10 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE August 31, 2007

Four+four

Quartet of films includes one with four Clevelanders

by Anthony Glassman

A quartet of films with gay angles will light up the screen at the Cleveland Institute of Art's Cinematheque in September and early October, illustrating the variety of queer-interest and gay-themed films that they display.

The first is Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast), the gay writer, poet, artist and filmmaker's lyrical take on the classic story of the triumph of love over adversity.

Cocteau's masterpiece will show on Friday, September 7 at 9:25 pm and Sunday, September 9 at 4:15 pm.

Next up is Henry Jaglom's latest, Hollywood Dreams. An "inside look" at the seamier

Beauty and the Beast

The film is being shown as part of the Cinematheque's salute to 50 years of Janus Films, the country's premier art-house distributor.

It would probably be overkill to point out the obvious homosexual symbolism in the story when told by Cocteau, but a little overkill never hurt anyone: A hideous, hated outsider mystically cured by love?

Hollywood Dreams

side of the film industry, it stars Tanna Frederick as Margie Chizek, an aspiring actress from Iowa trying to make it in show biz.

Helping her along is Kaz (Zack Norman) and his partner Caesar (David Proval), gay producers who appreciate her ability to lie, dissemble and deceive at will.

They're already pushing their young, heterosexual protégé Robin (Weeds' Justin Kirk), masquerading him as a gay actor who will be the next "It" boy. Things are complicated further when a budding attraction emerges between Margie and Robin.

Hollywood Dreams will be shown on Saturday and Sunday, September 15 and 16, at 5:30 and 4 pm, respectively.

After the fairy tale and the story about LaLa Land, the Cinematheque dishes up two doses of reality, starting with the September 22 screening of experimental filmmaker Abigail Child's On the Downlow, a look at four black men from Cleveland who lead

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ostensibly heterosexual lives but have sex with men in secret.

The evening will also see a screening of

For the Bible Tells Me So

Child's short film The Party, which includes some of the men from On the Downlow. Afterwards, the filmmaker will answer audience questions.

Torchwood

Continued from page

However, when something tragic happens, he is the first one in tears and his mouth seems always ready to reflect the tragedy of the situation.

The cast is uniformly excellent. Gorman's Owen is, in Davies' words, "a bit of a geezer," the typical jack-the-lad meathead, but with vast hidden depths.

lanto is a character that at first glance seems to always be at the periphery, unflappable, impassive. However, as they say, still waters run deep, and deep waters often have dangers in them.

Suzie is an odd one, perhaps the most malevolent of the group. Varma's perfor-

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the crowds also provided a boost for nearby restaurants.

While the mechanical bull from the 2005 festival did not make its return this year, the climbing wall and jousting arena were back, providing an athletic outlet other than dancing.

The 20th anniversary event in 2004 marked the end of Dancin' in the Streets as an official, AIDS Taskforce-planned event. It had started as a dance party on West Ninth Street before morphing into a larger, circuitstyle party held in Tower City Ampitheater. Years of declining attendance and rising costs, however, resulted in the decision to end the event.

The following year, however, John Katsaros of Twist, Peifer and Gregg Wittbeck began planning a return to its roots as a street party, with the aid of Price.

On the Downlow The screening begins at 9:15 pm and is 18 and over.

The first year brought about 2,000 people to Clifton Boulevard between West 116th and West 117th Street. Last year saw about a 20 percent drop in attendance because of

Two weeks later, reality returns to the

screen again with the showing of Daniel G. Karslake's For the Bible Tells Me So, an examination of scapegoating of the LGBT community by the religious right in their rise to political power. According to the film, fundamentalist Christians' use of scripture to oppress queer people is based on a mistranslation.

The film will show on October 6 at 5:30 pm and October 7 at 6:45 pm.

The Cleveland Institute of Arts Cinematheque is located at 11141 East Boulevard in University Circle. Admission is $8, $6 for members, CIA students and staff.

For more information, call 216-421-7450 or go to www.cia.edu/cinematheque.

mance, however, shows that there is no real maliciousness behind her actions, just selfinterest.

Mori is interesting at Toshiko, seldom grabbing the spotlight but making the most of her chances to shine.

The one who truly connects to the viewers, however, is Myles as the distaff everyman who adds that human connection to the group. They've all been playing with bugeyed monsters for so long, they've forgotten the human side of the equation, and she grounds them in that.

After years of never-materializing rumors of gay romance on Star Trek, rampaging heterosexuality on Battlestar Galactica and other series, Torchwood finally gives audiences a look at what science fiction can be with a budget and a gay executive producer. As Martha Stewart says, it's a good thing.

rain, but the sun and warmth this year meant that the fuller crowds of 2005 returned.

Peifer said there are still sponsor checks to be collected and ticket stubs to be counted, so final figures for attendance and funds raised are not yet available, but he and Katsaros are pleased with the preliminary results.

Peifer thinks that the organizers have formulated a winning event. When asked about possible changes in the future, he said, "I don't think there's really much to change. We just want to keep it simple and fun, which is what Dancin' is all about, see people you haven't seen in a while, have a good time and pledge your commitment to the AIDS Taskforce."

He also noted that, since the move to Clifton, he's noticed more women at the event, and that they tend to show up earlier in the day than the "dancing boys."

The one change they would like to make, obviously, is to get even more people out for Dancin' in the future.

"Community turnout was great this year, but the feeling is that we can pack that entire block in, then we'll expand it," Peifer said. "Hopefully we'll be on four or five blocks down Clifton in a few years."