‘Bitter Melon’ to be shown in Outfest LA

LOS ANGELES — One of the more than 150 feature and short films to be shown to more than 40,000 people in Outfest Los Angelesis “Bitter Melon,” a film project chosen last year for funding and support under Cinematografo Originals.

Outfest is the oldest film festival in Los Angeles and considered the preeminent LGBTQ film festival in the world. It kicks off today, July 12 for a full 11 days of world-class films, panels, and parties.

“Bitter Melon” is the third feature film that filmmaker H.P. Mendoza directed (“Fruit Fly,” “I Am a Ghost”). The film had its world premiere at the CAAMFest in San Francisco last May. Dennis Harvey of Varietydescribed it as “invigorating” and Mendoza’s “best directorial feature to date.”  KGO Radio praised it as “a rare and wonderful movie.”  Tim Sika of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle hailed it as “an indie masterpiece.”

Harvey writes of“Bitter Melon”: “Domestic violence and black comedy don’t seem a natural match, but to an impressive degree ‘Bitter Melon’ pulls off their shotgun marriage.” He added that “the film has juggled a lot of tonal, plot and character elements with aplomb — Mendoza’s screenplay achieving a kind of high-fiber, low-fat emotional shorthand furthered by energetic input from Juli Lopez’s widescreen lensing and Sylvia Fernandez’s editing.”

Bitter Melon will be shown on July 13 at Harmony Gold Theater, a landmark, historic state-of-the-art screening and event facility on West Sunset Boulevard at 7pm. For more info and to buy tickets, visit https://www.outfest.org/filmguide/bitter-melon-2/