In its 37th year, NewFest continues to raise the bar for LGBTQ film and industry programming.
The LGBTQ film festival, which runs from October 9-21, throughout New York City boasts 13 days of events, activities, and screenings of over 130 films. These range from premieres to special presentations, and retrospective screenings. It is the country’s largest LGBTQ film festival.
On Spirit Day, the world’s most visible anti-bullying movement inspiring LGBTQ youth to live their lives in truth and authenticity, NewFest continued its collaboration with NYC’s Department of Education and GLAAD for the eighth year, showing a shorts program curated for LGBTQ teens. The screening event was open exclusively for LGBTQ students, staff, youth organizations, and school GSAs for free, and included titles: “Baba I’m Fine” (Dir. Karina Dandashi), “A Friend of Dorothy” (Dir. Lee Knight), “One For the Team” (Dir. Rain Valdez), “Dragfox” (Dir. Lisa ‘Lee’ Ott), and “Dandelion” (Dir. Fiona Obertinca). The shorts program, billed as “an affirming […] program for LGBTQ+ teens and allies, featuring diverse stories of resilience, magic, and joy” delivered on all.
David Hatkoff, NewFest’s Executive Director said of the program: “Holding our high school shorts program on Spirit Day felt especially powerful. Spirit Day is about taking a stand against bullying by showing LGBTQ youth they are not alone — and at NewFest, these students weren’t just supported, they were centered. They got to see themselves reflected on screen, share space with peers who understand them, and feel the strength that comes from being in community rather than in isolation.”
Nick McCarthy, NewFest’s Director of Programming, welcomed the students with a call-to-action: “We encourage you to be yourself always, and be yourself as you enjoy these five queer teen-centric shorts curated for you — so laugh, cry, shout, clap, ooo, and ahhh. This space is for you, and it’s yours!”
Later in the day, true to intergenerational focus, a 30th Anniversary screening of “The Celluloid Closet” (1995) presented in partnership with The American LGBTQ+ Museum took place at the SVA Theater which featured an extended Q&A moderated by Imara Jones (TransLash) with co-directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, along with Jordaine Seales (critic), GLAAD Senior Director of Entertainment Alex Schmider, and Brandon Smith (Founder, Queer Voices NYC). Epstein and Friedman dedicated the anniversary screening to Vito Russo, one of GLAAD’s founders who authored the 1981 book (of the same name) which inspired the documentary. Vito’s niece Vicki Russo was also in attendance.
Other legacy features showing at NewFest this year are “Born Yesterday” (1950), “Desert Hearts” (1986) and “My Beautiful Laundrette” (1985). These three films, as with “The Celluloid Closet,” were films included in an initiative led by Rotten Tomatoes to unearth archival reviews to contribute to their current scores. All four titles are now Certified Fresh on the site, adding 218 reviews in total. A conversation about this effort, put on by Rotten Tomatoes Critics Lab, for the NBCUniversal x Rotten Tomatoes: The NewFest Experience on October 18 convened critics and producers Valerie Complex, Richard Lawson, and Alex Schmider with moderator Murtada Elfadl, NewFest Senior Programmer, to explore how LGBTQ communities historically built and dissected popular culture. A culmination of years’ worth of archival work, this panel spotlit critical reactions to “The Celluloid Closet” and more.
NewFest announced the 2025 Award Winners Across Jury, Audience, and Black LGBTQ+ Filmmaker Categories, and continues its programming year-round.
For more information, visit newfest.org.
