FilmOut San Diego
We are one of the longest-running film festivals in Southern California and the only LGBTQ film festival in the San Diego area. Our festival is well-respected in the film community and often have World and U.S. premieres. People from around the world attend the festival as we offer filmmakers Q&A sessions after most films. Interviews with filmmakers and talent are uploaded to social media platforms for maximum exposure. We also have a fantastic Opening Night gala and Closing Night reception each year.
This year our annual San Diego LGBTQ Film Festival will be a four-day event that includes international, documentary, short and feature films shown in two different locations. As always, we strive to show the newest LGBTQ-themed film selections available.
FilmOut San Diego annually affirms the ongoing integrity and boundless imagination of our community and the artists who tell our stories. We believe our work is part of an ongoing effort to build a vibrant, affirming and sustainable LGBTQ community in San Diego County. We hope you will join us and submit your project!
• Best Narrative Feature
• Best (First) Narrative Feature
• Best International Feature
• Best Documentary
• Best U.S. Short
• Best International Short
• Best Direction
• Best Actor in a Feature Film
• Best Actress in a Feature Film
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Best Screenplay
...plus Festival Awards and Special Programming Awards including:
• Freedom Award
• Outstanding Emerging Talent
• Outstanding Artistic Achievement
The mission of FilmOut San Diego is to enlighten, educate, and entertain San Diego, California and its outlying communities through the exhibition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer-themed films. FilmOut San Diego seeks to recognize, promote, celebrate and support the important diverse artistic contributions LGBTQ filmmakers make to our community.
2024 films...
Directors: Rafael Albarran & Trent Kendrick, 105 min, USA
Shown with:
Emerald City
Director: David Lambert, 83 min, Belgium/Canada
Shown with:
No Man’s Love
Director: Jules Rosskam, 83 min, USA
Shown with:
All Boys Do
Director: Marwan Mokbel, 111 min, Egypt/Lebanon/USA
Director: Jane Clark, 94 min, USA
Shown with:
Out To Run: A Tale of Blood Velvet
Director: Michael Varrati, 75 min, USA
Shown with:
Bath Bomb
Last Night
A compilation of LGBTQ short films.
Short 1:
Some Kind of Paradise
Director: Nicholas Finegan, 21 min, USA
In a chance encounter on Grindr, a reclusive bartender at an Arkansas line-dancing bar connects with a charismatic Hollywood actor. Their unexpected chemistry pushes him to question the isolated life he’s built for himself and embrace the transformative power of intimacy and vulnerability.
Short 2:
Lesbophilia
Director: Michelle West, 15 min, USA (West Coast Premiere)
When free-as-a-bird bisexual Eliana questions giving up the “D” at her ex-boyfriend’s funeral, her girlfriend, Chase, must decide how far she is willing to go for love.
Short 3:
Catboy
Director: Cristian Sitjas, 13 min, Spain (California Premiere)
After receiving several racist and feather-phobic comments from a gay dating app, Marc receives a message from his transexual friend, Cacao, inviting him to a Ballroom. While there, he is surprised by the freedom and diversity of the environment.
Short 4:
Mélange
Director: Deshon Leek, 15 min, USA
Two estranged men reconnect in a jazz bar where they embark on a forbidden dance.
Short 5:
Back to the Closet
Director: Gerald B. Fillmore, 10 min, Spain (California Premiere)
After ten years living together, Sebastian is going to confess the truth to Lucia about his sexual orientation. Sebastian is a victim of social pressure and has been leading a double life. Now the time has come to confess to Lucia that he is heterosexual. It is time to get out of the closet, or rather, back to the closet.
Short 6:
Keep It Open
Director: Lucy Teitler, 10 min, USA
A couple is tested when a mystery man comes to town.
Short 7:
Nico
Director: Max Olson, 17 min, USA
Nico is a surreal drama that follows a recently transitioned trans man throughout one night as he struggles to be seen as himself. When his grieving elderly neighbor, Helen, mistakes him for her recently deceased husband, Nico is offered a ready-made masculine identity to slip into and a connection begins to form.
Short 8:
The Dinner
Director: Jesús Martínez “Nota”, 12 min, Spain
During a family dinner, a son is finally going to tell his parents something especially important which can no longer be left for later!
Director: Gabriel Carrubba, 83 min, Australia
Shown with:
The Second First Kiss
Bulletproof: A Lesbian’s Guide To Surviving The Plot
Director: Regan Latimer, 105 min, Canada
Shown with:
Once and Again
Directors: Juan Pablo Di Pace & Andrés Pepe Estrada, 107 min, USA/Argentina/Italy
Shown with:
Great Canyon
Director: Marco Calvani, 101 min, USA
Shown with:
Park Life
Director: Mikko Mäkelä, 110 minutes, UK/Finland/Belgium
Shown with:
Pit Stop
Director: Julián Hernández, 136 min, Mexico
Director: Ray Yeung, 93 min, Hong Kong/China
Shown with:
175
Director: Brian J. Smith, 90 min, USA
Shown with:
EKG
Director: Anthony Schatteman, 97 min, Belgium/Netherlands
Shown with:
I Like Sitting With You
Director: Benjamin Howard, 93 min, USA
Shown with:
BrainHeart