GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

MARCH 24, 1995

Evenings Out

10%

cinema

Dream Girls explores Japanese women's love for the "men" in the all-female Takarazuka Revue.

A straight dad and his gay son search for romance in The Sum of Us.

Lesbian and gay films highlight Cleveland Film Festival

by Doreen Cudnik

Excitement is in the air as Cleveland gets ready to host the 19th Cleveland International Film Festival. From March 30 through April 9, Hoyts Tower City Cinemas in the heart of downtown Cleveland will be home to some of the the best new films from around the world. One of the features in this year's festival is "10% Cinema: Lesbian and Gay Films." David Wittkowsky, the festival's openly-gay executive director, has attempted to assemble gaythemed films that will appeal to a wide audience. "I try to find a balance between films for men and films for women, and usually in the documentary realm there are some films that are good for both."

An example of that is Ballot Measure 9, the chronicle of what happened in the state of Oregon as a result of the Oregon Citizens' Alliance 1992 anti-gay initiative. With Colorado, Oregon was one of the first two test cases that year for statewide referenda by right-wing "family values" groups, attempting to amend the state constitutions to prevent and revoke laws which protect lesbians and gay men from discrimination. Oregon's Measure 9 went further, tying homosexuality to pedophilia and sadomasochism, declaring it to be “abnormal, wrong, unnatural and perverse," and mandating that schools and government agencies teach it to be such. The documentary film by Heather MacDonald is culled from 300 hours of material shot over eight months. Ballot Measure 9 tells a story of driving suspense and urgency, engaging the audience viscerally in the lives of the characters. It is also able to dissect the rhetoric, revealing a more pernicious and far-reaching agenda of divisiveness and intolerance.

Ballot Measure 9 will be shown Friday, March 31 at 2:30 pm; Tuesday, April 4 at 5:30 pm and Wednesday, April 5 at 7:00 pm. All those in attendance at the April 5 screening are invited to remain in the theatre following the film to participate in a special Film Forum titled "Rewriting The Activism Rulebook." In addition to Heather MacDonald, the film's director, participating in the forum will be Stonewall Cleveland President John Nolan; Kim Taylor,

founding member of the African-American Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual Caucus; and Out Voice vice-chair Bill Henderson.

Highlighted in the feature films category this year is The Sum of Us, directed by Kevin Dowling and Geoff Burton; an Australian film about a plumber named Jeff who lives in Sydney with his dad Harry. Jeff is gay, and father Harry accepts and encourages his son's gayness with an enthusiasm that borders on the meddlesome. Described as "a warm comedy of working-class manners," The Sum Of Us is a rare look at tolerance. It will be shown on Friday, March 31 at 9:30 pm and Saturday, April 1 at 6:45 pm.

Also featured is World and Time Enough, an American film directed by Eric Mueller. The film tracks the deceptively modest aspirations of a twenty-something gay couple as they grapple with love and morality. Set against the gray Minneapolis sky, World and Tone Enough offers a witty glimpse into a side of gay coupledom rarely seen-young, Midwes and more grunge than chic. The film will be shown on Thursday, April 6 at 12:00 pm, Fr April 7 at 9:30 pm, and Saturday, April 8 at 4:45 pm.

In honor of the film's 25th anniversary, Wittkowsky has included Boys in the Band in this year's festival lineup. Despite the stereotypes and self-hatred seen in its characters, Boys in the Band remains a gay cinema milestone as the first serious mainstream American feature to depict gay male life. It was adapted to the screen in 1970 from Mart Crowley's offBroadway hit of the same name.

Wittkowsky, speaking of his decision to include the film, said, “There are a lot of younger gays and lesbians who have never seen this film, and it's always talked about as an important work in the history of lesbian and gay cinema. I think it's a really amazing historical document; it's like a time capsule of what it was like right at the time of Stonewall." Boys can be seen on Friday, April 7 at 2:15 pm, and Saturday, April 8 at 2:00 pm.

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