Newsline #13 - 13th Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

NEWSLINES

13th Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Newsline #13 – July 22nd, 2007


OUR LAST CHANCE, LET’S MAKE IT LAST!

That’s right, it makes me a little sad to say it, but today is our official last “full” day of screenings. Yes, sure, sure, sure – we still have two days of festival left and a killer closing party planned, but for movie junkies like us, it’ll be our last day to sit in the theater from noon to midnight feeding our film-loving addiction!

Now yesterday was terrific, everything went exactly as planned. The It Ain’t Easy Being Green shorts were fantastic, as were the Love Is Blind shorts. We also got to see The Witnesses and Nina’s Heavenly Delights.

We were honored to be in the presence of Craig Lucas, screenwriter/director extraordinaire!!! Who graciously accepted the Artistic Achievement Award at the Arts Bank before sharing some funny stories and taking part in a Q&A on stage with Philadelphia film critic and esteemed author Gary Kramer.

The Craig Lucas after-party proved just as good as folks enjoyed drinks and karaoke at Tavern on Camac and saw exclusive musical performances by film festival executive staff members Rosemary Connors (Executive Director) and Jared Early (Managing Director) who each took a shot at the mic with acoustics from the baby grand piano.

Now, starting the day off today is a tough choice… but you really can’t go wrong. You’ve got to choose between Spider Lillies at the Prince at noon, which is a story about “two lonely women who meet in a tattoo parlor and discover that they share a past connection” or you can hear from Keegan, a cast member from Boy I Am which is playing at 12:15 at the Arts Bank, which is an “intelligent, provocative and intimate doc that follows three transitioning females to males.” Either way, you won’t be let down.

Mid-Afternoon offers the talked about Out In Philly Shorts Program, that I recommend all Philly-natives should make time for. This program offers 8 shorts from Philadelphia filmmakers, shot in and around town and is not to be missed. If you got your fill of shorts yesterday though, you can catch encore screenings of The Bubble, Rock Haven and Born Again showing at this same time.

If you cant make the shorts program at 2:30, then definitely visit our Sundae Social at DIVE (601 Walnut Street – 10th Floor) at 4:30pm. This will give you a chance to meet all of the shorts filmmakers while enjoying your favorite flavor of ice cream. Who could ask for more than that?

If you did attend the shorts program and have already spent some time with the Philly filmmakers, then at 5:00pm, you can head over to the Black Box at the Prince for our Conversation with Anthony Rapp. The RENT star has recently written a book and will be on hand to read passages from this new work and to answer questions about his life is the theater.

Last but not least though, by 9ish we recommend you head back to one of the theater venues to scarf down one last portion of festival films. You can go with The Victim at the Prince, Anger Me at the Wilma or Daughters of Chiquita at the Arts Bank. Whichever one you go with, you’ll be pleased you did.


TOMORROW IS FESTIVAL FAVES

The Festival Favorites have been announced. Here goes.

Wilma Theater
7:00 Out at the Wedding
9:15 Curiosity of Chance

Arts Bank Theater
7:15 In Sickness & In Health
9:15 Picture of Dorian Gray


PICTURES! PICTURES! PICTURES!

Ok, so here’s the deal. We’ve been taking pictures… lots of pictures… a ton of pictures!
And I’m just about ready to share some of them with you. But it’s gotta be a fair trade.

Sooo, if you have photos that you’ve taken with friends or celebrities that have been visiting town for the festival, send them to me. Just reply to this email and attach the photo – And if I like it, maybe it’ll even end up on the festival website.

In the meantime, here’s the photos that I’ve posted so, but check back every couple of hours, because there are sooo many more that’ll be going up real soon. www.imageevent.com/piglff2007

Enjoy and don’t say I didn’t warn you !


GUESTS IN TOWN TONIGHT

BOY I AM (12:15pm, Arts Bank) Keegan, cast member
BORN AGAIN (2:30pm, Black Box at the Prince) Markie Hancock, director, screenwriter and cinematographer
OUT IN PHILLY: SHORTS PROGRAM (2:30pm, Arts Bank)
Glance into the Life, Gretjen Clause from the Colors Youth Group; Oh, Little Lark, Andy Madeiros, director; Sarah Vaughn, Kevin A. Brown, director; Inner Wang, Michelle Pollino, director, Wang Newton (Mei-Yann); Three Little Words, Sue Ryan, director; Members Only, Carolina Roca-Smith, director; Uncle Mike, Julianne McCartney, director; Night Falls Fast, Mark R. Jackson, director
ROCK HAVEN (2:30pm, Wilma Theater) David Lewis, director, screenwriter and producer
NINA’S HEAVENLY DELIGHTS (4:30pm, Prince Music Theater) Pratibha Parmar, director, screenwriter and producer
A CONVERSATION WITH ANTHONY RAPP (5:00pm, Black Box at the Prince) Anthony Rapp
UNDERNEATH (7:00pm, Arts Bank) Cherisse Deaton, director, Katrina Deaton, cast member and writer
HOLDING TREVOR (7:15pm, Wilma Theater) Brent Gorski, cast member and screenwriter, and Jay Brannan, cast member
Kali Ma (Short with ROCK HAVEN) (7:45pm, Arts Bank) Soman Chainani, director



MOVIES ON THE VERGE OF SELLING OUT

Don’t let it happen to you, get your tickets in advance because the following movies have less than 75 seats available, so if you’re interested in them, don’t wait till the last minute.

7/22/07 Out in Philly – Shorts Arts Bank 2:30pm
7/22/07 Born Again Black Box at the Prince 2:30pm
7/22/07 Underneath Arts Bank 7:00pm
7/22/07 Rag Tag Black Box at the Prince 7:15pm
7/24/07 Closing Night Party Twenty21 10:00pm


T-SHIRTS AVAILABLE !!!

For those of you that ripped your shirts off on the dance floor during the opening night party and put a dent into your wardrobe, not to worry. The Philadelphia Film Society has thought of everything. We’re selling Official Film Festival T-shirts at the Prince Theater, Wilma Theater, TLA Video Store locations and online.
T-shirts cost $15 for M, L & XL and $18 for XXL sizes.


TICKET INFORMATION

To purchase Festival tickets, visit www.phillyfests.com, call 267-765-9700 ext. 4 (10 a.m. – 9 p.m.) or visit any Philadelphia area TLA Video store (11 a.m. – 10 p.m.).


GETTING INVOLVED
In order to put together any festival of this caliber, we rely primarily on the help of volunteers. But, if you don’t feel like volunteering out of the goodness of your heart, do it for the tickets. Volunteer for the film festival = see movies for free!

Ushering is an easy - but ESSENTIAL – volunteer job. You will tear tickets and hand out ballots with a friendly disposition, representing the festival to all of our attendees! Shifts generally begin an hour before the first show of the day and end 1/2 hour after the last show.

Rewards:
In exchange for your time, you will receive a complimentary pass to exchange for a ticket to the film of your choice. Earn double comps on Sundays – Work any shift on Sunday and receive TWO comps for the shift!

Please email your information contact information and scheduling requests to Pari Patel at volunteer@phillyfests.com.


MEMBERSHIP
The Philadelphia Film Festival is produced by the Philadelphia Film Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting outstanding film and video in the greater Philadelphia region. To become a Society member, visit www.phillyfests.com, or call Timothy Ferretti, PFS Interim Membership Coordinator, at 267-765-9700 x.296.


* * *

Since its conception in 2001, the Philadelphia Film Society remains dedicated to the presentation of film and video in the Greater Philadelphia area as a powerful form of artistic expression and a unique force for cultural diversity and international understanding. Founded in 1995, the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival presents a rainbow of GLBT films and video images from around the world.

This year’s festival has been made possible by the generosity and support of the Members of the Philadelphia Film Society and our Presenting Sponsors: Avis, City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce, Pennsylvania Film Office, Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, here! Networks and TLA Entertainment Group; Official Sponsors: Anheuser-Busch, Tylenol-PM, Sundance Channel, Eventions Productions, Scion, Triumph Brewing Company, Twenty21, Penn’s Landing Corporation, Parrot Bay, Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue, Cashman & Associates and University of the Arts; Partner Sponsors: Plumer & Associates, Inc., Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Modern Eye, Fest In Philly, Crowne Plaza, Sofitel Hotel, B-Side, Mixto, Hoffman Design Group, Haru, Hangar 1, PA Festivals and Premier Tours; Patron Sponsors:Jennifer Angelo Design, Marathon Grill, Sisters, Campus Philly, PhillyCarShare, Lucky Strike Lanes, P.I.N.K., The Restaurant Collection, Caviar Assouline, Vitamin Water, Philadelphia Trolley Works, Neff Associates Inc., Philly Fringe Festival, Vesuvio, Drexel University Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, McCormick & Schmick’s, Allied Advertising, The National Condominium Residences, 12th Street Gym, Whole Foods, FuntasticFotos, Prince Music Theater, Bluecoat, American Apparel and Philly Aids Thrift; and Media Sponsors: Gaydar Magazine, Where Philadelphia, Metro, Philadelphia City Paper, Philly Gay Calendar, HX Philadelphia and Queer Times.