Outfest, the largest and most influential LGBT film festival in the US, has upped the number of movies being screened this year that are directed by women.
Out of 162 films from 19 countries, 57 percent were helmed by men, versus 43 percent by women.
For an added boost of she-power, however, the fest is screening Paul Feig’s much anticipated Ghostbusters reboot, featuring four actresses in the leads. The supernatural Sony blockbuster will screen on July 13, two days ahead of its scheduled wide release.
The fest kicks off with Clea Duvall’s The Intervention, about three couples who attempt to save a fourth couple’s marriage. The film, which marks her writing-directing debut, also stars Natasha Lyonne, Jason Ritter and Ben Schwartz. It premiered in January to positive reviews at Sundance.
The closing night film is also a Sundance entry: Other People, a semi-autobiographical film from writer-director Chris Kelly, featuring Jesse Plemons as a gay writer who comes home to care for a mother (Molly Shannon) dying of cancer.
Also screening is Spa Night, a coming-out story that plays out amid L.A.’s Koreatown health-club scene.
King Cobra is a true-crime story from director Justin Kelly that centers around the 2007 murder of a gay-porn producer (Christian Slater) by two rivals (one of whom is played by James Franco).
Outfest will also screen several LGBT TV and streaming series, including Hulu’s Difficult People and Tig Notaro’s One Mississippi, a new comedy series from Amazon.
