{"id":458,"date":"2016-08-26T12:08:30","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T12:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/?page_id=458"},"modified":"2016-09-11T17:10:39","modified_gmt":"2016-09-11T17:10:39","slug":"press-release","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

OUTFEST AND THE PROGRAM FOR THE STUDY OF WOMEN AND GENDER (SMITH COLLEGE) LAUNCH INAUGURAL OUTFEST ON THE ROAD FILM FESTIVAL<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

AUGUST 26, 2016 (NORTHAMPTON, MA) SMITH COLLEGE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Smith College Program for the Study of Women and Gender and Outfest announce the launch of Outfest on the Road Film Festival. The festival runs from September 16-18 at the Academy of Music and Smith College in Northampton. The festival brings Outfest\u2019s award-winning documentaries, feature-length films, and short film programs to Northampton for a weekend. Outfest on the Road, at Smith College, is the first festival to bring Outfest film programming to a collegiate community.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s festival will offer attendees the unique opportunity to enjoy cutting-edge films that screened at the 2016 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival and Outfest Fusion LGBT People of Color Film Festival, alongside queer film classics from the Outfest archive.<\/p>\n

At this year\u2019s festival, experience a beautiful film about queer love and disability, view two fresh and exciting short film programs, screen an award-winning documentary film about trans icon Miss Major, join in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of The Watermelon Woman <\/em>with a viewing of the digitally remastered film, and attend a one-of-a-kind discussion with masterful independent filmmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this moment when the vulnerability of the lives of our queer youth, queer communities, queer people of color is felt in every waking hour, it is of the utmost importance to take the time and make the space to relish in our love and beauty. Outfest on the Road does that \u2013 this is one way, over one weekend to come together as a community to enjoy queer film and queer life,\u201d said Jennifer DeClue Festival Organizer and Assistant Professor in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender, Smith College<\/p>\n

Outfest on the Road is made possible by the generous support of the Kixie Denison Fieldman \u201953 endowment. This support enables The Program for the Study of Women and Gender to bring cultural programs that focus on gender and sexuality to Smith College.<\/p>\n

During this inaugural festival, Outfest on the Road will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Cheryl Dunye\u2019s groundbreaking feature film The Watermelon Woman<\/em> (1996). The Watermelon Woman<\/em> is the centerpiece screening of the festival and will be followed by a Q&A with Cheryl Dunye (director and lead actor), Alex Juhasz (producer), Guinevere Turner (co-star). The festival will open with a screening of Margarita with a Straw<\/em>, which will be followed by a Q&A with Shonali Bose (director), and Nilesh Maniyar (producer).<\/p>\n

Festivalgoers will have the great privilege of screening two short film programs that were programmed at Outfest Los Angeles and Outfest Fusion this year as well as Major!<\/em>, the documentary film about legendary Trans activist Miss Major, directed by Annalise Ophelian, which won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award this year at Outfest Los Angeles.\u00a0 The filmmakers of The Watermelon Woman<\/em> and Margarita with a Straw<\/em> will join together for a panel discussion on filmmaking Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The Full Schedule:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday, September 16<\/p>\n

Opening Film: Margarita with a Straw<\/em>
\n(Q&A with director Shonali Bose & producer Nilesh Maniyar)
\n<\/span>7:00 pm \u2013 10:00 pm, Academy of Music<\/span><\/p>\n

Saturday, September 17<\/p>\n

Outfest Documentary Shorts Program
\n11:00 am, Academy of Music<\/span><\/p>\n

Outfest Shorts Program
\n1:00 pm,\u00a0Academy of Music<\/span><\/p>\n

Filmmaker Panel\u00a0with Cheryl Dunye, Guinevere Turner, Alex Juhasz, (The Watermelon Woman<\/em>); Shonali Bose, Nilesh Maniyar (Margarita with a Straw<\/em>)
\n3:00 pm \u2013 4:30 pm, Smith College, Wright Hall Weinstein Auditorium<\/span><\/p>\n

Centerpiece Screening: The Watermelon Woman<\/em>
\n(Q&A with Cheryl Dunye, Guinevere Turner & Alex Juhasz)
\n<\/span>7:30 pm \u2013 10:00 pm,\u00a0Academy of Music<\/span><\/p>\n

Sunday, September 18<\/p>\n

Closing Film: MAJOR!<\/em>
\n2016 Outfest US Documentary Audience Award Winner
\n<\/span>11:00am,\u00a0Academy of Music<\/span><\/p>\n

All Weekend,\u00a0September 16-18, 2016<\/p>\n

Student Pop-Up Art Space
\nSmith College, Campus Center 105, Nolan Art Lounge
\n<\/span>Hours: Fri. 4pm \u2013 2am; Sat. 9am \u2013 2am; Sun. 9am – 4pm<\/p>\n

All events are free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible.<\/p>\n

Synopsis of Films<\/p>\n

Margarita with a Straw<\/em> (Dir.) Shonali Bose, 140 mins.
\nA rebellious young woman with cerebral palsy leaves her home in India to study in New York, unexpectedly falls in love, and embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery.<\/p>\n

Outfest Shorts, 99 mins.
\nThis short film program is one of the signature short film programs of Outfest Los Angeles known as Girls Shorts. This slate of films offer cinematic glimpses into lives and loves of queer women. Being hip and queer in L.A. is hard enough – try looking for love or a baby! This year\u2019s girls\u2019 shorts are whip-sharp and poignant, finding humor in lez divorce; insemination via a partner\u2019s brother; and the reality that, in L.A., juice can replace sex. Girls\u2019 shorts embody a fresh spirit, birthed from the L.A. filmmaker base you know and love.
\nBRIX AND THE BITCH Dir: Nico Raineau, 10min. PARTNERS Dir: Joey Ally, 6min.\u00a0JO COOL Dir: Natalia Leite, 12min. SPUNKLE Dir: Lisa Donato, 13min.\u00a0WEDLOCKED Dir: Puppett, 12min. VIRGIN TERRITORY Dir: Emily Robinson, 15min. ANGELINO HEIGHTS Dir: Molly Manning, 19min. VAMONOS Dir: Marvin Lemus, 12min.<\/p>\n

Outfest Documentary Shorts 78 mins.
\nThe short documentaries included in this program bring together films that screened at this year\u2019s Outfest Fusion LGBT People of Color Film Festival as well as Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival. These seven short documentaries showcase bold new voices of queer cinema in their exploration of the lives of queer people of color who find a way to balance creative passion and family while embracing their personal truths.
\nMADE OF SUGAR DIR: Kevin Rios, 6min. NEW QUEER SOUTH: INSTABABY Dir: Rosie Haber (Smith alum), 7min. GONNA SIP THAT SIP, HIT THAT DIP: THE EMERGING QUEER HIP-HOP MOVEMENT Dir: Willyum Beck & Chasson Gracie, 13min. GAYSIANS Dir: Vicky Du, 13 min. BROCKINGTON Dir: Sergio Ingato, Maggie Sloan, & Mason Sklut, 8min. POSHIDA: HIDDEN LGBT PAKISTON, 30 min. LIBERTAD Dir: Brenda Avila-Hanna, 9min.<\/p>\n

The Watermelon Woman<\/em> (Dir.) Cheryl Dunye, 90 mins.
\nSet in Philadelphia, The Watermelon Woman<\/em>, is the story of Cheryl (Cheryl Dunye), a twenty-something black lesbian struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful and elusive 1930\u2019s black film actress popularly known as \u201cThe Watermelon Woman.\u201d While uncovering the meaning of Fae Richards\u2019 life, Cheryl experiences a total upheaval in her personal life. Her love affair with Diana (Guinever Turner, Go Fish) a beautiful white woman, and her interactions with the gay and black communities are subject to the comic yet biting criticism of her best friend Tamara (Valerie Walker). \u00a0Meanwhile, each answer Cheryl discovers about the Watermelon Woman evokes a flurry of new questions about herself and her future. At the films conclusion, the Watermelon Woman is clearly a metaphor for Cheryl\u2019s search for identity, community, and love.<\/p>\n

MAJOR!<\/em> (Dir.) Annalise Ophelian, 91mins.
\nMAJOR!<\/em> explores the life and campaigns of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a veteran of the Stonewall Rebellion and a survivor of Attica State Prison. More than just a biographical documentary, MAJOR!<\/em> is an investigation into critical issues of how the Prison Industrial Complex represents a wide-spread and systematic civil rights violation. Told with love and humor, Miss Major\u2019s activism for transgender civil rights intersects LGBT struggles for justice and equality from the 1960s to today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Festival Contact Information
\nJennifer DeClue,\u00a0Assistant Professor
\nProgram for the Study of Women and Gender
\nSmith College
\njdeclue@smith.edu<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad
\nFacebook: www.facebook.com\/outfestontheroad
\nTwitter: #outfestontheroad<\/p>\n

Outfest
\nFounded by UCLA students in 1982, Outfest is the leading organization that promotes equality by creating, sharing and protecting LGBT stories on the screen. Outfest builds community by connecting diverse populations to discover, discuss and celebrate stories of LGBT lives. Over the past three plus decades, Outfest has showcased thousands of films from around the world to audiences of nearly a million, educated and mentored hundreds of emerging filmmakers and protected more than 36,000 LGBT films and videos.<\/p>\n

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OUTFEST AND THE PROGRAM FOR THE STUDY OF WOMEN AND GENDER (SMITH COLLEGE) LAUNCH INAUGURAL OUTFEST ON THE ROAD FILM FESTIVAL AUGUST 26, 2016… Read more “Press Release”<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-458","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":509,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/458\/revisions\/509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/outfestontheroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}