Outfest Downtown 30: YENTL

Downtown 30 celebrates the 30^th anniversary of Barbra Streisand’s landmark directorial debut, a sweeping and passionate musical about hiding who you are to get what you want. Streisand stars as Anshel, a brilliant woman who must disguise herself as a man to study the Talmud. Once she becomes a “Yeshiva boy,” she is forced to hide her love for classmate Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin), even if it means marrying the beautiful Hadass (Oscar nominee Amy Irving). YENTL is gorgeous and romantic, with great songs by Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman, but it’s also one of the big screen’s most heartfelt examinations of living life in — and eventually, out — of the closet.