Outfest tonight: The restored "Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives"

If you are in the LA area and care at all about LGBT film history, get a ticket to tonight's Outfest Legacy Project Gala. It showcases the restoration premiere of the gay classic "Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives."

OK, so restoration premiere doesn't turn you on? It didn't me either when I half-heartedly went to last year's gala where "Parting Glances" was screened. It was absolutely my favorite night of the entire festival. So this year, my expectations are high and I feel confident enough to recommend you go since so much love and care goes into preserving these films about out history.

"Word is Out" is a landmark documentary created by a group of young filmmakers in 1978 and the second feature film restored by the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation. The filmmakers capture the innocence and charm of 26 people - ranging in age from 18 to 77, from San Francisco to New Mexico to Boston, from beehived housewife to sultry drag queen.

In 1978, the San Francisco Chronicle's John Wasserman wrote that the film was the "most intelligent, telling cinematic look to date at the homosexual experience in America, but beyond that, it is quite funny and speaks not only to the homosexual, but to all of us who have experienced the pain of being different; which is to say, all of us."

Outpass holders will need a seperate ticket to this event. A VIP TICKET costs $50 and includes admission to the 7 p.m. VIP pre-party at the DGA Heineken Green Room. General admission tickets are $30 and includes admission to the 10:30 p.m. Gala After-Party (DGA Lobby). Proceeds from this special event will benefit The Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation, a collaboration between Outfest and the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

For more information about Outfest, the 26th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival - which runs July 9-21 - go to Outfest.org