Out Twin Cities Film Festival will be hosting a 5-year anniversary party at Hotel Minneapolis on March 27. The event, titled, “Welcome OUT” will feature food, live music, photos on the red carpet, and more.

Founder and executive director Chris Durant explained how the festival came to be in 5 years ago. “I noticed a void in diverse international GLBTQ film representation from the Twin Cities so I asked myself why not start one. I asked my friend Donovan Harmel to help and he soon became the first board member.”

The festival has brought local, national, and international LGBT film talent to the big screen at venues like the Heights Theater and St. Anthony Main.

The festival as well as the organization continue to grow. Durant says they received their nonprofit certificate from the IRS in November after relying on a fiscal agent for several years.

This year’s festival will feature two new programs one of which is Family Friendly
“The Family Friendly programming is geared around family friendly content to give families, of all types, an opportunity for dialog, education and to share entertainment together,” he said.
The other new program is Adult Selection. “Let me clarify that The Adult Section programming is provocative not x-rated,” Durant is quick to note.

This year’s submissions for the festival have been pouring in, and the submission period ends Mar. 14.

The Welcome OUT event will have a lot of activities for attendees, and is “an opportunity to thank our sponsors and the community for their support,” says Durant.

Sponsors for the event are The Hotel Minneapolis – Autograph Collection, Lavender Magazine ,Middle English Interpreting and The Glbt Spot Store

“We will have a live band, The Teddy Holidays, A cake eating contest, a Step & Repeat with photography provided by Minneapolis Community and Technical College’s photography department, a Pot Of Gold guessing contest, Light Painting Photography in the Vault at Hotel Minneapolis and provided by Born Awsumb and other fun stuff! Since enduring a long harsh winter, we feel it’s a great time for the community to get out and have some fun.”

The festival is always looking for volunteers and donors to help keep the high quality event running.

[sws_blue_box box_size=”100″]Details
Date: March 27, 7-11 pm
Admission: Free
Location: Hotel Minneapolis – Autograph Collection, 215 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis
Dress: Semi-casual attire
For more information: Facebook. [/sws_blue_box]