The celebrated “queer strand” of the Galway Film Fleadh, Out On Film launches with a bang next week in the City of the Tribes. The selection this year is the best yet, with feature films, documentaries and shorts to whet the appetite. Here are some of the highlights!

The Premiere of the award-winning ‘An Englishman in New York’ takes place on Tuesday 7^th July. Starring John Hurt as Quentin Crisp, with Cynthia Nixon (yes, her from Sex and the City) as Penny Arcade, it traces the writer and raconteur’s move from England to New York in the late 1970’s, and the status and celebrity he found there. Hurt looks amazing in the titular role, which harkens back to his performance in the 1975 TV film based on the autobiography ‘The Naked Civil Servant’.

‘Dolls’ is a road movie with a difference. Set in the Czech Republic, it is the story of three high school grads who decide to hitchhike to Holland for the summer, but are lumbered with an unlikely travelling companion who changes their relationships with each other, and their perspectives on impending adulthood. Showing on Wednesday 8^th July.

One more must-see is ‘Identities’, the feature documentary on Saturday 11^th July. An exploration of the transgender community in Ireland, it presents five very personal accounts, with a performance art piece to accompany each story, documenting Transvestism, Transsexualism, Drag, Sexual identity and Gender Dysphoria.

So, Go West! Out on Film runs from 7^th to 12^th July, in venues all over the city.

For more information on the festival programme, venues and screening times, check out www.galwayfilmfleadh.com or contact out@galwayfilmfleadh.com. For tickets phone 091-569777.