A Message From the Board Of Directors

Welcome to the 25th ImageOut Film Festival, Rochester’s Celebration of the World’s Best LGBTQ Cinema.

This landmark anniversary is a time to celebrate the longevity of a cultural institution that since 1993 has brought to life on the big screen the many, varied stories of LGBTQ people. We’ve seen mainstream acceptance shift dramatically in this time, but even with cinematic moments like Brokeback Mountain and Moonlight, many voices are excluded or devalued, and too many LGBTQ lives are invisible in mainstream cinema. ImageOut is our home for those stories.

We will watch this year’s movies in challenging times. But we can draw strength from the generations who brought us up and OUT. They survived, they lived their truth, and they fought back. The trans women of color at the center of the Stonewall rebellion. The AIDS activists tending the sick and dying while fighting for the living. The Marriage Equality crusaders who toiled for decades to change hearts and minds from bigotry towards acceptance. These and many other have brought us this far and our communities will endure and overcome.

That spirit of community, of coming together to produce something of value is shared by the volunteers of ImageOut. Led by the Board of Directors and assisted by our Fundraising and Office Coordinator, Scott Horsington, these people are the lifeblood of ImageOut. On behalf of all of the ImageOut volunteers, welcome to this year’s Festival!

We hope you’ll join ImageOut Members, Volunteers, and Opening Night Ticket holders at our Festival Eve party on Thursday, October 5 at the beautiful new event space at Arbor Loft. Mingle with other ImageOut fans, swap movie tips, and catch the announcements of the jury award winning films of ImageOut 2017.

The ten days of amazing movies is sure to race by and we hope you will catch as many as you can. The board is committed to keeping ticket prices accessible. We have discounts for patrons 65 and older as well as 25 and under. OutReach tickets are set aside for every screening for people with financial disadvantage. All your ticket buying opportunities, discounts, and the outreach programs are described in these pages along with the wonderful movies.

Finally, we hope you’ll plan to attend our Closing Night Movie on Saturday, October 14. The happy and triumphant Freak Show is sure to get you in the mood for a night of entertainment, music, and dancing at Anthology in the heart of Rochester’s East End.

See you at the movies!