Ballyhoo!

A few weeks ago, and yes.. I should have posted about it long before now, I was asked to present the film Dog Day Afternoon at the National Portrait Gallery as part of their Ballhoo! exhibit.

It was incredible fun, especially as it gave me an opportunity to look back at one of the finest moments in queer cinema - and reflect on how things have changed.
Well, in my honest opinion, things have not gotten much better, and I don't see queer cinema ever living up to the early heights achieved by Derek Jarman, Gus Van Sant, et al.

From my perch in a little office in Dupont Circle, we are seemingly close to winning the culture wars. I receive daily missives from all the big guns - HRC, NGLTF, Victory Fund, Stein Club, SLDN. At the very least, we've certainly made great strides in getting issues of importance to the LGBT community out in front of the electorate. The majority of folks believe we should have some sort of marriage rights, presidential candidates are forced to take a stand on the issue, there are congressional hearings on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and gay adoption is on the rise.
Not to mention the standing room only lines at City Halls throughout California.

And I say hooray and huzzah for every single person who has reaped the benefit of these organizations' hard work.

To the newly married - salud!
Stroller shopping right now and painting the nursery? - Mazel tov and congratulations on undertaking a rigorous and expensive process that the straights are allowed to engage in with abandon!
Recently discharged and battling for benefits? I offer you every bit of courage I have so that you can fight the hypocrisy of a government that will allow you to fight, but not to love (sorry.. sounds a bit Hallmark-y, doesn't it?)

But... and here's the rub for me... as much as I applaud the progress made in the civil rights struggle for gay equality, I'm afraid that it doesn't make for good cinema.
Yes, I know.. call me shallow...

Great cinema comes from struggle, from oppression. The best films center on an act of rebellion - whether it's an epic morality tale (The Godfather) or the simple act of playing hooky(Ferris Bueller's Day Off).

Even the fluffiest of films - I'm looking at you, SATC - have at their very heart and soul a conflict.

And I'm afraid that as we wend our way into the mainstream politically, we will lose some of that inherent drama. Sure.. no one wants to go back to the days of a dead lesbian in every film, or the bleak futility of Cruising.
But there are maybe two films, out of all that I reviewed, that harkened back to that sense of urgency when we truly felt that our existence depended on getting our stories out there. There was a sense - horrible and heady - that we were under attack and we looked to art as our saviour. It was the only outlet we had. We certainly weren't, until Act Up and other activist groups pushed the issue, allowed to engage in any meaningful public discourse.
Now that we're at the table, we're not in a darkened editing booth.

Don't get me wrong... I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the fact that we (festival spoiler here!) are showing Gays Gone Wild - Another Gay Sequel. When I previewed the film, I rolled on the floor laughing. At times, I begged someone to turn it off - it is one of the most disgustingly funny films I've ever seen.



But I'm equally happy that we're showing Bruce LaBruce's Otto, or Up with Dead People.
LaBruce always takes chance - and while he pushes many of the same buttons that Todd Stephens does, there's an underlying pathos that resonates with me.

There's a place in the world - and Reel Affirmations - for both of these films.
I just wish there was a bit more grit and a little less fluff.

Rundown of offical One in Ten activities in the past 2 weeks

1. Watch movies - some good, some not so good.
Let's concentrate on the positive and mention some of the good ones:

Boystown - ha! A sexy realtor decides that his up and coming territory isn't gentrifying fast enough - more minimalist condos NOW please. What's a hungry realtor to do when the long-time residents refuse to hoof it off to the nursing home? Well, you'll just have to come see the movie and find out.
The Spanish do zany comedy like no other country. Boystown is murderous and dark, like a Serbian film, but the people laugh more.

Were the World Mine - god, I love this film! It's like an great novel - the true emotion doesn't unveil itself until nearly 2/3 of the way in.

U People - a great story told while a group of African American women shoot a music video in Brooklyn. This film is an epic - covering everything from hair styles to bisexuality - in a sing-song flow of love and respect.

With Gilbert and George - if only more of us devoted ourseles completely to our art.

More films to come - this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What else have we been doing over at OIT HQ?
Going to dance parties! TNG rocked out over the weekend, and we were right there. Caught up with some of our favorite folks and headed off for some quiet reflection on fake boobs on lesbians, sexism, and all the other things that lesbians love to talk about.

3. Putting together an amazing festival this year. Again.. more to come and the posts will appear on a much more regular basis - so come back often.

Still recovering...

..from the taping of Laugh Out Loud this past weekend, entertaining the film crew, and hanging with Jackie Monahan and Chris Doucette.
If you weren't there, you should have been - it was seriously hilarious.
And I'm not talking about the grumpy attendee (you know who you are), the DC vs. LA catfight that almost broke out, or our poor PA Christina, who was almost struck by lightning. Okay, that last part's not hilarious at all... I get that.
Festivals are all about pulling the velvet curtain just enough to see the picture - but I live for the peeks behind stage.

Sadly, I'm sure there's a non-disclosure agreement in each of the many contracts bandied about this weekend, or I'd dish some more.

Here's a rundown of some of the "official events" leading to the actual taping of the show on Saturday night.

Friday afternoon: Film crew starts arriving, which is good because we've coordinated airport runs so that we can pick up a camera person here, a comedian there, and not spend all day in the car.
Except... Vidur has missed his flight. Now, Vidur Kapur is Logo's darling - he's been nominated for New, Now, Next Award and he's going places. Just not DC.
I'll say it first - but out of all the personas I'd like to try on during international travel, gay Southeast Asian trying to book a one-way flight into the nation's capitol isn't one of them.

With one less airport run to make, we all decide to meet at the Women's Networking event at Chi-Cha Lounge, which was sponsored by One in Ten and a bunch of other great organizations. Yeay ADKLN - still keeping DC a great place for ladies!

Andrea Meyerson, the director and her crew: Sheila, Phillip and Tavia all pile into our car (Leesil graciously riding in the back back) and we head off to ChiCha's, where two of our board members are holding court.

Mel's all about the ladies, and she usually has a posse of them following her around, but she seemed to be relatively unencumbered. Of course, this meant that I instantly put her to work handing out fliers.
Courtney was there with a friend, and since she's our treasurer, I keep her free for more important stuff.
Then it's off to Hook - for more wine, geography lessons from our Australian server (who used to work at Veritas - he knows his stuff), and some yummy homemade s'mores.

We were the last to leave, which seemed to be the start of a motif for the entire weekend.

The next day, all the comics start arriving, and the film crew heads off for some shopping. In the meantime, we're frantically putting together the last minute requests for tickets, making signs, etc...
Andrea tried to make reservations for West End Bistro, but they were booked. Probably for the best.. we all have a huge day tomorrow and turn in early. I stayed home and caught up on film previewing (The Lost Coast by Gabriel Fleming will be THE surprise hit of the festival - mark my words).


By 10 am, the crew is in place and Leesil and I are heading to Crafty Bastard to check out the wares and to see if it's a possible spot for some Reel Affirmations parties this fall.

More excitement to come - but I have to run into a meeting now.