Outfest presents its monthly Outfest WeHo series screenings through a grant from the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division.
3pm – In conjunction with Red Nation Film Festival, Outfest presents LEITIS IN WAITING (72 minutes) the story of Joey Mataele and the Tonga leitis, an intrepid group of native transgender women fighting a rising tide of religious fundamentalism and intolerance in their South Pacific Kingdom. The film follows Joey, a devout Catholic of noble descent, as she organizes an exuberant beauty pageant presided over by a princess, provides shelter and training for a young contestant rejected by her family, and spars with American-financed evangelicals threatening to resurrect colonial-era laws that would criminalize the leitis’ lives. With unexpected humor and extraordinary access to the Kingdom’s royals and religious leaders, Joey’s emotional journey reveals what it means to be different in a society ruled by tradition, and what it takes to be accepted without forsaking who you are. Preceded by a short film, MINO BIMAADIZIWIN (10 minutes), Mino Bimaadiziwin follows Jim, a trans Anishinaabe man, who has lost all connection to his Native culture until he has a chance meeting with a mysterious Anishinaabe woman, Bangishimogikwe. Tickets: $5 https://www.rednationff.com/leitis-in-waiting/
7:30pm – Outfest in association with Hulu, presents 2 episodes of a new series on Hulu called THE BISEXUAL. Fresh from winning the Grand Jury prize at Sundance, Desiree Akhavan (The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Appropriate Behavior) stars in, directs and co-writes (with Cecilia Frugiuele) The Bisexual, a six-part dramedy which offers a raw, funny, unapologetic take on bisexuality and the comic misconceptions surrounding it. New Yorker Leila (Akhavan) goes on a 'break' from her long-term girlfriend and business partner Sadie (BAFTA-nominated Maxine Peake). Moving out of their flat but still forced to see her ex every day at their joint tech company, Leila rents a room from novelist Gabe (Brian Gleeson), a neurotic 30-something dwarfed by the success of his debut novel, which has now been forgotten.
Leila soon begins sleeping with men but struggles to come out as bisexual to Sadie and her gay friends. She finds an unlikely wingman in Gabe who helps her navigate a new life dating men and women. Skewering stereotypes and unpicking them The Bisexual explores the differences between dating men and women from the perspective of someone who finds herself – for the first time – doing both whilst examining the funny, painful, complexities of realizing that the one you love, and the life you need, may be two very different things.
Q&A with Desiree Akhavan after the screening. Trish Bendix, Managing Editor at INTO, to moderate.
Free, RSVP: https://outfest.secure.force.com/ticket/#sections_a0F1Y000013vV9fUAE
For more information please contact kerri@outfest.org
RSVP: Yes
COST: The 3PM showing is $5; the 7:30PM showing is free with RSVPs
CONTACT: Kerri@Outfest.org
