Out on Film Festival marks 25th anniversary

The Out on Film Festival has come a long way from its modest origins as one small component of the larger IMAGE/Atlanta Film Festival. Since declaring its independence and branching off as its own entity in 2008, the event has continuously grown to encompass a higher number and broader spectrum of films.

This year’s festivities mark Out on Film’s 25th anniversary and promise something for everyone within the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) community.

“The idea is to call attention to films that look at what’s current in the LGBT community, but also to showcase films that look back at our history [and] what it took for us to get here,” explains Jim Farmer, now in his fifth year as festival director.

Running Oct. 4-11 at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, the festival will include screenings of some 80 movies, ranging from short subjects and full-length documentaries to domestic and international feature films. Many of the screenings will be followed by audience Q&A sessions with the filmmakers. (For a complete schedule of events: outonfilm.org.)

“We’ve been able to show more films each and every year,” Farmer says. “The festival’s become a lot broader in terms of covering all aspects of the community. It’s about diversity and inclusivity. We want our straight allies to enjoy the films, as well.”

There will be retrospective screenings of a few higher-profile films from festivals past — John Cameron Mitchell’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” (Oct. 6), the Israeli drama “Yossi and Jagger” (Oct. 9) — but there’s a greater emphasis on new work by first-time filmmakers, or, as Farmer puts it, “finding tomorrow’s new voices.”

One of them could be writer/director Jonathan Lisecki, whose romantic comedy “Gayby” opens the festival on Oct. 4. A gay man and his best friend from college (who happens to be a straight woman) decide to have a child — the old-fashioned way.

“Hilarity ensues,” according to Anne Hubbell, one of its producers. Hubbell isn’t a stranger to the Atlanta area. She used to live here during her tenure as executive director of the Atlanta Film Festival (1994-99).

“It’s slightly exaggerated in parts for comedic effect, but basically it just presents a normal slice of life [and] doesn’t pretend to be anything else,” Hubbell says. “It’s about creating your own family and making your own community, without hitting audiences over the head with some after-school-special kind of message.”

Since its premiere earlier this year at South by Southwest, “Gayby” has been making the film-festival rounds. Later this fall, there are plans to release the film theatrically in New York and Los Angeles. “People are really loving it,” Hubbell notes. “There’s a very inclusive spirit about it, with something for everyone.”

Among other highlights of this year’s festival: