The 25th Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) set to take place June 14-18, 2023, revealed its lineup of narrative, documentary, and short films and honorees.
Award-winning filmmaker, photographer, writer Bruce LaBruce (Gerontophilia, L.A. Zombie and Saint-Narcisse) will be named 2023’s “Filmmaker on the Edge.” LaBruce will be in Provincetown to receive the award in conversation with resident artist John Waters.
“If anybody deserves the Filmmaker on Edge Award, it’s this year’s honoree Bruce LaBruce,” said John Waters. “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.”
Writer, director and actor 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”. The honor recognizes those who have exciting and distinctive voices, take artistic risks, and have a passionate commitment to independent film.
Stalter will also present PIFF’s opening night film, Cora Bora, in which she stars. 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.
Torres’ feature directorial debut, Problemista, which he also wrote, produced and starred in, will screen as a Spotlight Selection at the festival. The film follows an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador who struggles to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York and is running out of time on his work visa. He takes on the job of assisting an erratic art-world outcast (Tilda Swinton) in hopes to stay in the country. Also produced by Emma Stone, Dave McCary and Ali Herting, Problemista will be released by A24 later this year.
Singer, director, writer and producer Billy Porter will be honored with this year’s Excellence in Acting Award. In addition to receiving the award in conversation with film scholar and critic B. Ruby Rich, Porter will be in town to support Our Son, his latest film also starring Luke Evans. It follows a couple divorcing and navigating custody of their son and will screen in Provincetown on June 16 at Town Hall.
Theater Camp from directors Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman is set to close the festival. It tells the story about staff members of an upstate New York theater camp who must band together when their beloved founder falls into a coma. In addition to Problemisa, Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s debut feature MUTT, and Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s new documentary Taylor Mack’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music will be Spotlight Selections.
Lineup of the 25th Provincetown Film Festival
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