The Provincetown Film Festival has released its full lineup for its 25th annual festival in 2023, and the honorees for this year include Billy Porter, Megan Stalter, Julio Torres, and Bruce LaBruce.
Bruce LaBruce, the writer-director behind Saint-Narcisse and Gerontophilia will be named 2023’s Filmmaker on the Edge. Currently working on an art/porn experimental film called THE VISITOR for the a/political gallery in London, LaBruce will be in attendance at the festival in Provincetown, Mass. to receive the award and have a conversation with resident artist John Waters (Pink Flamingos, Cry Baby).
“If anybody deserves the Filmmaker on Edge Award, it’s this year’s honoree Bruce LaBruce,” Waters said. “He’s been pushing the limits of gay correctness, punk attitude, and political mayhem for about forty years and has somehow managed to keep his celluloid troublemaking spirit intact both above and below the limits of underground and commercial filmmaking. Filth followers everywhere – we honor you, Bruce LaBruce.”
Billy Porter, the Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Award-winning actor, singer, director, writer and producer of Pose and Kinky Boots will receive this year’s Excellence in Acting Award in conversation with film scholar and critic B. Ruby Rich. He also has a movie in the festival: Our Son starring Luke Evans. The film follows a couple navigating custody of their son through their divorce. It will screen in Provincetown on June 16 at Town Hall.
“Billy Porter is a boundary-breaking talent,” said Anne Hubbell, the executive director of the Provincetown Film Festival. “Whether on the screen or on stage, Billy’s performances captivate and stay with you. We’re so thrilled to honor him and share his new film Our Son with audiences.”
Julio Torres (Problemista, Los Espookys) and writer, actress, and comedian Megan Stalter (Cora Bora, Hacks) will both be in attendance to receive the festival’s Next Wave Award.
Torres’ feature directorial debut, Problemista, which he also wrote, produced, and starred in, will screen as a Spotlight Selection at the festival.
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Stalter, who appears in the film, will also present the opening night film, Cora Bora, which she also stars in. Directed by Hannah Pearl Utt and written by Rhianon Jones, CORA BORA follows the story of Cora, a messy millennial and struggling musician. When she goes home to Portland to win her girlfriend back, Cora realizes there’s a lot more than her love life that needs salvaging.
“The fresh, unparalleled artistry of Julio Torres and Megan Stalter embodies the spirit and energy of our Next Wave Award,” said Provincetown Film Festival director of programming, Andrew Peterson. “We are so thrilled to share their innovative talents and films with the Provincetown Film Festival audience this year.”
The closing night film will be Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s Theater Camp, which tells the story of staff members at an upstate New York theater camp who must band together when their beloved founder falls into a coma.
“In celebrating 25 years of PIFF, we are beyond excited to present a fantastic slate of over 100 films that include wildly talented first-time filmmakers, BIPOC and LGBTQIA voices, and our longstanding commitment to gender parity,” said Provincetown Film Festival Artistic Director Lisa Viola. “Opening the festival with the new queer comedy Cora Bora from PIFF alum Hannah Pearl Utt, and featuring a breakout performance from Megan Stalter, we are thrilled to share this milestone with both the filmmakers and our filmgoing community together in Provincetown.”
The festival will take place from June 14-18, 2023. Find more information about tickets here.
See the Full 2023 Provincetown Film Festival Lineup
OPENING NIGHT
CORA BORA – directed by Hannah Pearl Utt
CLOSING NIGHT
THEATER CAMP – directed by Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman
SPOTLIGHT SELECTIONS
MUTT – directed by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz
TAYLOR MAC’S 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC – directed by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
PROBLEMISTA – directed by Julio Torres
NARRATIVE FEATURES
ART THIEF – directed by Arthur Egeli
AUGUST AT TWENTY-TWO – directed by Sophia Castuera
BIG BOYS – directed by Corey Sherman
BLUE JEAN – directed by Georgia Oakley
EARTH MAMA – directed by Savanah Leaf
EGOIST – directed by Daishi Matsunaga
FAIRYLAND – directed by Andrew Durham
HANGDOG – directed by Matt Cascella
JOY RIDE – directed by Adele Lim
THE LESSON – directed by Alice Troughton
A LITTLE PRAYER – directed by Angus MacLachlan
MAMACRUZ – directed by Patricia Ortega
OUR SON – directed by Bill Oliver
PASSAGES – directed by Ira Sachs
PLAYLAND – directed by Georden West
THE POD GENERATION – directed by Sophie Barthes
ROTTING IN THE SUN – directed by Sebastián Silva
SCRAPPER – directed by Charlotte Regan
SUMMER SOLSTICE – directed by Noah Schamus
WILL-O’-THE-WISP – directed by João Pedro Rodrigues
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
AFTER THE BITE – directed by Ivy Meeropol
BOSTON SCHOOL BATTLE – directed by Sharon Grimberg, Cyndee Readdean
CHASING CHASING AMY – directed by Sav Rodgers
THE DEEPEST BREATH – directed by Laura McGann
DESPERATE SOULS, DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY – directed by Nancy Buirski
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERE HITE – directed by Nicole Newnham
HIDDEN MASTER: THE LEGACY OF GEORGE PLATT LYNES – directed by Sam Shahid
IN THE WHALE – directed by David Abel
INVISIBLE BEAUTY – directed by Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng
IT’S BASIC – directed by Marc Levin
IT’S ONLY LIFE AFTER ALL – directed by Alexandria Bombach
KOKOMO CITY – directed by D. Smith
LAKOTA NATION VS. UNITED STATES – directed by Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli
QUEENDOM – directed by Agniia Galdanova
ROCK HUDSON: ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWED – directed by Stephen Kijak
THE SPACE RACE – directed by Lisa Cortés, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza
THE STROLL – directed by Kristen Lovell, Zackary Drucker
SUNDAY BEST – directed by Sacha Jenkins
ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (WE WILL SPEAK) – directed by Schon Duncan, Michael McDermit
WHO I AM NOT – directed by Tünde Skovrán
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
John Waters Presents: ANTICHRIST – directed by Lars von Trier
I AM A TOWN – directed by Mischa Richter
NEVER LET HIM GO (episodic series) – directed by Jeff Dupre, Jacob Hickey
SHORT FILMS
NARRATIVE SHORTS
A REAL ONE – directed by McKenzie Chinn
AFTER CLOSING – directed by Carley Byers
BI THE WAY – directed by Amir Ovadia Steklov
BREAKUP TEXT – directed by Elizabeth Baudouin
CAMPFIRE – directed by Austin Lee Bunn
CUXBALL – directed by Dave Paige
EVERY OTHER KID – directed by Patrick Godino
FAMILY AFFAIR – directed by Julio Dowansigh
FANATIC – directed by Taran Killam
GORKA – directed by Joe Weiland
HONEY TO THE MOON – directed by Rob Woodcox, Eduardo Cifuentes
INCOMPLETE – directed by Sasha Korbut
INSTA GAY – directed by Simon Paluck
KNOW YOU TWICE – directed by Andrew Chan Gladstone
MOLES – directed by Vanja Victor Kabir Tognola
MOTHERLAND – directed by Christina Yoon
MY DEAR BOY – directed by Leaf Lieber
READ’EM AND WEEP – directed by Jeffery Hoyt
REST – directed by Joan Cassin
SAFE AS HOUSES – directed by Mia Mullarkey
SAFE WORD – directed by Christopher Cunetto
SWIPE NYC – directed by Sue Zarco Kramer
THE DALLES – directed by Angalis Field
THE PRINCIPAL’S ASSEMBLY – directed by Jordan Ancel
THIRSTYGIRL – directed by Alexandra Qin
TO MY NEXT LOVER – directed by Kieran Charnock
TOE TAG – directed by Jordon Bolden
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
A CALL TO ACTION: THE FREEDOM BUDGET OF 1966 – directed by Jenny Alexander
AMERICAN SANTA – directed by Avi Zev Weider
DAUGHTER OF RUBENS – directed by Sarah Hachey
EMPRESS NICOLE THE GREAT – directed by Dara Bratt
FOOT PRINT SHOP – directed by Gina Kamentsky
GRASS-FED CAPITALISM – DEF-SSARG MSILATIPAC – directed by Jay Critchley
GUERRILLA HABEAS – directed by Betsy Hershey, Emma Wall
HELEN PASHGIAN : VISIBLE INVISIBLE – directed by Anika Kan Grevstad
I (HEART) JACK LALANNE: A CARTOON MEMOIR – directed by LeAnn Erickson
JACK AND SAM – directed by Jordan Matthew Horowitz
LESBIANS ON THE LOOSE – directed by Steph Jowett, Tilly Robba
MNM – directed by Twiggy Pucci Garçon
PAINTING TIME … AND THE TOWN – directed by Lise Balk King
PARKER – directed by Catherine Hoffman, Sharon Liese
PROJECTIONIST – directed by Deniz Akyurek, Noah Matalon
RESTORING AN ICON: TOM TOWNSEND AND CIRRUS – directed by Durier Ryan
THE SCRIPT – directed by Brit Fryer, Noah Schamus
ANIMATED SHORTS
AIKĀNE – directed by Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson
BLUEBERRY – directed by Stephanie Glover
BREATHE – directed by Loi Huynh, Jordan Waterworth
MY DEAR MR. WHITMAN – directed by Jeremiah Dickey
REGULAR RABBIT – directed by Eoin Duffy
Y – directed by Matea Kovač

Main Image: Julio Torres and Tilda Swinton in Problemista courtesy of Provincetown Film Festival