Best of Fest 2023

Dirty Difficult Dangerous

A downtrodden Ethiopian maid and a handsome Syrian refugee who subsists on scavenging the streets of Beirut are the unlikely couple at the center of this quirky Lebanese drama that explores difficult circumstances with an unexpectedly light and humorous touch. Read More

Running Time: 83

Driving Madeleine

The amazing nonagenarian talent Line Renaud is incandescent as Madeleine, a tough broad with a hard-earned appreciation for friendship and life’s little pleasures. Over the course of a taxi ride through Paris with a stressed-out driver (comic legend Dany Boon) she changes his life. Read More

Running Time: 91

Esther Newton Made Me Gay

Cultural anthropologist and proud lesbian Esther Newton was years ahead of her time when she studied Midwestern drag shows in the 1960s, back when academia turned its back on her. Now an icon who has inspired legions of activists and scholars, Newton reflects on her life in this warm, saucy tribute. Read More

Running Time: 90

Joyland

When the youngest son of a patriarchal household joins a risqué nightclub act as a backup dancer and enters into a passionate romance with the show’s dazzling trans lead, a long-simmering desire for sexual liberation is ignited among the members of his conservative family. This screening is free to AMPAS members who show their... Read More

Running Time: 127

Juniper

After being suspended from boarding school, a troubled teen is forced to spend time with his ferocious, gin-soused grandmother (a volcanic Charlotte Rampling) as punishment while she recovers from a broken leg. As the two stubborn forces of nature clash, their gloomy lives unexpectedly begin to brighten. Read More

Running Time: 95

Klondike

In a small Eastern Ukrainian village near the Russian border, an expectant couple refuses to evacuate at the start of the Donbas war. Amid wreckage and simmering interpersonal resentments, they attempt to rebuild their bombed home. This screening is free to AMPAS members who show their current AMPAS membership card at our box... Read More

Running Time: 100

Lift

After achieving international stardom as a ballet dancer, Steven Melendez returns to the program where his journey began – in a homeless shelter in the Bronx – to mentor and inspire a new generation of young people to follow and attain their dreams. Read More

Running Time: 87

Liquor Store Dreams

Filmmaker So Yun Um grew up in her parents’ liquor store – one of many Korean-owned shops in the predominantly Black South Los Angeles. In her probing first feature, Um reflects on what it means to be a second generation “liquor store baby” in a post-George Floyd America. Read More

Running Time: 85

Mama Bears

In this soul-warming documentary, we meet the brave Christian mothers – indoctrinated by anti-gay bias in their fundamentalist and Evangelical churches – who band together to protect their queer and trans children. At risk of losing their friends and communities, they make the grand leap from prejudice to Pride protests. Read More

Running Time: 90

A Man Called Otto

A Man Called Otto tells the story of Otto Anderson, a grump who’s given up on life following the loss of his wife and wants to end it all. When a lively young family moves in next door, he meets his match in quick-witted Marisol, leading to an unlikely friendship that will turn his world around. Read More