2023 LGBTQ+ Month

Panayotis Evangelidis is a Greek novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker whose documentaries are known for their intensely personal view on LGBTQ life and issues, in Greece and in America. Among others, his latest, The Tilos Weddings, chronicles the struggles of the Greek  LGBTQ community to legalize same-sex marriage from 2008 up to now; They Glow in the Dark looks at the aftermath of the AIDS crisis through the lives of a couple of older gay men who move to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and try to make ends meet by selling trinkets; Irving Park follows the unconventional family of four gay men in their sixties who design and lead their lives unapologetically according to their own desires.

The 13 minutes short film Let Liv recently had its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Festival, after having been selected from more than 8,000 competitive entries. Directed by Erica Rose, and written by and costarring Olivia Levine, it tells the story of a young woman who begrudgingly agrees to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting with her new partner, using humor to deflect the anxiety she feels about it.

Julie Cohen is a highly acclaimed documentary filmmaker known for her impactful work. From exploring social issues to shedding light on untold stories, Cohen's films have brought attention to important topics and sparked conversations that have resonated and inspired viewers.

From the get-go, Whitney Skauge’s mission as a documentary filmmaker has been to use their platform to advocate for diverse storytelling and create representation on both sides of the camera. Their debut short documentary, The Beauty President (2021), highlights the historic 1992 bid for the White House of Terence Smith’s drag persona Joan Jett Blakk as one of the first openly queer write-in candidates.

"Who am I? What's going on? I've definitely struggled with those questions throughout my life,” admits Abby Corrigan (Castle Rock; Homeland), in a press conference at the Monte Carlo Television Festival last week in Monaco. She is promoting the new Prime series: Harlan Coben’s Shelter, which is based on “Shelter,” the first novel in the best-selling young adult book trilogy by the writer Harlan Coben, and premiered at the festival.

West Hollywood’s first-ever Drag Laureate, Pickle, is a powerhouse drag queen. She is six foot tall with a big blonde wig that, along with her outgoing personality, makes her seem larger than life.

The Italian film Le Favolose (The Fabulous Ones) will likely make a splash with all its queer exuberance and feel-good attitude at the Los Angeles Outfest on July 16. Roberta Torre's film is the story of seven LGBTQ+ friends who get together to celebrate and remember their dead friend Antonia, who's been buried dressed as a man against her will.

The 17th Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF, www. lagff.

Zeberiah Newman, born in the Catskill Mountains, New York, has worked for more than a decade as a supervising producer on The Late Late Show with James Corden and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In 2021, he got his feet wet as a documentary filmmaker with the short doc Right to Try, which examines the issues around trying to find a cure for HIV through the intimate lens of a long-term survivor.

Emmy Award-winning Producer Director Jeffrey Schwarz has amassed an extraordinary résumé of documenting remarkable LGBTQ+ pioneers and crucial moments in queer history. His latest feature documentary Commitment to Life, which journals the city of Los Angeles' reaction to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, premiered earlier this year at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and will also be presented at Outfest 2023.