Skip to main content

Festival coverage

Outfest Los Angeles

20 August – 30 August 2020

The Twentieth Century
The Twentieth Century

2020's festival was virtual, hosted on OutFest Now, but it still included an extensive selection of films. 70% of those were directed by women, trans people or people of colour, reflecting the festival directors' commitment to showcasing a wide diversity of stories.

The festival runs from 20 to 30 August.

Other years (4)

Latest reviews

  • Minyan
    Review preview for Minyan

    With a moody jazz score full of languorous clarinets, this is a long cool drink before the unseen war.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    New York in the 1980s. Seventeen-year-old David, who is tentatively beginning to express his homosexuality in the East Village gay scene, gradually starts to question the strict rules of his Jewish community.
  • Shiva Baby
    Review preview for Shiva Baby

    A little gem of a film.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A college student's day takes an unexpected turn when her sugar daddy arrives at the shiva she's attending with his accomplished wife and crying baby.
  • Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)
    Review preview for Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)

    A cheerful, messy kind of comedy which doesn't hit every beat but is easy to like.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    In this romcom, Ellie’s dead aunt has the perfect dating advice for her. But will she listen to it?
  • Two Of Us
    Review preview for Two Of Us

    Two of Us jolts the senses - you can smell when the hot pan stays on the stove too long and want to interfere.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
    Two retired women, who have been in a secret relationship for decades, find their relationship turned upside down when the truth begins to come out.
  • Tahara
    Review preview for Tahara

    DeFreece is excellent and provides the backbone of the film.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A queer, coming of age drama set in Rochester, NY about an anxious teen girl who is manipulated into a romantic encounter with her best friend during the funeral service of their former Hebrew school classmate.
  • Cicada
    Review preview for Cicada

    There's some intelligent drama here structured around intersectional issues, which manages to show, at least to an extent, where lesser films only tell.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A young man is forced to face past traumas when he embarks on a new relationship.
  • Breaking Fast
    Review preview for Breaking Fast

    A sweet-natured romcom, Breaking Fast takes on some difficult issues around what it takes to love somebody and to accept love.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Mo, a practising Muslim living in West Hollywood, is learning to navigate life post heartbreak. Enter Kal, an All-American guy who surprises Mo by offering to break fast with him during the holy month of Ramadan.
  • T11 Incomplete
    Review preview for T11 Incomplete

    Sillas is impressive as a woman whose sometimes very formal, sometimes brittle demeanour hides a lot of pain, uncertainty and ongoing effort.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Past mistakes haunt the present and threaten a new love affair between an older woman and her patient.
  • Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes And Sadomasochism
    Review preview for Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes And Sadomasochism

    Where it really delivers is in capturing a hidden history.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Eight self-described leather dykes discuss queer politics, power and self-determination.
  • S.A.M.
    Review preview for S.A.M.

    Both central performers are impressive in this brief but engaging snapshot of teenage life in England

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Two teenage boys from opposite side of the tracks meet at the swings each week to escape their dysfunctional homes.

A–Z of Outfest Los Angeles 2020 reviews

Features