'MO - October 2008 - (Page 24)

p/reviews Click here to comment on this story. Lucky 13: Three Dollar Bill Cinema offers up a kooky, spooky and ooky ﬁlm festival By Matthew McQuilkin There’s a reason this year’s poster for the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival features thirteen black cats. To commemorate their thirteenth year, they’re running with the theme of superstition and horror—a seemingly obvious choice, given the festival always occurs in October. “It’s so close to Halloween, we thought, how could we not?” said Jason Plourde, the festival’s programming director. In addition to the usual ten days of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themed movies, this year’s festival will feature several programs in keeping with this horror theme— but, naturally, with a large dose of camp. This year’s sing-along will be the 1986 ﬁlm Little Shop of Horrors. West Seattle’s Admiral Theatre, one of two new venues for the festival this year, will host an extra midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And to top it all off, the closing night show will be a 20th anniversary screening of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark—complete with a chat between Elvira herself and San Francisco’s Peaches Christ beforehand, and a “Black Cat Gala” event at the Pan Paciﬁc Hotel afterward. (See the ’mo Q&A with Elvira on page 29.) With the last day of the festival on Sunday, October 26—ﬁve days before Halloween—the timing couldn’t be more perfect, nor could Elvira’s persistent campiness. “She’s basically a drag queen, so what can we say?” Plourde added. But that’s not all the gay horror the festival has to take a sharp-toothed bite out of. Harry M. Benshoff, author of Monsters in the Closet, will present a clip show of the same name at the Central Library, in which he will show excerpts from and discuss themes of homosexuality in horror ﬁlms through the ages. This precedes the festival’s “Homo Horror Series,” including the 1983 vampire movie The Hunger; 1985’s A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2 (“It’s being called the gayest horror ﬁlm ever,” says Plourde); and the more contemporary ﬁlms Scab (about—what else?—gay vampires) and Watch Out (about a man both in love and in lust with himself). All this queer creepiness gives the festival a slant it’s never had before. “It allows us to showcase a genre that is not often represented within GLBT ﬁlm,” said Three Dollar Bill Cinema Executive Director Rachael Brister, who calls herself a horror ﬁlm fan. “And this year’s offerings are diverse and will introduce viewers to some classic offerings they may have never seen before.” But what about the squeamish, you say? No bloodsucking queers or big-breasted vamps for you? There’s still plenty of other, non-scary fare to go around. With roughly 60 feature ﬁlms, 12 short ﬁlm programs, and several special events rounding out the festival’s 86 separate ticketed events, you’re sure to ﬁnd something that suits you. One particular trend among submissions this year, according to Plourde, is thoughtful dramas. “There are some really interesting, thought-provoking ﬁlms,” he said. “They take on really difﬁcult subjects and make them fascinating for the average viewer.” He said there are also a lot of documentaries, including the local ﬁlms Bailey-Boushay House: A Living History (which was also screened at the Seattle International Film Festival) and This Land is Our Land, about the Seattle Men’s and Seattle Women’s Choruses tour of the red states. Some of the same fun stuff festival goers have come to expect is returning as well, such as “Gay TV Dinners,” screenings at Central Cinema of classic gay-themed TV show episodes, at a venue where patrons can order dinner while watching. Featured shows this year include Alice, Charlie’s Angels and The Golden Girls—what’s not to love? 24 And if you just can’t wait to get your gay movie ﬁx until the festival’s opening night, there’s always the Internet, where as early as October 6, you can watch ﬁlms as part of a local competition. By visiting either seattlequeerﬁlm.org or myfest.indieﬂix.com, three feature ﬁlms and three short ﬁlms can be viewed, until October 22. The winners of each, with the most online votes, will be screened on the last day of the festival. With such an array of ﬁlms and activities, the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival has something to offer just about anyone, gay or straight—as long as they can have an appreciation of gay sensibility. And really, what person in their right mind doesn’t? This kind of broad appeal is a part of the festival’s mission. “We do a lot of things that add a social component, and are interactive,” Plourde said, “and I think that’s important.” These events are now spread throughout the year, something Plourde has been instrumental in making happen. Every May they host the Spring Film Series, screening three ﬁlms that highlight the same theme (2008 was “I Love the Nightlife,” featuring ﬁlms centering around gay bars—understandably, they don’t know yet what next year’s theme will be); every summer sees “Features From the Black Lagoon,” a series of three free outdoor movies at Cal Anderson Park; and in May 2009, they will present the fourth annual Transgender Film Festival. In the meantime, there’s the 13th Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival to look forward to, running from October 17 through October 26. For schedule and ticket information, or to ﬁnd out how to become a member, visit www.seattlequeerﬁlm.org or call Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838-3006. celebrating seattle’s gay community http://threedollarbillcinema.org/08/ http://www.seattlequeerfilm.org http://myfest.indieflix.com http://www.seattlequeerfilm.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of 'MO - October 2008

'MO- October 2008 Contents Letter From The Editor Voices ’mo-BIZ: MGS Consulting Services GLAAD To Be Aboard Pet Project Instant Activist Sports: Jet City Hoops Tips Off Pro-Equality Candidates Philadelphia Is All About The Love Parenthood Form & Function: Strip It Off For The Holidays Gay City Health Project: Gay Men’s Health Summit The 13th Annual Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Capitol Hill Guide SceneOut: People@Places Q&A With Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark ’mo-Single Q&A

'MO - October 2008

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