MARCH 7, 1997
GAY PEOPle's ChroNICLE 19
at Tower City's Art Avenue galleries immediately follows the film. Tickets are $20 for admission to both the film and reception. For additional information, call the center at 216522-1999.
Hide and Seek
Written by Su Friedrich and Cathy Nan Quinlan
Directed by Su Friedrich Women Make Movies
"By making Hide and Seek, I hoped to reveal the imaginary universe of young lesbians and to dispel some of the myths that have darkened our dreams,” said writer and director Su Friedrich.
As a result, she has successfully braided together the story of a teenage girl named Lou, insightful interviews with twenty adult lesbians, and various enlightening archival footage, such as a 1950s sex education film for girls.
Shot in Hi-8 black-and-white, the film has
Su Friedrich
the air of a home movie as we follow the events of Lou (Chels Holland) and her friends. It is a diary for Lou as she sees her treasured friendship with Betsy (Ariel Mara) tested by the onset of adolescence. Innocence and longing intermingle as the girls play and go to school, the zoo, and to slumber parties.
The performances of the young actresses are so natural that it seems as if a camera has been secretly mounted in their tree house and we are eavesdropping on their private play. Holland as Lou seems sincere in her jealous dismay that Betsy is discussing pierced ears and crushes on boys. Mara equally convinces us that Betsy is devastated by Lou's sudden pronouncement that when she grows up, she is moving to Africa. Betsy's dreams of the two girls living next door to one another and their children playing together are instantly dashed.
The slumber parties provide the perfect backdrop to highlight all of Lou's brooding emotions. The playful seriousness of a game of truth or dare and the drama of a seance convey the affectionate bonds that the girls develop among themselves, while whispers and giggles hint at the rejection any of the girls faces if she takes those bonds too close to heart.
The interspersed interviews with the adult women remind us that the adventures of Lou and Betsy are real and cherished memories. The women's stories of longing as little girls for their best friends, the fear of reaction from their families, and the indoctrination of societal roles are the perfect 20/20 hindsight that Lou needs to hear.
More than one hundred photos of lesbians when they were young girls are also peppered throughout the film as if to remind Lou and one another that none of them are alone.
According to director Friedrich, Hide and Seek is "about being at an age when sexual feelings are still vague and about how a girl might know, even then, that her Prince Charming is a princess."
A graduate of Oberlin College in 1975, Freidrich has produced over a dozen other films. Her films Sink or Swim and Damned If You Don't received awards from film festivals in Melbourne, San Francisco, and Atlanta.
Licensed to Kill
Written, directed, and produced by Arthur Dong
Deep Focus Productions
Twenty years after being attacked by gay bashers in San Francisco, director Arthur Dong decided to use his camera to learn why offenders of hate crimes commit such acts.
Licensed to Kill is a compilation of interviews with seven murderers convicted of
gay-related killings. Dong traveled to prisons around America and talked to the men behind bars. As we wander back and forth among the men, we learn a little of each man's background before the details of their crimes unravel.
The documentary is effective in its range of subjects. Not all of the men seem to grasp the evil of their murders, and some seem to justify their crimes with the hate they feel for gays and lesbians. Even those that are apologetic qualify the murders with the sense that things just got out of hand. They had only meant to rob or beat their victims, not to kill them.
Each man's story is unique. One killer is gay-identified himself, but his deep religious leanings left him self-loathing and maladjusted. His murders of men in two Minneapolis public parks frequented by gay men essentially closed the parks, which the killer saw as morally constructive.
"And I certainly didn't just come up with that idea," he told Dong, "I watched the 700 Club sometimes with Pat Robertson-they're constantly talking about gays.”
Dong emphasizes the point of the hatred toward gays that some religious leaders spout by including video clips of Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, Lou Sheldon, and Jerry Falwell. Their remarks are frighteningly similar to those of the killers.
There are moments in the film where it seems Dong could have pushed the killers to more insightful revelations. It may be, however, just a wish to understand something that is incomprehensible, that someone would kill an innocent individual based on unfocused hatred of a larger group of people.
Licensed to Kill earned Dong the Best Documentary Director Award and the Filmmakers Trophy at the 1997 Sundance Film
Boyfriends
Festival. His earlier film Coming Out Under Fire, about gays in the military, received that festival's Special Jury Award in 1994 as well as an Emmy nomination.
Boyfriends
Written and directed
by Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger First Run Features
When Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter decided in 1994 to collaborate on a new film, they interviewed a hundred gay actors and asked them about their relationships.
The result was the much-improvised British comedy Boyfriends. Seven men in different stages of relationships from five years to one night to a recent widower converge for a weekend at a country cottage.
The humor is bittersweet as under scrutiny the men's relationships falter without always rebounding.
The characters have been built around the actors, giving the performances a nonchalant
reality. One can truly sympathize with Matt as he tries to convince himself and his friends that his new boyfriend is "the one." Likewise, the bickering between Paul and Ben makes us fidget in our seats as Paul eggs the even-keeled Ben closer and closer to an inevitable blowout.
The relationships provoke comment from a young one-night stand that one of the friends has brought to the cottage. The twenty-yearold Adam sums up, "I thought you were going to introduce me to some well-balanced homosexual couples. Where were they?"
Some of the films best comments are found in the voice-overs during the opening and closing credits. Snippets of the interviews about relationships snag us with an unexpected laugh or roll of the eyes.
One man commented on his relationship, "It could be monogamous, because he's not having sex with his wife, apparently.” Another responded to whether or not he is Continued on next page
Ten Percent Cinema
Boyfriends
Friday, March 21, 5:00 pm Saturday, March 22, 10:00 pm
Everything Relative
Thursday, March-20, 2:15 pm Friday, March 21, 9:45 pm Hide and Seek
Friday, March 14, 4:45 pm Sunday, March 16, 12:15 pm Monday, March 17, 3:00 pm
Licensed to Kill
Thursday, March 20, 7:00 pm Saturday, March 22, 4:45 pm
Paul Monette:
The Brink of Summer's End Wednesday, March 19, 12:00 pm Thursday, March 20, 9:15 pm Sunday, March 23, 2:30 pm Benefit with reception for Cleveland Lesbian Gay Center.
All films will be shown in Hoyts Cinemas in Tower City Center, 200 West Huron Ave. in downtown Cleveland
For women only.
Convenient, personal health care for women of all ages in a warm, welcoming setting.
Central Ohio Medical Group
AUS Health Affiliste
Holly Barrows, MD and David Goldfarb, MD) 2051 Stringtown Road, Grove City
(614) 875-1721
GPC's Arrive in
a plain envelope
"Dear Gay People's Chronicle,
I live miles away from the big city but I still want to keep up on the news and entertainment of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community. What should I do?!!...”
SUBSCRIBE!
13 Issues for $15.00 or 25 Issues for $30.00
If you'd like to receive the GPC first class mail (faster service). $21.50 for 13 Issues or $42.50 for 25 Issues. Enclosed is my check for $
Name
Address
City
State
for
Zip
Issues
Send coupon with payment to: GPC, P.O. Box 5426, Cleveland, Ohio 44101