazz score that encompasses all the raw energy and frustration of navigating microaggressions, toxic positivity, survival, rejection, class disparity, isolation, obscurity, and the Hollywood dream. The SPECIAL PROGRAMMING AWARD FOR EMERGING TALENT goes to Yusuf Shadeed Nasir for his short film REGRET TO INFORM YOU.

Freedom

Fusing performance art and ecological activism into an urgent and eye-catching odyssey through the Amazon rainforest, the marvelous subject of this one-of-a-kind documentary showcases the beauty of their Indigenous and non-binary identities by connecting them directly to the land in an effort to combat the ravages of climate change, transphobia, and structural racism. In these fights for justice, where the personal is absolutely political, it takes a village to create change towards a better future – and a leader to inspire it. The Special Programming Award for Freedom is awarded to UÝRA: THE RISING FOREST.

Artistic Achievement

This joyful and defiant love letter to love, lust, and liberation bravely answers the question, with orgiastic aplomb: why haven’t we seen a queer musical from the nation of Egypt yet? For its sensual adventurousness, overflowing formal ingenuity, and sumptuous visuals that tie the theatrical to the cinematic, the classic with the contemporary, and the familiar to the thrillingly unknown… The Special Programming Award for Artistic Achievement goes to Mohammad Shawky Hassan’s SHALL I COMPARE YOU TO A SUMMER’S DAY?

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2022 Architects of Outfest List

The inaugural 2022 Architects of Outfest list was announced and presented on stage at the Outfest Opening Night Gala on July 14th, 2024. The list is the beginning of a movement to celebrate and acknowledge the growing number of people who have contributed significantly to the origins and growth of Outfest and its programs, since 1982. Every year we will add to the list and come back together to celebrate. This years honorees included:

Adriene Jenik

Alan Hergott

Alan Poul

Andrea Meyerson

Andrew Ahn

Angela Robinson

Arthur Dong

Barry Sandler

Brickson Diamond

Bruce Cohen

Catherine Lord

Catherine Opie

Chris Ranta

Christine Vachon

Christopher Berry

Christopher Isherwood

Christopher Racster

Claire Aguilar

Curt Shepard

David Geffen

Deandre Gossfield

Dennis D. Williams

Don Bachardy

Don Diers

Doug Edwards

Drew Droege

Eric d’Arbeloff

Erika Suderburg

Ernest Hardy

Eve Oishi

Gabriel Bustamante

Geoff Gilmore

Geoff Stier

Gus Van Sant

Harlan Levinson

Howard Cohen

Isaac Julien

Jackson

Jeff Guthrie

Jeffrey Friedman

Jenni Olson

John August

John Cooper

John Ramirez

John Schlesinger

Jonathan Howard

Karamo Brown

Kerri Stoughton-Jackson

Kevin Thomas

Kim Yutani

Kirsten Schaffer

Larry Horne

Laura Ivey

Leslie Belzberg

Lucy Mukerjee

Lucy Winer

Martha Wheelock

May Hong HaDuong

Meena Nanji

Michael Ferrera

Michael Lombardo

Morgan Rumpf

Nathalie Magnan

Nazila Hedayat

Nicole Conn

Nisha Ganatra

Patrick Mangto

Patrick Scott

Patrik-Ian Polk

Peter Ansin

Peter Spears

Quincy Gossfield

Rick Mechtly

Rob Epstein

Robert Hawk

Robert Rosen

Roland Emmerich

Ron Athey

Rose Troche

Russell Blackstone

Samantha Sprecher

Sande Zeig

Scott Meckling

Shannon Kelley

Shari Frilot

Shari Page

Silas Howard

Stephen Gutwillig

Stephen Macias

Stuart Timmons

Susan Ferris

Ted Guefen

Terry Lawler

Tess Martin

Tim Kittleson

Vaginal Davis

Vanjie Griego

Vito Russo

Zackary Drucker

ABOUT OUTFEST

Outfest, a non-profit 501 c3, and its signature annual film festival OutfestLA.org is turning 40. Since its inception as the modest Gay and Lesbian Media Conference in 1982 by UCLA graduate students and organization founders Larry Horne and John Ramirez, Outfest LA has grown into an Academy Award qualifying, globally recognized event that has been celebrated by millions around the world.

Now in its 40th year, Outfest is a premier entertainment, media, and arts organization widely considered the best for queer cinema and television, as well as home to several notable educational, mentorship, and film restoration programs. Outfest also manages the first free-for-all, ad-free, streaming platform dedicated to queer and trans stories, The OutMuseum. Outfest hopes to help shift the narrative and cultural landscape of LGBTQIA+ stories and restore the future of entertainment for our community.

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, 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.

ABOUT IMDb

IMDb is the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities. Products and services to help fans decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and X-Ray on Prime Video. IMDb also produces IMDb original video series and podcasts. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb licenses information from its vast and authoritative database to third-party businesses worldwide; learn more at developer.imdb.com. IMDb is an Amazon company. For more information, visit https://www.imdb.com/press and follow @IMDb.

ABOUT CONCORD ORIGINALS

Concord Originals is Concord’s narrative content creation division. The team develops and produces stories anchored by Concord’s artists, music, and theatrical works. The division’s slate is comprised of feature films, series, documentaries, and podcasts and its partners include Paramount, Skydance Nuyorican, White Horse Pictures, 3AD, and many others.

ABOUT COLIN HIGGINS FOUNDATION / YOUTH COURAGE AWARDS

Hollywood filmmaker, Colin Higgins established the Foundation in 1986 to support his humanitarian vision, with special focus on the LGBTQ community. Since his death in 1988, the Colin Higgins Foundation has awarded more than 600 grants totaling more than $5 million and since 2000 has honored more than 68 Courage Award recipients.

ABOUT THE FORD

The Ford is one of the oldest performing arts venues in Los Angeles, with a 1,200-seat outdoor amphitheater and a rich history dating back to 1920. Situated in a 32-acre Los Angeles County park and under the stewardship of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Ford presents an eclectic summer season of music, dance, film, and family events that are reflective of the communities that comprise Los Angeles.

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