One of the world’s largest gay and lesbian film festivals and the largest film festival in Southern California, the 23rd edition of Outfest will showcase a very strong year of gay/ lesbian/bisexual/transgendered filmmaking at its finest and most diverse.

Outfest 2005, July 7 – 18, will screen 232 high quality narrative and documentary shorts and features from a record 28 countries around the world, beginning with the debut of the sexy comedy “Cote D’Azur,” starring Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Gilbert Melki.
Outfest will close with the Sundance Film Festival favorite and much anticipated “The Dying Gaul,” written and directed by Craig Lucas and starring Peter Sarsgaard, Campbell Scott and Patricia Clarkson. Both the Opening Night gala and Closing Night will take place at the spectacular Orpheum movie palace downtown, one of nine different venues across Los Angeles.

Gregg Araki is responsible for some of the most visually and aurally stunning, cutting-edge and controversial queer films of the past 20 years, and he has been selected to receive the 9th Annual Outfest Achievement Award. This prize, Outfest’s highest honor, will be given to Araki on July 7, prior to the screening of “Cote D’Azur.” The pre-screening presentation is also scheduled to include awarding the winners of the fifth annual Screen Idol Awards, which honors the best four performances - Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor - in a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered role in a feature film or movie for television. As the only awards honor of its kind, the winners are as follows: Actress in a Leading Role - Charlize Theron, “Head in the Clouds”; Actor in a Leading Role - Steve Sandvoss, “Latter Days”; Actress in a Supporting Role - Lynn Redgrave, “Kinsey”; and Actor in a Supporting Role - Peter Sarsgaard, “Kinsey”. After the screening, there will be a huge, legendary after-party, with food from 30 different Los Angeles restaurants, dancing and merriment.