Out Film’s Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival celebrates Pride Month with dozens of features, shorts

Out Film CT‘s annual Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival has lasted for 37 years. That’s an extraordinary achievement, especially considering how challenging some of the recent years have been.The COVID shutdown forced the festival online, then there was a rebuilding process that included moving the festival from its accustomed early June period to October when other major Hartford Pride events happen. The shift to autumn had its issues working around school-year realities, so the festival is now being held in June again, a little later in the month so as not to conflict with other community events. The festival begins Friday and runs through June 22 at Cinestudio at Trinity College, except for the closing night event which happens at the Connecticut Science Center.Longtime Out Film festivalgoers will notice that the usual Sunday daytime screening following the closing night isn’t happening anymore. Organizers decided it was confusing and gratuitous. The June 22 closing night event at the Science Center features a screening of the Belgium/Netherlands feature “Young Hearts” and the short film “A la Carte” plus an afterparty.“Young Hearts” is a touching story of love and friendship between two schoolboys who overcome taunts, bigotry and their own self-doubts to be together. It’s beautifully filmed, with lots of outdoor scenes.The festival’s opening film is the Spanish-made comedy “Love and Revolution,” shown Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Cinestudio with the short “Great Canyon” and also followed with an afterparty.The centerpiece film of the 2024 festival is “Chuck Chuck Baby,” a lively lesbian romantic comedy with frequent karaoke-like musical interludes set in a Welsh chicken-plucking plant.Courtesy of Kino LorberThe drama “Sebastian” plays at the festival on June 15 at 7 p.m. (Courtesy of Kino Lorber)Many of the other films in the festival are also sweet love stories, including the Austrian/German “What a Feeling,” about a doctor who falls for a handywoman (June 16 at 7:30 p.m.) and the five-episode French series “Split,” about a stunt woman who falls for an actor (June 21 at 7 p.m.).There are a range of other themes as well. “Sebastian” (June 15 at 7 p.m.) concerns a British journalist who leads a secret life as a sex worker. The Canadian/English “I Don’t Know Who You Are” (June 15 at 9:30 p.m.) is a thriller about a sexual assault victim desperate to find HIV prevention drugs his insurance won’t cover. “Listen Up!” (June 16 at 4 p.m.), a family film from Norway, is based on a novel by Gulraiz Sharif about Pakistani immigrants in Oslo. “Close to You,” starring Elliot Page (June 20 at 7:30 p.m.), is a tale of self-discovery told in an improvisational style.One new wrinkle this year is that festival admission will be free to students with IDs.“We wanted to remove all the potential obstacles to attending,” said Out Film’s president and festival director Shane Engstrom. “We’re really targeting college and high school students who may not have heard about the festival.”Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment“Close to You,” starring Elliot Page, screens June 20 at 7:30 p.m. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)“We have always been an LGBTQ+ safe space,” Engstrom added. “I am always encouraged to hear about those who met their partners at the festivals. We also get a lot of people who are new to Hartford.”Engstrom got involved with the festival after attending it in 2000. “I had recently come out of the closet and was looking for a community not centered on the bar scene.”Festival attendance has still not returned to where it was before the COVID shutdown. One vestige of the COVID era remains: Many films are available to stream online as well as to see in person, including some virtual exclusives, though all the entries in the “Sappho’s Choice: Lesbian Shorts” (June 18 at 7:30 p.m.) and “Manpower: Gay Shorts” (June 17 at 7:30 p.m.) are in-person only. Among the 17 films in the virtual section of the festival is a program of trans/non-binary shorts.Engstrom calls the 2024 schedule “an amazing lineup.” He said the festival’s programming committee may watch between 150 and 700 films a year, many of them shorts around 80 of them documentaries. “We meet on Wednesday night. There are votes but also an opportunity to make a case for the films you are most passionate about. We have shaped that model over the years.”Festival attendees get to vote, too, for an “Audience Award” that is presented every year. Engstrom may well vote for “Young Hearts.” “It’s so touching, it had me bawling.”All of the screenings include a feature film and at least one short. Tickets are $13, $11 for seniors, except for the opening and closing programs, which are $30 or $25 for seniors. All the screenings are free for students with ID. Festival passes are also available.A full schedule of the Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival and ticket sales can be found at outfilmct.org.

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