OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival Turns 26

OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival Miami is gearing up for the twenty-sixth annual event, returning April 18-28. This year’s festival will feature more than 50 internationally acclaimed features and shorts, including premieres and documentaries that inspire, entertain, and educate.

Attendees will enjoy a Latin Spotlight on films, a panel for aspiring filmmakers, and free Uber rides to and from select film screenings. Screenings will take place at Silverspot Cinema Miami April 18-24, and at Regal South Beach April 25-28.

A screening of T urtles (Les Tortues) will kick off this year’s festival at 7 p.m. on April 18. Directed by David Lambert, this comedy-drama follows the ups and downs of married couple Thom and Henri, together for 35 years, now facing retired life and what happens when a love turns sour. The W Miami Afterparty will take place immediately following the screening.

The Latin Spotlight is set for April 20, featuring four films from Latin America. Blue Lights (Luces Azules) kicks things off at 8 p.m. Directed by Lucas Santa Ana, Blue Lights is a vibrant, engaging and sophisticated dramedy that plays out during a seventieth birthday celebration. The film explores the intricacies of love, loss, and friendship, as well as the evolving dynamics of gay and lesbian relationships in a changing world. All The Silence (Todo El Silencio) , directed by Diego Del Rio, follows at 8:15 p.m. This film will be in Spanish with Sign Language.

Cocktails & Cinema will celebrate local filmmakers, cast, and crews at 7:30 p.m. on April 22 and 23, at Silverspot Cinema Miami. This year’s South Florida Shorts program includes Double Life by Mellie Parks and Trinity Byonie, Frag by Christopher Frentzel, Myrna’s Secret Spies by Andy Perrott, and Open Dialogue: Generation QueerZ by Freddy Rodriguez. On both nights, there will be a Q&A after the screening and a reception will be held in the OUTshine Lounge at the Silverspot immediately following.

OUTshine will present its Filmmaker Panel on April 27, at 2 p.m. at Regal South Beach. This special event will feature local directors Hansel Porras Garcia, director of Febrero and Oolite Arts; Chris Molina, Miami Film Festival programmer and director of Fallen Fruit and I Wonder If I’m Growing ; Freddy Rodriguez, director of Open Dialogues: Stories from the LGBTQ Community ; Filmmaker Bootcat ; Joe Tufte, Miami Dade College film professor; Noah Salzman, director of Clocked; and Angelica Bourland, director of Warrior and Unstuck .

Also, on April 27, is the Men’s Spotlight slice-of-life comedy film F.L.Y. (USA, 2023), directed by Rafael Albarran and Trent Kendrick.

For a full schedule of films, parties, and special events or for more information, visit outshinefilm.com .

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