OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival Miami Returns – NBC 6 South Florida

The highly anticipated OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival celebrating queer culture runs April 18 – 28 and will feature more than 50 internationally acclaimed features and shorts including premieres and documentaries that inspire, entertain, and educate.

Adding to the excitement and sense of community this year will be a Latin Spotlight featuring men’s and women’s films, a panel for aspiring filmmakers and FREE Uber rides to and from select film screenings. The films will screen at Silverspot Cinema Miami (300 Southeast 3rd Street) from April 18 to 24 and at Regal South Beach (1120 Lincoln Road Mall, Miami Beach) from April 25 to 28. A variety of parties and special events will take place at various locations throughout Miami.

This year’s opening night film taking place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, at Silverspot Cinema Miami is Turtles (Les Tortues) (Belgium/Canada, 2023). Directed by David Lambert, this relationship 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 Hotel Miami Afterparty will take place immediately following the screening.

Brand new to the Miami line-up this year is a Latin Spotlight night set for Saturday, April 20, at Silverspot Cinema Miami, with four films from Latin America.

Plus two nights of Cocktails & Cinema will celebrate our local filmmakers, cast and crews from students to seasoned
veterans of the industry at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 22, and Tuesday, April 23, at Silverspot Cinema Miami.

To encourage more local LGBTQ+ filmmakers to tell their stories, OUTshine will present its Filmmaker Panel on Saturday, 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, director of Fallen Fruit, I Wonder If I’m Growing and programmer with the Miami Film Festival; 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.

The North American premiere of Mascarpone: The Rainbow Cake (Maschile Plural) (Italy, 2024) will be the Closing Night Film commencing at 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 28, at Regal South Beach. Director Alesandro Haigh presents an intoxicating drama about sexy duo Antonio and Luca who are trying to pick up the pieces three years after their friend Denis’s passing. While each went their separate ways, when the two meet again Antonio mistakes Luca’s desire to reconnect as more than just a pure gesture of friendship. Immediately following at 8 p.m., a celebratory South Beach Group Hotel Closing Night Party will take place at the Miami Beach Women’s Club (2401 Pine Tree Drive, Miami Beach).

To make attending OUTshine’s incredible films and special events more accessible, the City of Miami is offering FREE Uber Rides to and from Silverspot Cinema (within a 25 mile radius) valid from April 18 through April 24!

OUTrageous, OUTspoken, and OUTstanding, this year’s OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival Miami is sponsored, in part, by Miami Dade County, the City of Miami Beach and Gilead.

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