July 13–20, 2000
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It’s Party Time
The Gay and Lesbian Film Festival makes some noise
After last year’s record-breaking attendance levels put them neck-and-neck with the Philadelphia International Festival of World Cinema, the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is celebrating its sixth anniversary with nearly two weeks of films, parties, special guests, parties, tributes and more parties. If that description seems a bit festively inclined, it’s only because this Festival’s organizers have always treated the event as much like a community celebration as a haven for cinephiles. You can quarrel with the occasional unchallenging choice of film, but for dazzle, starpower and overall good feeling, it’s got the competition beat. While I’m not exactly a fan of Joel Schumacher’s films — OK, I’ve called the director of A Time to Kill and 8MM "the antichrist" on more than one occasion — the Festival’s snaring the very-recently-out director (whose plans to direct for Showtime’s Queer as Folk have gone a little bit soft) for its opening tribute is a substantial coup — and who knows how re-watching Batman Forever and The Lost Boys with a clued-in queer audience might transform the lackluster flicks? You can’t argue with the appearances by Vampire Lesbians of Sodom’s Charles Busch (with his Psycho Beach Party) and The Daily Show’s Frank DeCaro (with the gay best-of clip package Absolut Best; see interview).
If it’s serious fare you want, the Festival will oblige, too. While not always the best sellers, the Festival’s non-fiction offerings have often been its strongest movies: Check out A Boy Named Sue, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Jaundiced Eye, The Most Unknowable Thing and Paragraph 175 for a sometimes sobering but always enlightening experience. And in the midst of celebrating, take a moment to reflect at the benefit for the Matthew Shepard Foundation (July 20, City Hall, 9:30 p.m.), which will include appearances by Judy Shepard (Matthew’s mother) as well as Brent Scarpo and Martin Bedogne, directors of Journey Into a Hate Free Millennium. Hit the opening-night party or pay tribute to Rocky Horror, but make room for the Fest’s lesser-known foreign offerings as well. If the Festival’s a party, stop hugging the wallpaper and go meet someone. You may regret it in the morning, but you’ll love it as long as you’re in the dark.
