It was announced today that Glee star Chris Colfer will have his first starring role in a feature film close the festival which begins next month.

The film is a teen comedy called Struck By Lightning which the Golden Globe winning actor also wrote. Colfer plays a teen who is killed by lightning then looks back at the way he blackmailed his fellow classmates into contributing to his literary magazine.

Joining Colfer in the cast of Lightning are Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney and Allison Janney.

Lightning is one of 147 films from 24 countries at the festival which opens July 10 and runs through July 22.

Opening the festival will be Jeffrey Schwarz’s HBO documentary Vito. Prior to that screening, Outfest will honor director John Walters with its 16th annual achievement award which has previously gone to Jane Lynch, Sir Ian McKellen, Gus Van Sant, Todd Haynes, and Bill Condon, among others.

Other films featuring well-known stars include: Oscar winners Brenda Fricker and Olympia Dukakis in Cloudburst; Tony winner Alan Cumming and Raising Hope co-star Garret Dillahunt in Any Day Now; Lance Bass in Mississippi, I Am; Ugly Betty alum Michael Urie in Thank You for Judging; and Thora Birch, Christine Lahti and Brittany Snow in Petunia, among others.

For more information and for a complete listing of films in the festival, go to Outfest.org.

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