Event
NewFest38 in NYC: Clarissa Tonight, Club Kid and The Man I Love Still to Come
NewFest, New York's LGBTQ+ film organization since 1988, is midway through its 38th festival, October 15–25. Tonight brings Clarissa, a Lagos-set take on Mrs. Dalloway; Club Kid follows on the 23rd, and Ira Sachs's The Man I Love closes the festival on the 25th.
By NBT Editors · 2026-10-12
NewFest, the organization that has presented LGBTQ+ film and media in New York since 1988, is in the middle of its 38th annual festival, running October 15 to 25. It calls itself the city's largest presenter of LGBTQ+ film and the largest convener of queer audiences, with a mission of giving voice and visibility to the wide range of LGBTQ+ experiences through films and programs. Screenings are held at venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and there is an online component too.
The program is built around a run of centerpiece presentations. On October 19, the Spotlight Centerpiece was Elsinore, the true story of actor Ian Charleson, played by Andrew Scott. On October 21, Perfect followed: a heartbroken drifter, drawn to a lakeside haven by a mysterious pregnant woman, finds refuge among a group of eccentric misfits, only to discover that the oasis hides dark secrets.
Tonight, October 22, at 7:30 PM, the International Centerpiece Clarissa screens at SVA's Silas Theater. Adapted from Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, it follows a wealthy woman preparing for a party and a young soldier haunted by trauma as they confront the weight of their pasts, with the story set in Lagos, Nigeria.
Tomorrow, October 23, at 8:30 PM, also at the Silas, comes the New York Centerpiece, Club Kid, from Jordan Firstman and billed as a Cannes sensation. Its hard-partying New York club promoter finds his whirlwind lifestyle upended by the arrival of the 10-year-old son he never knew he had.
The festival closes on October 25 at 7:00 PM at the Silas with a screening and party for The Man I Love. Director Ira Sachs is a NewFest alum, and the film follows a downtown actor living with AIDS in late-1980s New York, starring Oscar winner Rami Malek.
NewFest membership brings exclusive discounts and invitations, and a virtual pass is available for people who want to watch from home. Limited-edition NewFest38 merchandise is on sale online and in person in the SVA Theatre lobby.
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