GAY AND LESBIAN MOVIE buffs are in for a treat Nov. 11-17 with the 18th annual Out On Film festival, which serves up a buffet of entertaining features, documentaries and shorts.

From the buzz-generating “TransAmerica” to independent gems like “Keep Not Silent,” as well as comedies like “Adam & Steve” and moving love stories like “Sevigne,” this year’s festival has an offering for everyone.

There are a number of remarkable documentaries, along with several intriguing stories about gay men, lesbians and transgendered people of color.

Toby is fresh out of jail and eager to move to Los Angeles to star in gay porn films. Huffman delivers a believable, standout performance, but what ensues is a mediocre road trip movie in which Bree and her son endlessly deceive one another, then inexplicably become a happy family.

An inspiring testimony of love, commitment and determination in the face of generations of oppression, this documentary traces the life and times of veteran lesbian activists and couple Del Martin and Phyliss Lyon. From the founding of the first lesbian rights organization in 1955 — whose name, “Daughters of Bilitis,” was meant to invoke the image of a “Greek poetry club” — to the contentious split between gay men and lesbians fighting for civil rights, Martin and Lyon were stationed on the front lines of battles for gay, lesbian and women’s rights over the past half century.

The worst aspect of this movie is its too-brief, 75-minute length, which leaves audiences yearning to learn more about the lead characters and their fascinating lives.

Almost a lesbian version of “Paris is Burning” — the ‘80s classic that introduced the world to Harlem drag and “Voguing” and screens as an Out On Film retrospective Nov. 13 at 3:30 p.m. — “Aggressives” documents the lives of six lesbians who compete in drag king balls in New York.

Their sexual orientation, gender identity and social class range from the androgynous “fem aggressive” model Kisha, to an orphaned teen-ager named Tiffany, who initially doesn’t identify as lesbian because she only dates transgendered women.

Viewers also come to know the womanizing Rjai, an Army recruit named Marquise, a poor Chinese immigrant name Flo and a young tomboy named Octavia, who did a stint in jail during filming. All of the women have one thing in common: It is they who wear the pants in relationships.

When Tim (Jonathan Slavin) discovers a drug trial for a pill that promises to make gay men straight, he volunteers in hopes of improving his no-win gay life, much to the chagrin of his friends.

Even with moments of humor and brief brushes with true-to-life representations, the film tries too hard to make statements on a smorgasbord of gay issues instead of focusing on the strength of its character portrayals.

A superb documentary chronicling the struggle of three lesbians in Israel fighting to live their lives openly in their Orthodox Jerusalem community. Winner of the Israeli version of the Oscar for Best Documentary, this film delves into an underground world of “Ortho-Dykes,” women too afraid to show their faces on camera out of fear of repercussion. Their stories are deeply sorrowful, sprinkled with hope and spiritually inspiring.

Jim (Alun Armstrong) is a recently retired British schoolteacher whose remaining goals are to fall in love and see the world. Ray (Paul Freeman) is a cabbie who feels increasingly isolated in his old age. The men develop a heartwarming romance in this wonderful film.

The script and direction are spot-on, and the lead actors deliver exquisitely well-crafted and emotionally honest performances. One of the best offerings at Out on Film.

High school rowing stars and best friends, Tobi and Achim venture off to a summer rowing camp, with Tobi toting along a big, secret crush on Achim.

Achim is a girl-struck teen-ager, much to the chagrin of sexually confused Tobi, whose confusion amplifies when the competing team is a gang of gay rowers known as the Queerstrokes. Homophobic tension arises between the two teams, but then teen-age hormones spin out of control.

Neither of the two shorts about men who have sex with men on the down low (“DL Chronicles” and “On the Low”) are confined by the recent generic media portrayals, but instead delve into the true essence of self acceptance. The final short in this series (“Brooklyn Bridge to Jordan”) is an emotional journey of a woman fighting for family and dignity after her female lover is killed in a car crash.

Interwoven stories about two interracial couples living in Vancouver, it’s not exactly clear why these two families’ tales are stitched together until the end of the movie, and even then it’s a stretch.

Separately, the story about Janet, a liberated Japanese-Canadian lesbian, pressuring her closeted Chinese-Canadian lover, Cara, into marriage is the more plausible and enjoyable script.

The other storyline focuses on Jesse, a teen-ager who’s just stepped out of the closet and is about to get a few queer tips from his here-today-gone-tomorrow gay dad. Jesse’s stepfather feels ostracized by the bond gay father and gay son develop, but don’t count step dad out.

This comical short film is the only contribution to Out on Film by an Atlanta filmmaker. Lesbian writer and director Rossalind Luna tells the story of Bobby and Lisa, a straight Latino couple living in Atlanta, who enlist Bobby’s younger gay brother Charlie to inseminate Lisa.

“7 Minutes Without Foreplay,” Luna’s cinematic debut, was inspired by the missing sex scene between Madonna and Rupert Everett in the 2000 movie “The Next Best Thing,” though its story and characters were not.

The first two-thirds of “Hate Crime” is extremely formulaic. A happy and attractive young gay couple (Brian J. Smith and Seth Peterson from TV’s “Providence”) plan their wedding and talk about having a baby. But expect trouble when a sexually confused, homophobic son of a fire-and-brimstone minister (Bruce Davison of “Longtime Companion”) moves in next door. The last third of the movie rises above its beginnings and manages some intriguing plotlines and a surprise ending that might make the film worthwhile.

Underneath a blonde Dutch-boy haircut was Berlin’s chiseled face, which, along with every other inch of his body, oozed erotic hedonism. Even with only two underground porn flicks made upon arrival to the U.S. from Germany, Berlin strove to be every man’s unattainable fantasy each time he strolled down the street.

The undefeated Aboro, who all of the film’s subjects agree is the best in the world, lost her boxing contract because her butch look outside the ring and “manly” fighting style clashed with the marketing-driven world of European TV promoters.

Undeterred, Aboro, who likens the challenges of her sexual identity with growing up in her mixed-race family, continues to train and is seeking a court settlement with German boxing promoters Universum.

Her strong bonds with family and friends provide another highlight in a film that could use better editing to make its messages stronger and easier to follow.

“Sex” proves a powerful celebra-tion of gay male sexuality during a decade when gay men were emboldened by liberation victories including the 1969 Stonewall Riots. The steamy recollections of sex en masse at venues like bathhouses, bars, trucks parked on the riverfront and abandoned warehouses are tinged with the tragic sadness of friends remembering friends who died of AIDS just a few years later.

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