After a year and a half with virtual events only, the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival is finally coming back to its traditional format. The festival, which celebrates both films and individuals who help support the LGBTQ+ community, has selected award-winning actor Elliot Page to be honored in the 2021 edition.
The Outfest Annual Achievement Award will be given to Page at the closing ceremony, which will take place on the night of August 22 at the Orpheum Theatre in DTLA. Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer was also announced as a recipient of the Outfest Annual James Schamus Ally Award, given to those individuals who continue to show support for the LGBTQ community.
The 39th Annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival selected over 170 films from multiple genres, including international stories from countries that have serious issues with the LGBTQ+ community like South Korea, Nigeria, Mexico, Cuba, Palestine, Israel, Brazil, Bulgaria, and Croatia. These films will have exhibitions theaters and, according to the website, nearly every film will be available on the streaming plaftorm for people at risk, those who live outside Los Angeles or aren’t able to attend.
The festival will also feature special events such as the first-ever outdoor gala at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery with a screening of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (based on the award-winning West End musical), centerpiece film screenings with titles like Being BeBe (about the RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 1 winner) and a special screening of Fanny: The Right to Rock (a film about the first female rock band to release an album with a major label) with a live reunion of the band themselves. You can see the full list of special events and films on the Outfest website.
Page came out as a trans man in December 2020, after many years supporting the LGBTQ+ community. He gained prominence after playing title character Juno in the surprise hit indie comedy, and was nominated for an Academy Award for the role. He is slated to return in Season 3 of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, which has yet to get a release date.