Out Film CT Announces Highlights for 34th Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival

Out Film CT, which produces Connecticut's longest-running screen festival, announced today highlights from the upcoming 34th Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival running June 4 through 13, 2021. Having shifted almost exclusively to a virtual format during the pandemic, festival organizers are delighted to offer a full slate of in-person screenings at the historic Cinestudio on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford. In addition, all the film programs (minus one!) will be available for virtual streaming with many additional film programs being available exclusively online.

Festival Co-Director Jaime Ortega states, "Central to the 34th Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival is the chance to come together in community to celebrate queer filmmaking. We are thrilled to be able to gather in a cinema and laugh, cry and be moved once again. For those who live too far away or aren't quite ready to attend group events, they can join us virtually. However you choose to join us, everyone is welcome."

Festival Co-Director Shane Engstrom continues, "As in previous years, we received hundreds and hundreds of submissions that show the full spectrum of the LGBTQ community from all over the globe. We're excited that extending the festival to 10 days and continuing to offer an expanded program through our virtual platform allows us to share over 100 features, documentaries and short films."

Highlights of the 34th Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival include:

Feature Films

• Opening film Potato Dreams of America on Friday, June 4 at 7:30PM. Dreaming of a better life, Lena becomes a mail-order bride so she and her gay son "Potato" can move to the U.S. But when they arrive in Seattle, they discover that America isn't what it looks like in the movies.
• A moving and eye-opening program of Transgender/Non-binary Short Films on Sunday, June 6 at 6:30PM
• The popular annual program of Gay Men's Short Films on Monday, June 7 at 7:30PM
• A program of intriguing and entertaining Lesbian Short Films on Tuesday, June 8 at 7:30PM
• Centerpiece film No Ordinary Man on Wednesday, June 9 at 7:30PM. The legacy of American jazz musician and trans icon Billy Tipton is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary transgender artists in this groundbreaking film that honors an unlikely hero.
• Closing Women's Film Kiss Me Kosher on Saturday, June 12 at 7:30PM. In this screwball romantic misadventure, sparks fly when two families from wildly different cultural backgrounds try to plan a lesbian wedding that the brides themselves maybe aren't quite ready for.
• Closing Men's Film Swan Song on Sunday, June 13 at 7:30PM. Mr. Pat (Udo Kier) is an aging hairdresser stuck in a nursing home waiting for the Grim Reaper. Desperately needing a last hurrah, he breaks out for a day to style a dead woman's hair for her funeral.
• Additional films will be announced soon as well as virtual-only programs of short films.

Ticket Prices:

• Individual show tickets: $12 for in-person or streaming features, full-length documentaries, or short film programs; $10 for students and seniors (62+).
• 5-Show Pass: $50 for individuals; $80 for households. Includes access to 5 features, documentaries, and/or shorts programs - in-person and/or virtual. Household pass includes 2 person max in-person.
• All-Access FestiPass: $100 for individuals; $150 for households. Includes access to all in-person and virtual programs.·Household pass includes 2 person max in-person.

An innovation for 2021 is that all of the shorts programs will be available to be enjoyed virtually for the entire festival period plus the week following the festival. In-person films and shorts programs at Cinestudio will be offered on specific dates and times. Virtual streaming of individual feature films with accompanying short films will be available at specific dates and times throughout the festival with a viewing window of a full week after the debut date. FestiPasses are on sale now and can be purchased at OutFilmCT.org. Individual film shows will be on sale mid-May.

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