Outfest, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting marginalized creators in the entertainment industry and showcasing queer, LGBTQ+, and underrepresented stories, has honored filmmaker Andrew Ahn with the Outfest Achievement Award.
The prestigious award was presented during the Opening Night of the 41st Outfest Los Angeles Summer Festival. The fest is sponsored by Genesis Motor America and Warner Bros. Discovery. The Outfest Achievement Award is bestowed upon individuals whose body of work has made a significant contribution to gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender media arts.
Ahn, a queer Korean American filmmaker, has gained recognition for his feature films, including Fire Island starring Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, and Margaret Cho, as well as Driveways featuring Hong Chau, which received two Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best First Screenplay and Best Lead Actress. Ahn has also directed fiction and documentary television for notable platforms such as Netflix, FX, HBO Max, CBS, Sundance Channel, and KCET.
His commitment to promoting diversity in the arts is evident through his mentorship of young filmmakers in programs like Pacific Arts Movement’s Reel Voices, Outfest’s OutSet, and the Sundance Institute’s Native Filmmaker Lab.
Ahn joins a distinguished list of past recipients of the Outfest Achievement Award, including Jane Lynch, John Waters, Bryan Fuller, Elliot Page, and Billy Porter.
In addition to honoring Andrew Ahn, Outfest has announced that its Trans, Nonbinary, and Intersex Summit on Saturday, July 22, 2023, will feature a panel titled “Outcasts and Iconoclasts: The New Trans Cinema.”
REELated:
The panel will include notable figures such as Aitch Alberto (from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe), Tre’vell Anderson (author of We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film), Vera Drew (from The People’s Joker), Zackary Drucker (from The Stroll, Queenmaker, and The Lady and the Dale), Alice Maio Mackay (from T Blockers), Sav Rodgers (from Chasing Chasing Amy), and Georden West (from Playland).
Outfest’s programs, including Outfest Fusion and Outfest Los Angeles, have featured an impressive selection of films by TNBI (Trans, Nonbinary, and Intersex) filmmakers. These films push artistic boundaries, explore LGBTQ+ history to forge new paths for the future, and redefine what it means to be a “trans film” in today’s ever-changing landscape.
Outfest aims to acknowledge this moment in time, where TNBI filmmakers and the community defy uncertainty, fear, and violence. Just as the “Barbed-Wire Kisses” panel at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival defined the New Queer Cinema movement during a time of crisis, Outfest seeks to commemorate this significant juncture for TNBI filmmakers and the community.
Tickets are available for purchase on outfestla.org. The 41st Outfest Los Angeles Summer Festival will run from Thursday, July 13 to Sunday, July 23, with the full program available on outfestla.org.
