L.A.'s Outfest to honor Todd Haynes

Los Angeles's gay and lesbian film festival, Outfest, has announced the lineup to be shown July 8-19, with Angela Robinson's D.E.B.S. kicking things off and Michael Mayer's A Home at the End of the World closing. Opening night, to be held downtown at the Orpheum Theatre, also will include a tribute to Todd Haynes, who will receive the fest's highest honor, the eighth annual Outfest Achievement Award. Haynes, whose films have had a profound impact on modern lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender cinema, according to Outfest, directed Far From Heaven, Velvet Goldmine, and Safe. The fest's official centerpiece will be Rodney Evans's Brother to Brother, a contemporary story of a young gay black artist struggling to find his place in the world that shows July 13 at the DGA Theatre. Awards night, July 18 at the Ford Amphitheater, will be accompanied by a showing of Richard Day's Straight-Jacket. In all, 218 features, documentaries and short films from 24 countries will be screened during the event at nine different venues across Los Angeles.