In his directorial debut, young NYC-based filmmaker Alden Peters documents his own coming-out experience, capturing everything on-camera as he plans and boldly captures his disclosures to friends, family, and society. Inspired by social media coming out videos by teens around the world, COMING OUT places
viewers directly inside the raw, intimate moments when Alden reveals
his true identity to his family and friends, ranging from the painfully
awkward to the hilariously honest.
Crowdsourced videos from LGBTQ youth from around the world complement the depth of Alden's own story, and he also interviews his
own family, friends, and leading LGBT figures and experts, including
Janet Mock, about the unique challenges of coming out in today's digital
era.
Said Alden, "When I was a questioning
teenager, and later when I made the decision to come out of the closet, I
searched for a film that showed the process of coming out. I found
nothing but fiction films and YouTube videos, and nobody discussed what
happened immediately after coming out. I wanted to see that entire
process and hear the uncertainties along the way. Over five years later, Coming Out is the film that I craved."
In the age of smartphones, Facebook, and over-sharing, COMING OUT succeeds in making the personal both a cultural event and a political celebration, and a poignant transcendence of the genre.
