by alley Hector
FILM
PdX lESbIaN aNd Gay fIlm fESTIval
Cloudburst
I want your love
Keep The lights On
Moving
Forward
The Portland Lesbian and Gay
Film Festival may not be one
of the most famous, but its 16
years in existence has been
well attended and diverse. It
started 20 years ago when the
(straight) owner of Cinema
21, Tom Ranieri, wanted to
showcase LGBT film in his
hip Northwest neighborhood
theater. He quickly worked on
recruiting queer organizers
and Gabriel Mendoza came
on board for the first official
festival 16 years ago. When
I sat down with Mendoza to
talk about this year’s films
and the changing shape of a
festival audience he seemed
unsure about the continued
relevance and success of gay-
themed film festivals, but to
me the Portland DIy spirit
makes ours uniquely worth
attending.
The changing entertainment landscape has
seen more of us downloading movies in our
homes rather than attending art house single-
plexes. But, you can’t get the same level of in-
teraction with Netflix. The energy of going to
a 500 person theater filled with other queers
who may laugh or throw popcorn at the screen
at the same time is powerful and you have the
opportunity to socialize and discuss the films
at either the opening or closing night parties.
Indeed, Mendoza has always prioritized qual-
ity in the movies they choose to show, but is
keen to make sure they continue to also be so-
cially and politically challenging as we move
forward. This is one reason the festival is mov-
ing towards a new name. It began as a com-
pletely unmarketable alphabet soup that had
to be rebranded as the Portland Lesbian and
Gay Film Festival to have any marketability.
And although it won’t technically be changing
its name until next year, they are beginning to
rebrand once again as the Portland Queer Film
Festival. “It should have been that for years,”
Mendoza says, “but people were afraid of the
word ‘queer’ so we had to go with ‘gay and les-
bian’ even though some folks felt ostracized
by it. It almost seems silly now that we have a
‘queer’ center; it’s so mainstream … but we’ve
even talked about [the importance of having] a
queer sensibility as well.”
This sensibility has become the norm, and
things that may have shocked audiences just
a few years ago are almost commonplace.
Travis Mathew’s I Want your Love, though
not pornography, does show explicit sex.
This seemed a big deal when John Cameron
Mitchell’s Shortbus was here in 2006 but the
same level of gossip and controversy is cer-
tainly not expected for Love although discus-
sions about why Mathews chose to show real
life sex and what impact that has on the story
are already taking place. It certainly gives it
a documentary, or at least true-to-life qual-
ity that Mendoza characterizes as also very
Portland. It takes place in San Francisco but
“… feels like they filmed a night at a party in
Northeast … It has a weird authenticity.” Indeed,
you’re likely to recognize a familiar face in local
actor/performer/artist Wayne Bund, aka drag
bear Feyonce. He, along with Ferrin Solano,
mosquitay
18
JustOut.com
October 2012