Emory Cohen and Wendell Pierce Joshua Sanchez's Four

The Film Society of Lincoln Center and OutFest are proud to announce the 24th Annual New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Film Festival. Also known by the abbreviated title NewFest, the festival will feature a jam-packed lineup of sixteen narrative features and four documentaries, in addition to numerous short films.

Film Society is continuing to increase its dedication to the festival and, for the first time in NewFest's history, all of its screenings and panels will take place at the Walter Reade Theater. Outfest, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit devoted to the protecting and showcasing of LGBT media that is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, has merged with NewFest and programmed this year's lineup.

Set to open the festival is Four, directed by Brooklyn-based filmmaker Joshua Sanchez. An adaptation of the acclaimed play of the same name by Christopher Shinn, the film follows the unlikely connections of four very different individuals, including a conflicted closeted man (played by Wendell Pierce of The Wire) and a teenage girl trying to resist the affections of a drug-dealing suitor. Director Joshua Sanchez and playwright Christopher Shinn will be in person for a Q&A following the film's screening.

The acclaimed Chilean film Young & Wild will close the festival. The recipient of the World Cinema Screenwriting Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the film (inspired by co-writer Camila Gutiérrez's own real-life experiences) chronicles a young girl's foray into the world of sexually charged blogging, much to the shock and dismay of her uptight evangelical family. Young & Wild presents an unsentimental portrait of teenage sexual awakening, as well as an enlightening vision of life in contemporary Chile. Director and co-writer Marialy Rivas, Gutiérrez and star Alicia Rodriguez will be in person at the screening.


Haley Joel Osment and Ashely Rickards in Coley Sohn's Sassy Pants

This year's festival will also include more lighthearted fare, such as Petunia, whose comedic look at family dysfunction and sexual confusion is bolstered by an all-star cast that includes Eddie Kaye Thomas, Thora Birch and Brittany Snow. Also sure to delight is teen comedy Sassy Pants, which follows a girl as she runs away to live with her father and his much younger boyfriend, played by Haley Joel Osment of The Sixth Sense

This year's selection of documentaries promises an equally diverse collection of fascinating topics. They include Love Free or Die, the recipient of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Prize for Agent of Change at this year's Sundance Film Festival, which examines the life of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop to be elected. Also featured is Jobriath A.D., which follows the rise and fall of Jobriath, the flamboyant and influential 70s glam rock musician.

NewFest runs from July 27 – 31 at Film Society of Lincoln Center. Pre-sale tickets for Film Society and NewFest members are now available. Tickets go on sale to the General Public on June 28. For a full lineup and more information about all of this year's selected films, check out the festival page.