12 Moments That Define NewFest's History
Join us in taking a look back at twelve defining moments in NewFest history!
Since 1988, NewFest has been defining queer film for New York City and beyond. Browse through old programs and you’ll find a treasure trove of cinema with a mix of hidden gems, contemporary classics, and events that will have any gay cinephile longing for a time machine. Throughout moments of hardship and discrimination, queer film has survived and for 37 years NewFest has been there to celebrate it.
Join us in taking a look back at twelve defining moments in NewFest history!
1990 - Tongues Untied / Looking for Langston
During last year’s festival, NewFest had a 35th anniversary double feature of Marlon Riggs’ Tongues Untied and Isaac Julien’s Looking for Langston. But back in 1990 both films played during their initial festival runs! Alas you couldn’t do a double feature because they played on different days — Tongues Untied was paired with Pratibha Parmar’s Flesh & Paper and Looking for Langston played with a film called Trojans that also interpreted the life of a poet.
1993 - An Evening with Cheryl Dunye
Three years before she released her debut feature The Watermelon Woman, NewFest was already celebrating Cheryl Dunye. During this event hosted by African Ancestral Lesbians United for Social Change, Dunye was present to screen her short films Janine, She Don’t Fade, The Potluck and the Passion, and Vanilla Sex. In 1993 and today, celebrating filmmakers outside the feature space allows for a broader inclusion of artistic voices and provides support to visionary artists early in their careers.
1996 - Gender Trouble
The word transgender was added to the official NewFest name in 2004, but back in 1996 there was already programming specifically focused on gender. Gender Trouble was a retrospective series selected from The Ultimate Guide to Lesbian and Gay Film by film scholar and NewFest alum filmmaker Jenni Olson. The series included films ranging from 1947 (Boy! What a Girl!) to 1986 (Vera). Even in 1996, we were explaining to people that gender non-conformity was nothing new.
1997 - The Lesbian Handjob
The previous year, you could have gone to a double feature of the Wachowskis’ Bound and the iconic leatherdyke doc BloodSisters. But in 1997 the festival decided to present a more hands-on approach to films like these. The Lesbian Handjob: A Cinematic History of the Cinematic Handjob was a video clip and lecture by professor and author Mandy Merck. As the program states: Two thumbs up!
1998 - Edge of Seventeen (World Premiere)
Teen movies and romcoms are two genres that are often dismissed by film culture at large and this is even more true when those films are gay. Giving a film like Edge of Seventeen its world premiere is why a festival like NewFest is so important. More than a quarter century after NewFest selected it for its closing night gala, Edge of Seventeen is a gay classic.
1999 - A Tribute to Pratibha Parmar
NewFest was a frequent supporter of filmmaker Pratibha Parmar including having the U.S. premieres of two of her shorts in 1991. By 1999, timed with her new film The Righteous Babes, the NewFest program dedicated a page to Parmar’s work. Some queer filmmakers break through into the main canon, but many don’t — especially back in the 90s — and an organization like NewFest can give these artists their proper due.
2001 - Dustin Lance Black’s On the Bus
Back in 2001, years before he was an Oscar-winner, NewFest had the world premiere of another of his docs. On the Bus was an online reality show turned feature meta doc about a group of young gay men. From the beginning of a career to when someone is well-established, NewFest is there to support queer filmmakers.
2003 - Best Short Winner D.E.B.S.
The year before Angela Robinson made her spy spoof lesbian classic D.E.B.S., she made a short film version with the same title. With less money but the same humor and satire, the short film is a taste of what was to come and it won Best Short at NewFest’s 2003 festival. The next year Robinson’s feature would be the opening night film.
2006 - Rose Troche’s Practical Guide to Filmmaking
In addition to celebrating queer film upon its release, NewFest has long been dedicated to helping more filmmakers get new work made through lectures, networking, and funds. Back in 2006, one of these events was an introductory film class taught by Go Fish and The L Word writer/director/producer Rose Troche.
2011 - NewFest Visionary Award: Christine Vachon
Continuing NewFest’s commitment to celebrating queer artists, the first annual Visionary Award went to legendary producer Christine Vachon. Few, if any, producers in the last three decades have been as important as Christine Vachon in getting queer and alternative film produced and brought into the mainstream. For a festival with that same commitment to urgent, boundary-pushing art, Vachon was a fitting first honorary.
2013 - Yann Gonzalez’ You and the Night
Years before Yann Gonzalez’ Knife + Heart became an arthouse hit, NewFest had the US premiere of his debut feature, You and the Night. Despite premiering at Cannes, it took NewFest to recognize a bold new voice and bring this film about an orgy to the States. (This wasn’t Gonzalez’s first film at NewFest — his short Intermission played the festival in 2008.)
2015 - Her Story (World Premiere)
Trans representation in film and television has changed so quickly in the past decade, it’s easy to forget how much Her Story stood out when it had its World Premiere at NewFest in 2015. Written by Jen Richards and Laura Zak, starring Richards, Zak, and Angelica Ross, and directed by Sydney Freeland, Her Story told stories about trans women we’d never before seen on-screen. By centering the webseries, NewFest continued its commitment to expanding our cultural definitions of queer film and television.
If you want to check out more moments from NewFest history take a look at some of our past lineups!
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