Ju st o u t ▼ se p to m b o r 5 . 1 9 9 7 ▼ 1 9
W hat ’ s on the B ill -
S creened
T hursday , S ept . 18
7 pm —I t ’s in the Water
icture a sleepy Texas town where people have
bumper stickers that read: Gun Control Means
Using Both Hands. Now picture such a town after
the invasion of a carload of characters escaped
from a Pedro Almodóvar movie (imagine them
white). Welcome to Azalea Springs.
And as if that’s not enough, it seems that
practically the whole town is gay or headed that
way—and it’s something to do with the water, or
so a hot rumor goes. The son of the publisher of
the town newspaper is gay, the minister who leads
the “Homo No Mo’ ” support group is (secretly)
gay, the wealthy young society wife turns out to
be gay— hell, the town’s male interior decorator,
Bruce, is gay. Who knew.
Have you anticipated that the humor in this
picture—and there is quite a bit—is painted in
broad, broad strokes? You bet your faux finish it
is. Come to think of it, the pathos goes on pretty
thick, too.
This film may be a first, in that it features love
angles of both the female and male persuasion.
The former concerns the society lass, Alex (Keri
Jo Chapman), and her recently returned high-
school bud, Grace (Teresa Garrett), who reveals
to Alex in a convincingly awkward scene that she
left her husband for another woman. Plink, goes
the eventual light bulb over Alex’s head, no
wonder I only dated gay guys in high school— I’m
a lesbian too.
The guy story focuses on the newspaper heir,
Mark (Derrick Sanders), who’s trying hard to be
straight on demand to suit his father’s wishes, but
has to give it up to Tomás (Timothy Vahle), an
earnest and easy-on-the-eye house painter/artist.
While you can spot most of the plot develop­
ments careening down the pike a mile off, the
acting and filmmaking are generally good. It’s
amazing to see how a line that really shouldn’t
work can, in the right hands, be made to work by
timing and inflection. But not always.
The most unfortunate trap the script falls into,
is molding and flattening its characters to fit a neat
story line, instead of letting them be themselves.
This stands out boldest for the film’s characters of
color. The black maid doesn’t get to do anything
that would tweak the perceived stereotype of her
role—she’s jolly, motherly and tolerant of her
white employers’ foibles. The Latino who brings
the white newspaper man out of his closet is
underlined by his ethnicity. When Mark decides
to call Tomás, Spanish guitar chords flood the
soundtrack. Oh, please.
That aside, if you go into this movie with your
sights set on farce, you should hit the target.
(Director Kelli Herd)
P
by Kelly M. Bryan
ll summer long Oregonians have beer, soaking up sunlight and warmth—like camels
sucking down water before a long, cross-desert trek. This late in the season, even
shade worshipers like myself have ventured blinking ly into the blaze now and again,
because we know that we 're not likely to see much o f The Radiating Orb during the
coming months.
Yet despite autumn's onrushing feet, now is the summer o f our content. Queer content, that
is. ft’s time to soak up some culture, fo r Sensory Perceptions: The Portland Lesbian and Gay
Film Festival is coming to town.
Put on this year by a new committee, the festival has already shown us its energy. There have
been benefit parties and screenings (Boys Life 2 and The Watermelon Woman j. but now we re
headed fo r the heart o f the matter. Not much was available to the press fo r preview, so I ’m as
eager as anyone to see how itali turns out. Features slightly outnumber documentaries this year,
and there’s a parade o f shorts—three entire programs are devoted to them and most full-length
films come with a short in tow. Six programs will be g raced by filnunaker visitations (see below).
The festival runs forfour action-packed days, Sept. 18-21, at its accustomed home. Cinema 21,
616NW21stAve. Tickets are $6 per program, or you can purchase afestival passfor $75. Either
can be purchased in advance at In Other Words, Gai-Pied, Jelly Bean or It’s My Pleasure.
In addition to all the films, the festival pass grants you entrée to the opening night gala next
door at Muu-Muu’s from 9 pm to 1 am. There you can nibble and sip (it's a no-host bar) in
chromatic splendor and mingle with guest filmmakers, festival sponsors and the illustrious local
lights o f the host committee. For $15 you can take in one o f the opening night films (It’s in the
Water or Lilies) as well as see and be seen at the gala; reportedly, cinephobes can attend the gala
alone if they must, ask at the door fo r the price o f admission.
A
Below: It’s in the Water
W ith the short : dinner party
Too bad this dinner party is short, because just
when things get interesting, the host takes your
plate away. (Director LisaCholodenko, with Erin
McMurtry and Sarita Choudhury)
F riday , S ept . 19
7 pm — “Girls in Shorts”
Top o f the World
girl-meets-Trouble story, where an appar­
ent sweet thing (Laurie Ciarametaro) re­
fuses to be warned away from a smolderi ng leather/
flannel-clad butch (A. Rosser Goodman). Some
effective moods are created— as when the inno­
cent stays late to help the bad-girl clean up the
coffee shop. The best performances are Jan Lee’s
(in a dual role) and Shonen Knife’s (singing the
title track, a cover of the Carpenters’ classic hit).
(Director Marjorie Kaye. Filmmaker appearance.)
Other shorts that were unavailable for ad­
vance screening are: Two or Three Things, But
Nothing fo r Sure directed by Tina Di Feliciantonio
and Jane Wagner and featuring a reading by
Dorothy Allison; Dike directed by Lisa Hayes;
My Pretty Little Girlfriend directed by Jennifer
M. Gentile; Two/Doh directed by Michelle
Mohabeer; Swim...Swim: Talkin’ to Sperm and
Other Desperate Acts directed by Wendy Levy;
A
dr* v
Above: Some Prefer Cake
Why I ’ll Never Trust You, In 200 Words or Less
directed by Cassandra Nicalaou; and Dear Mom
directed by Diane Bonder.
S aturday , S ept . 20
2:45 pm — Surviving Friendly Fire: The Making
o f a Street Kids Theatre Project
our years ago in Los Angeles, homeless kids
staying at the Gay and Lesbian Center youth
shelter got involved in a theater project that helped
them take the difficult stories of their lives and
turn them into art and a way to communicate with
others. Seventy young people helped write the
material that went on to be performed on stage by
10. As one commentator puts it, they traded sto­
ries around so that it wouldn’t come off too much
like The Oprah Winfrey Show.
The resulting play was called Friendly Fire,
after the phenomenon of being shot at by the
people who are supposed to be on your side, in this
case your family. The youth tell— in the theater
pieces and in interviews for this film— what life in
their families of origin was like and how they
ended up on the streets. Friendly Fire was the
third in a trio of plays co-created by homeless
queer youth. It was performed in a four-day run at
the Los Angeles Festival, an annual arts event, and
then toured area high schools.
The young people are bright, funny, intense,
irrepressible and very astute to the ways of the
cruel world. Most of them, in working together
intensely over the five to six months of preparing
the show, seem to have found a real bond and a
place to relax some of their hard-earned defenses.
F
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