ju s t o u t T soptem bor 5. 1997 ▼ 21
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c ontmued In »in page !'■)
other of Riggs’ films—in concert with interviews
with Riggs and his life partner. Jack Vincent,
Riggs’ family, students and friends—/ Shall Not
Be Removed is a powerful and engrossing docu
mentary. It provides insight into the man behind
the message, showing him to have been a
passionate, pleasure-loving and demanding
man.
lb .
Despite the pain inherent in the film, flH
there is lightness. Riggs’ generous joie de
vivre flows like honey. It makes us miss
him all the more, but reminds us that— M f
through his work and his inspiration—
he will not be removed. Pat Robertson
learned that the hard way. (Director
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Karen Everett, narrated by Rhodessa
Jones. Filmmaker appearance.)
W ith the short : Letters from Home (Director
Mike Hoolboom)
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W hat ’ s on the B ill -
U nscreened
T hursday , S ept . 18
9:15 pm — Lilies
Above: I Shall Not Be Removed: The Life of Marlon Riggs
And most, in the few years following the project,
have gone on surviving—even begun to flourish.
Surviving Friendly Fire makes you marvel at
the resilience of the human spirit, and wish every
town could give its abandoned children such a
simple second chance. (Director Todd Nelson,
narrated by Ian McKellen. Filmmaker appear
ance.)
W ith tiie short : Camp Lavender Hill (Director
Michael Magnaye)
S aturday , S ept . 20
4:45 pm — I Shall Not Be Removed: The Life of
Marlon Riggs
his little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
From the opening moments of this fast-
paced documentary (it’s hard to believe all this
Fits into an hour), you can tell you’re in for a heart-
wrencher. The face of Marlon Riggs, gaunt and
tightened by pain, lights up with amusement as he
tells of the promise of his childhood. Back then
people said, “That boy is going to be a preacher,
because he sure can talk!” His family fussed over
him, and gave him every encouragement. But we
know how this story ends; Marlon Riggs dies of
AIDS.
He did become a preacher in a way. Whatever
he learned in his life that gave him strength, his
first impulse was to share it with others. When he
learned about African American history at Harvard
University, he vowed to make Films that would
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spread this knowledge to others who might not
make it to college. Groundbreaking Films like
Ethnic Notions and Color Adjustment were the
result.
Proving the leftist adage that the personal is
political, Riggs’ most important gift to his society
was the gift of himself. His message intensified
with Tongues Untied, which itself started as a
short Film about the poetry of black gay writers,
such as Essex Hemphill and Assoto Saint, living
in Oakland, Calif. During production of the Film
Riggs learned he was HI V-positive, and his vision
for the project exploded. He went on to use his
own story to link the poems, use his own story to
illustrate the damage that silence and invisibility
had worked on a vibrant culture.
The present Film in part chronicles the historic
response to Tongues Untied. It became the center
of another flurry of public debate about the Na
tional Endowment for the Arts, the border be
tween art and obscenity, and the use of public
funds for art that, for some, crossed that margin.
Hilarious, infuriating clips from The 700 Club are
shown that strike a pose of horror at Riggs’ film.
Cutting through the clamor, Riggs, shown in what
appears to be a PBS broadcast, makes a statement
that should have silenced the furor and sent every
one home: “Many of the people who have lam
basted this work.. .don’t even imagine that we are
part of those Americans whose salaries are taxed
to support the government.”
Making liberal use of clips from Tongues and
tale of romantic, yet forbidden, love
that takes place in tum-of-the-century and
1950s Québec. Framed as a confession made to a
priest by a man imprisoned for 40 years, the story
concerns dashing lovers and a mysterious mur
der. With an all-male cast, based on the play Les
Fleurettes by Michel Marc Bouchard. (Director
John Greyson)
A
F riday , S ept . 19
9 pm —“Boys in Shorts
ilms include 27 directed by Greg Sax; Karen
Black Like Me directed by David Briggs;
Shantay with RuPaul and Kathy Najimy, directed
by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey; Boot Camp
directed by John Matthews; Frostbite directed by
Wrik Mead; Cater Waiter directed by Eric Lane;
Kiki and Herb: A Total Eclipse o f the Heart
directed by Victoria Leacock; 28 by Greg Sax.
F
F riday , S ept . 19
10:30 pm — Shooting Porn
lay the voyeur as you take in what the camera
doesn’t show on the sets of two pom produc
tions, one helmed by Chi Chi La Rue, the other by
Gino Colbert. This documentary, which spawned
a theatrical offshoot, the play Making Pom, bares
all. (Director Ronnie Larsen)
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S aturday , S ept . 20
1 pm —“Totally Queer Video”
irected by Jane Farrow, So Over the Rain
bow, Outlaw with Leslie Feinberg, directed
by Alisa Lebow; School directed by Kika Thome;
III Wind directed by Matt Ebert (filmmaker ap
pearance); Nice directed by Jane Farrow; Have
Some Fun directed by Tony Stinkmetal.
D
7 pm —Late Bloomers
midlife lesbian coming-out story that blos
soms in a Midwestern high school between
an awkward geometry teacher and the principal’s
secretary. (Director Julia Dyer)
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W ith shorts : Don’t Bug Me (Director Allyson
Above: Out at Work
S unday , S ept . 21
2 pm —Shinjuku Boys
eet the hosts of the New Marilyn Club in
Tokyo: Tatsu, Gaish and Kazuki. They are
annabes, women who live as men but don’t iden
tify as lesbians, although they entertain women
admirers. A glimpse into what is, for Westerners,
an enigmatic niche of Japanese female sexuality.
(Directors Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams)
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W ith short : These Shoes Weren’t Made for
Walking (Director Paul Lee)
4 pm —Out at Work
he documentary that got a pink slip from
PBS. It chronicles the five-year fight for
equal rights in the workplace on the part of three
queer workers: autoworker Ron Woods, Cracker
Barrell restaurant employee Cheryl Summerville
and New York Public Library clerk Nat Keitt.
(Directors Kelly Anderson and Tami Gold)
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W ith short : Bill and Ann Shepherd: A IJfe’s
Work (Director Matt Levin. Filmmaker appear
ance.)
6 pm —Some Prefer Cake
womanizing would-be comedian dyke and
her apparently straight gal pal enter un
charted territory when the latter gets jealous of the
former’s new (capital R) relationship. Report
edly, there’s lotsa bonking. (Director Heidi
Amesen. Filmmaker appearance.)
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Mitchell) and Play (Director Shamiran Samano)
W ith short : Twisted Sheets (DirectorChris Dea
9 pm — leather Jacket Love Story
oet Kyle moves to the big gritty city in search
of monogamous love and hooks party boy
Mark; can they find happiness together, or are
they doomed to be unzipped? Cameo roles by
Mink Stole, Geoffrey Moody and Morris Kight.
(Director David DeCoteau)
P
10:45 pm — Different fo r Girls
guy runs into an old friend from high school,
but she’s a girl—and hey, he went to an all
boy institution. To confuse him even more, he
begins to be attracted to Kim, whom he now
remembers was Karl. All eyes will be peeled to
see how the story turns out in this unique trans
sexual love story. (Director Richard Spence)
A
Above: Crocodile Tears
con)
8 pm —Crocodile Tears
his one’s as queer as they come: It pairs the
talents of first-time producer, writer, editor
and actor Theodore Sod, 46, gay and HIV posi
tive, with the vision of director Ann Coppel, an
out lesbian. Most of the gay characters in the film
are played by out gay actors, and the crew was
mostly lesbian or gay. It’s a dark and powerful
film with a Faustian, be-careful-what-you-wish-
for theme that confronts internalized homophobia.
(Director Ann Coppel. Filmmaker appearance.)
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Watch fo r reviews o f some o f the unscreened
films in the Sept. 19 issue o f Just Out