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19th ANNUAL NEWFEST AWARDS ‘OUTING RILEY’ WITH TOP PRIZE

Other top awards go to ‘Out at the Wedding,’ ‘The Birthday,’ and ‘Saving Marriage’

Other top awards go to ‘Out at the Wedding,’ ‘The Birthday,’ and ‘Saving Marriage’

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New York, NY – The 19th Annual NewFest (New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Film Festival) came to a close this past Sunday. “We had another strong turnout to this year’s festival,” said Basil Tsiokos, Artistic Director of NewFest. “We’re proud to have provided a great kickoff to Gay Pride Month.”

Administrative Director Kerry Weldon added, “The LGBT community showed strong support for this year’s festival, and we’re sure they will be even more supportive as we expand the festival further for next year’s 20th anniversary”

Before the closing night screening of ‘Save Me,’ Mr. Tsiokos and Ms. Weldon announced the winners of this year’s awards. The Best US Narrative Feature was awarded to ‘Outing Riley’ directed by Pete Jones, who also won the first Project Greenlight competition.

Here is a complete list of this year’s NewFest award winners:

Showtime Vanguard Award: The Birthday, directed by Negin Kianfar & Daisy Mohr, a documentary exploring Iran’s surprisingly liberal policies regarding transsexuality.

Best Documentary Short: Freeheld, directed by Cynthia Wade, about a dying NJ policewoman’s fight to transfer her pension to her lover.

Best Narrative Short: Pariah, directed by Dee Rees, about a Bronx teen who tries to juggle multiple identities for her family and friends.


Best Documentary: Saving Marriage, directed by Mike Roth & John Henning, about the fight for gay marriage in Massachusetts.


· Best Foreign Narrative: Times Have Been Better, directed by Regis Musset, about the serio-comic dissolution of a French family after a grown son finally comes out to them.
Best US Narrative: Outing Riley, directed by Pete Jones, a comedy about a close-knit Irish-Catholic family’s attempts to deal with a sibling’s sexuality.


Audience Award (Best Short): Kali Ma, directed by Soman Chainani; about an Indian mother’s revenge on her son’s bully.


· Audience Award (Best Feature): Out at the Wedding, directed by Lee Friedlander, a screwball comedy about a straight woman who is incorrectly outed at her sister’s wedding.


Rounding out this year’s festivities will be the Tuesday, June 12 event ‘Another Gay Reading,’ which is a staged screenplay reading of writer/director Todd Stephen’s upcoming sequel ‘Another Gay Movie 2: Gays Gone Wild.’ Returning as their roles from the original film are Michael Carbonaro, Jonah Blechman, Mitch Morris, Ashlie Atkinson, and Lipsynka with special guests RuPaul and The Lady Bunny.