Ballyhoo! at the National Portrait Gallery

If you haven't been yet, I suggest a quick trip down to Chinatown to check out this exhibit.
Not only doi you get the Poster as Portraiture exhibit, NPG still has the Recognize! hip-hop exhibit on the walls. There are some great images there - portraits of artists like Mos Def, Kanye West, Pharrell, and Common - most of them while they're on stage and beautifully lost in the music they're creating.
There are also two rooms of Kehinde Wiley's work. Two rooms may seem like a lot, but if you've ever seen one of his paintings, you understand why he needs two rooms. His work is larger than life; he takes African American men and places them in these baroque, splendiferous settings - very baronial in style.

How does hip-hop and one of the Smithsonian branches fit into this blog, you might ask.
Well, tonight I gave a brief lecture on Dog Day Afternoon, which I'll be posting more about later.
The lecture and film series there is one in a long list of hidden film gems here in DC - a secret stash of opportunities to see great films - classics, foreign films, the best in new work - all at area museums.
For a film geek, this town is even better than New York.

Watching movies is fun!

Yesterday was one of those fun work days that you can really only experience working for a film festival.
After weeks of watching films roll in and pile up on my desk, I finally had a bit of post-Divas Outdoors and Pride time to sit down and watch some movies.
Our programming committees have been doing wonderful work - meeting every week to screen films, email filmmakers and they've been faithfully sending in their reviews and recommendations - I've been the one struggling to meet my 10 films a week quota.
Well, yesterday made up for all of that!
By 2 pm, I'd watched:
A 1950s inspired zombie musical starring RuPaul as a high school principal named Miss Strict.

A documentary on transsexuals in Tehran (Did you know that Tehran, in many ways, has more liberal laws regarding transsexual rights than France?).

Another film recounting the summer a young boy who - in one summer - lost his virginity to an older boyfriend, was ordained as a Mormon minister, and learned his brother was murdered by a neighbor.

A very good film called Suddenly Last Winter, about two men living in Italy who are confronted with a country-wide homophobic backlash. Like many of us, they lived in a bubble of acceptance and liberal politics - and were shocked! to find that the rest of the world doesn't think the same way.

Then, it was off to a quick meeting, then back to watch Dog Day Afternoon for a look back at queer cinema from the 70s.


Today - more films!

Keep coming back to learn more about he movies we program for the festival this year.

Divas Outdoors in the Washington Post

If you were one of the more than 300 people gatehered under the stars to watch Joan Crawford lop off some heads this past Firday night, you no doubt remember the "awwww" inducing moment when Joe Matessa proposed to his partner, Billy.

See... they met at Pride in Chicago a few years ago, and Joe wanted to find the perfect Pride event at which to propose to Billy.
Well, I'll let the Reliable Source tell you all about it... scroll down about 2/3 of the way and look for the heading "Will you Marry Me? Just Ax".

You may have to cut and paste this link; I'm so worn out from this weekend's festivities that I could barely order a blueberry muffin and iced coffee without starting an international incident. Needless to say, html is a bit beyond my reach right now.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR2008061502188.html

Thanks to EVERYONE who came out to our Pride booth this weekend - and much gratitude to all the volunteers and board members who braved the heat and the crowds to help out. Pride, which at times can seem like a gay Calcutta with all the stickers, petitions and tchotchke hawkers, is still a pretty amazing way to spend the afternoon. I know that we contributed to the throng - we gave out candy, our snazzy limited edition Reel Affirmations magnets, postcards for Laugh Out Loud and Vespa opportunities to win - our booth was busy nearly all day long.

Happy recovery day, everyone-
mm

Mamma Mia - We're at Pride!

Stop by the One in Ten Pride booth this weekend and pick up some goodies.
Maybe you'll become the proud owner of a swanky new Vespa?
Or win tickets to the Opening Night of Mamma Mia at the National Theatre! We'll also have sneak preview tickets - come early though.
And don't forget - the film - possibly the gayest film ever thanks to those crazy pop-lovin' Swedes - opens nationwide this July.

Elvira Kurt goes all "Canadian Pride" on America

As you may know, One in Ten's Laugh Out Loud comedy show is coming up on June 28th, and Elvira Kurt is headlining the show.

Following is a very funny interview by Gina Vivinetto, the semi-famous music critic who nonetheless "loves comedians more than rock stars".

Canadian comic Elvira Kurt thinks Americans are a peculiar bunch. She’s on the phone from her home in Toronto, but it wasn’t too long ago, for a brief time in her bachelor days, Kurt was living in Hollywood, among the super tanned and surgically enhanced. She doesn’t miss it. “It’s a terrible place to live,” says Kurt. “A very hard place to be authentic.”

Kurt was not prepared for LA’s fake factor, even among lesbians. “In LA, I’m butch,” she says, laughing. After securing dual citizenship, Kurt promptly returned to Canada.

If the tiny, pixie-cute Kurt looks instantly familiar, you may have caught one of her stand-up routines on television in which Kurt famously imitates her disapproving Hungarian immigrant mother. Or maybe you’ve tuned into First Comes Love, the Logo reality series Kurt hosted that showcased the joy and anxieties of GLBT weddings.

First Comes Love is in reruns now. “We only did one season,” Kurt says. “Logo has had enough of the gay weddings.” Kurt herself took advantage of Canada’s legal gay and lesbian unions by marrying her partner, Chloe, four years ago.

Rumor has it, it was a shotgun wedding.
(Laughs) Well, yes, it was. We have some pretty hilarious wedding pictures. I’m shorter than Chloe anyway, and then she wore heels at our wedding. So she had these two gigantic pregnancy boobs. They look like two volleyballs right where my head is in all the pictures. (Daughter Madeline is now three-years-old).

It seems like everyone in Canada is either a lesbian or a comedian.
Well, that’s true. When you decide to live in Canada, there is a test. There is a gay screen and then there is a comedian screen and you must choose.

How are Canadians different than Americans? You’re a pretty intense culture. You’re really into your own stuff. Especially in a place like DC, where everyone is so focused and intense --DC attracts these kinds of people – so, you are all there together – you’re all already anal. When I go to DC, it’s, ‘But how do you feel about this? How do you feel about it? What do you think? Tell me. Tell me.’ And I’m like, “I…I…I don’t know, it’s just coffee.’ (laughs). You’re so proud. It’s all about you. But, then I understand that now when you go overseas, you all pretend to be Canadian. Of course, nobody believes you because you use all those “I’ statements.

Some of us pretend to be Canadian because we have shame.
Who? Where is the shame (laughs) I haven’t met these shame-filled Americans that you speak of. (laughs) I’ve only met the proud Americans, the in-your-face Americans. I’m meeting, in my travels, the ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’ Americans. But, maybe I’m only dealing with riff raff.

What do Canadians think of the craziness that has been our Democratic primaries? (Teases) See? What a typical American self-centered question! Believe it or not, we’re not all sitting around talking about you guys! (Laughs) Well, okay, from what I have understood, so far, is that Clinton is for hope, am I right? And Obama is for change. (Pause) Is there no way to accommodate the two? Honestly, we love Americans. We would even like to save the good ones. We understand that Bush was voted into power even if he wasn’t really even voted in. So we have empathy for you.

I know you’re a Second City (famed comedy troupe) alumnus. Who are your favorite comedians? Gilda Radner? Oh, Gilda. Yes. I’m a big fan. She is one of the reasons I started doing this. I think Tina Fey is great. I can’t believe what she’s doing with 30 Rock, although I think she got really lucky with Alec Baldwin. He’s just such a genius. I’m not too much into Judd Apatow’s movies (The 30-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Super Bad). People say it’s a new definition of comedy, but it has nothing to do with my life. I’m more interested in what other woman are doing, really. In comedy, you have to put up with what men think is funny a lot of the time. So I admire women who are doing their own thing. I am interested in whatever Sarah Silverman is doing. I like her a lot. Margaret Cho is always doing new things. Wanda Sykes is huge, very funny. And I really like Curb Your Enthusiasm because he (Larry David) is not afraid to let women come on his show and just rock and steal a scene.

It’s a great time for lesbian comedians, thanks to Ellen. Well, yes, but honestly, I think my three-year-old baby is gayer than Ellen (laughs). She’s been to more political rallies and gay events. She’s been to the Michigan Womyn’s Fest two years in a row, one in the womb. This is a very queer-friendly baby. It’s funny, when we saw the ultrasound, I told my mom, “It’s a girl,” and my mother said, (thick accent) “For now.”

Is your mother really that unhappy with your lifestyle? It’s not that she’s unhappy with my lifestyle, she’s unhappy in general (laughs)

Is her accent really still that thick? Oh yeah. She sounds like she got here yesterday.

Comedians always seem like the smartest, most perceptive people. I think you have to be very brave to do stand-up. Well, thank you. I think you’re right. Whether you are a woman or a man, it’s all about winning over the crowd and that’s not as easy as it looks. There is a lot of second guessing yourself. There is a lot of ‘Am I doing this right?’ I think it’s a woman’s nature to want to please and when you do comedy, you have to be true to yourself. Every night, right before I go onstage, I have a crisis of confidence. That’s what makes it exciting. And when I come offstage, it’s, (panicky) ‘Did I nail it? Was that okay?’ I ask myself all these questions…So, at least, I’m never alone afterwards (Laughs) I’m having spectacular conversations.

Michael Stipe - no longer queer - now just gay.

Last night, I stood in a crowd of thousands and watched families, frat guys, teenagers (and pre-teens), gay folks and aging hipsters sing along, laugh and cheer as Michael Stipe led R.E.M. through two decades worth of greatest hits (Losing My Religion), band favorites (What's the Frequency, Kenneth?) and songs from their latest album, Accelerate.

We laughed at his jokes - applauded his political jibes - clapped when he mentioned his boyfriend - and we were in on the joke when he said he really wanted to be sitting on the lawn - with two strangers kissing him.

Stipe has referred to himself as "an equal opportunity lech" and "a queer artist" (in a 2001 Time interview). Earlier this year, he again acknowledged his sexuality and his long-term relationship. No longer a queer artist, he considers himself a gay man. Possibly a bit more palatable for mainstream America, and that's okay.

There is a cultural sea change going on right now - being a gay rock star is no big deal anymore. Being a gay talk show host who proposed to her girlfriend on live TV is no big deal. Presidential candidates making frequent references to their gay supporters in campaign speeches is no big deal anymore.

Early on in the show, Stipe gave the audience a quick lesson in gratitude and mindfulness. Playfully asking the audience how many were "here now", we all raised our hands in unison. Then, he acknowledged that we made a choice to be here tonight and thanked the audience for making the choice to spend the evening with them.

And that's what the country is doing right now regarding the visibility and rights of the LGBT community. Every piece of legislation is a choice. It is a political stand, taken very deliberately, by our community and our politicians. Ellen DeGeneres made the choice to propose to her girlfriend on her show. John Mccain made the choice to appear on her show - knowing that she was going to bring up the subject of gay marriage.

And it's becoming easier for people to make these choices. And while we should applaude the loosening of the shackles, we should also acknowledge the many people who made those choices when it wasn't so easy.

Our sweet office renovation

While standing in the unbearable heat this Saturday, I saw an MW box with a beautiful shot of Cyndi Lauper on the cover. I'm not the first to say this, but it bears repeating - this was a cover worthy of Vanity Fair. Actually, even better than some of Vanity Fair's recent covers.

I'll let you decide:




The REAL story, though, is that our office renovation is featured in Metro Weekly.
Read all about it here: http://metroweekly.com/home/?ak=3510

Audrey Hepburn Under the Stars

Yesterday was a hectic one at One in Ten HQ. 

We made the hot trek down to the National Building Museum to meet up with Lisa King, our Board VP, and her partner Polly, to see HRC give her concession speech. This isn't a political blog - Lord knows there's enough of those out there - so I'll stick to the strictly human element and note that no matter how upset folks were, there was no denying that we were walking away from a profound moment in our nation's history.

As if that wasn't exciting enough, it was off to Hillwood Museum for the second Divas Outdoors installment - Funny Face - starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.

In this age of Ugly Betty, Project Runway, and The Devil Wears Prada, Funny Face really stands the test of time.
It even has its own dance remix now.




Despite a last-minute downpour, the event went on with the super-organized and always pleasant Hillwood staff ushering everyone into alternative spaces on the Hillwood estate - what a treat it is to have events there.

Next week's screening, on Friday the 13th no less, HAS to be good. There's just no way we can have bad weather 3 weekends in a row.
The film we're showing, Straitjacet, is fully of campy appeal and laugh inducing special effects.
Joan Crawford plays an axe murderess recently released from an insane asylum, determined to become a model citizen. Welll.. not exactly a model citizen. She does try to seduce her daughter's boyfriend, but it wouldn't be a Joan Crawford film if she didn't transgress somehow.
Stay tuned for a recap and photos of our Joan Crawford lookalike contest next week.

Harvey Korman - RIP

What else is there to say - Harvey Korman, or as I've always thought of him - Count d' Monay - has passed on.

There are no words to describe how incredibly funny he was - whether he was working with Carol Burnett or Mell Brooks - big screen or small.

The best thing about Harvey Korman was his inability to keep a straight face - his giggles inevitably reduced me to a puddle on the floor. As a little girl forced to watch every episode of Gunsmoke, the highlight of my evening was losing myself in the absurdity of the Carol Burnett show.

Here's one of my favorite clips - and yes.. everyone ... make that dentist appointment for your six-month checkup today.