"We've been able to pick the best queer films from the last two years and we're thrilled with the quality and diversity of this year's line-up," says Out Takes Film Festival chief programmer Simon Fulton as 2009's complete film schedule is revealed. A total of eighty titles, including full-length and short films, have been selected from hundreds of entries into the festival. "There's comedy, thrillers, musicals, horror films, romances, documentaries - and of course a bit of raunch - in the collection we've put together for you this year." Out Takes 2009: A Reel Queer Film Festival - New Zealand's annual showcase of local and international queer cinema - starts in Auckland's Sky City Cinema on 21 May and will travel to Wellington's Paramount Cinema to open 28 May, then opens at Christchurch's Regent on Worchester Cinemas on 4 June. Out Takes 2009, presented by a non-profit group of queer volunteers called Reel Queer, aims to bring the best recent feature films, short films and documentaries to Kiwi lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, takatāpui and intersex communities. "Out Takes films have strong queer characters and storylines and reflect queer lives authentically in ways that, often, mainstream films on general release here do not," Fulton notes. GayNZ.com is proudly sponsoring Swedish film Patrik, Age 1.5 (pictured above), a drama about a gay couple who seek to adopt a baby, but end up fostering a 15-year-old homophobic delinquent. Since its last festival in 2007, Reel Queer fundraised last year with several one-off screenings. Like many arts events the festival has had to reduce costs, but Out Takes 2009 organisers are confident this year's film selection will be just what winter-weary queers, their friends and family need this May. Printed festival programmes will be available from Saturday 2 May around Auckland and Wellington LGBT-friendly venues and businesses, and around Christchurch's from Saturday 9 May. The Out Takes Film Festival website has now been updated with a complete listing of every film at this year's festival. The official trailer for Patrik, Age 1.5, is shown below. Reel Queer/GayNZ.com - 15th May 2009