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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2007)
Portland Lesbian 8 Gay Film Festival provides a subculture snapshot by Gary Morris ecently it’s been a question in the gay communi ty why—nearly four decades after Stonewall— we even need our own film festivals. After all, isn’t this the era of two cable networks (Logo and Here) devoted exclusively to queer programming? And all those HGTV-type shows that happily showcase gay and lesbian couples trying to “flip that Castro Victorian” or “remodel that dowdy dungeon”? Mainstream film, too, remains quite preoccupied with all things homo, whether blatantly in films like I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry or more subtly in casting lesbians like Jodie Foster in a film like The Brave One, which in earlier times Colma: The Musical would have been the province of the bkxidthirsty, revenge seeking hetero male hero. Let’s face it: We’re damn near every Colma: The Musical (6 p.m. Oct. 13 at Hollywood where, representationally speaking, which is as it should be. Theatre) in fact riffs delightfully on the concept of “dead” That said, it’s still important and, in fact, fun to measure with this bittersweet tribute to the infamous San Francisco our progress via the kind of subculture snapshots provided by suburb that has the nation’s most curious population figures: queer film festivals, a sort of cinematic summary of what we’re about 2,000 living souls and another 1.5 million or so stiffs. doing and thinking right now—not just locally but globally. Written and scored by H.P. Mendoza, who also plays one of In this regard, an event like the Portland Lesbian & Gay Film the three leads, Rodel, this engaging mix of post-teen angst, Festival is both entertaining and educational. It doesn’t hurt roller-coaster romances and catchy songs opens with a witty that on rhe big screen a good film is better and a great film can musical portrait of this “town that’s really dead.” be a powerful experience, without all those cell phone and The film sympathetically tracks the antisocial antics, artistic bathroom breaks to kill a carefully crafted mood. aspirations, and relationship and family calamities of gay Rodel, PLGFF isn’t a superficial glance at queer culture found in straight Billy (Jake Moreno) and fag hag Maribel (L.A. a single film, nor is it the overwhelming behemoth that is the Renigen). All three are in transition but don’t seem to know San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, where they’re going or why, and all that angst comes out in some with more than 230 films and countless related events. Like tuneful, emo-boy songs, most of which seem to center on how to Baby Bear’s porridge in the “Goldilocks" fairy tale, with 19 fea escape the fate that awaits in a town consisting mostly of burial tures and three shorts shows spread over nine days, PLGFF is plots. Along the way we get some raw jokes (“How do you tell if “just right.” This article looks at some of the high-, medium- your roommate’s gay? His dick tastes like shit.”) and surprisingly and lowlights, although the former unquestionably outweigh tender scenes as the trio connect, disconnect and generally the latter in the nine features I sampled. portray with panache the difficulties of being grown up chrono logically but unprepared for the rigors of the real world. ay people have long had a reputation for taking risks, similar sense of angst drives the main character of the and understandably so given the suffocating confines of the closet and the pleasures of stepping out to catch our excellent Shelter (8 p.m. Oct. 20 at Cinema 21). This breath. It’s certainly risky to make a film musical at a time serious story with flashes of humor follows working-class Zach when— Chicago, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and a few other Continued on Page 24 recent entries notwithstanding—the form is considered dead. R From top, Karen Black (Five Easy Pieces) narrates Brand Upon the Brain! in acclaimed silent film with orchestral accompaniment—7 p.m. Oct. 13 at Cinema 21; "BugCrush" is part of a shorts program 9 p.m. Oct. 17 at Cinema 21; H.P. Lovecraft's novella "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" inspired Cthulu 10:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at Living Room Theaters; and Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader) directs Itty Bitty Titty Committee 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at Cinema 21. G A 1 ■ T 1 I ■ I ' ] 1 1 1 ' 1'1 S 1 1 NOW SER FREflïbvEft WJji YOUR FIL 1025 SW Stark street I» portland. Oregon I FESTIVAL 503 226 4171 i
