Saturday, July 14, 2007

Newsline #5 - 13th Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

NEWSLINES

13th Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Newsline #5 – July 14h, 2007


WITH AN EVENING OF SOLD OUT SCREENINGS THE FESTIVAL IS DEFINITELY IN FULL SWING!

Yesterday was our official first full day of screenings last night offered 3 separate parties to choose from. What did you end up seeing? What soiree did you wind up at? And with whom did you spend your evening with? We won’t tell if you won’t!

The ladies of Out At The Wedding (Cathy DeBuono and Andrea Marcellus) along with short-film director Ursula Burton (The Happiest Day of His Life) shined as they presented their films to a completely full house at the Wilma Theater before joining the excited audience afterwards at Sisters on South Street for their very own “Wedding Reception.”

Meanwhile, back on the Avenue of the Arts, another thrilled filmmaker, Jonah Markowitz received the first ever Scion Award presented by Official sponsor Scion Automotive for his directorial debut Shelter. After graciously accepting the award in front of a sold out crowd, Markowitz invited all of the festival-goers at the theater to join him at Sotto Varalli for his very own post-screening celebration, “The Helter Shelter Soiree!”

Last but not least, The Gay Bed & Breakfast of Terror sold out at the Arts Bank venue at 9:30 as well. If you weren’t able to make it to this one, check it out at the second screening next weekend, Saturday July 21st at the Wilma Theater


WHERE YOU SHOULD BE TODAY

Okay, okay, so last night was really, really great, but we have so much going on this weekend that we should do our best to keep our focus on what’s ahead.

First and foremost, it’s important to start the day off right, it’s simply too important to miss our SALUTE TO BARBARA GITTINGS – This free event will take place at 12:00 Noon at the Black Box location inside the Prince Music Theater. This will certainly be one of the most important events during the entire festival as we pay tribute to a legendary gay & civil rights pioneer. A reception will be offered before the Phila Film Society’s donation of $1,000 to the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Barbara Gitting’s collection at the Independence Branch. Followed by the documentary film Gay Pioneers.

Next, you won’t want to miss your chance to see young Hollywood hunks Jessie Archer and Charlie David on stage together after the presentation of the Rising Star Award beginning at 2:45pm at the Prince Music Theater.
RISING STAR AWARD presented to CHARLIE DAVID – This is the award we present each year to an up and coming talent in the gay entertainment community and with Charlie appearing in both our opening night and closing night films, he’s the perfect recipient. After the presentation he’ll be joined on stage by co-star Jessie Archer to introduce our second screening of A Four Letter Word.


As the sun begins to set, you’re gonna want to head over to the Wilma Theater to catch an exclusive peak at Another Gay Sequel during our Another Gay Sequel Staged Reading. This event taking place at 7:00pm, will give festival-goers the very first look at the upcoming sequel to last year’s hilarious hit comedy Another Gay Movie. Not only are the fan-favorite cast members returning but they’re bringing new friends with them too, including Entourage’s Rex Lee and Short Bus’ Peter Sickles.

The evening’s fun doesn’t end there though… you’ll need to hustle over to the Prince Music Theater after the reading so that you don’t miss RuPaul's appearance at her screening of Starrbooty. Afterwards she’ll be joining all the audience members at the free after party, aptly titled XXX at XIX beginning at 11:00pm.

That’s not all though! There’s plenty of other things going on too. You could check out the movie with everyone’s favorite name in the festival Itty Bitty Titty Committee before meeting up at the TPDS Club afterwards for the very cleverly titled after-party “The Itty Bitty Titty Festivity”

OR…

You could get nostalgic watching Joyce Heyser in the 80’s teen classic Just One of the Guys shown outside at the Jamaican Jerk Hut (1436 South Street) beginning at 11:15pm.

If you think it’s a little too warm to enjoy an outdoor screening, we also suggest Socket, an erotic thriller screening at the Wilma at 9:30pm. Just one thing though, we can’t guarantee you wont end up just as hot and bothered as you would during the outdoor screening. We hear that this one won’t disappoint if you’re looking for sex appeal.


WHO’S IN TOWN?

Now, we know there’s an awful lot to chose from, so if snapping a shot of a favorite celebrity might help you make up your mind, here’s a look at who’s going to be in town.

Finn’s Girl, Saturday, July 14th, Wilma Theater, 2:15pm – Dominque Cardona and Laurie Colbert (Co-directors & Producers)
Trantasia, Saturday, July 14th, Black Box at the Prince, 2:45pm – Cast member Maria Roman
A Four Letter Word, Saturday, July 14th, Prince Music Theater, 2:45pm – Jesse Archer and Rising Star Award Recipient Charlie David
Blueprint, Saturday, July 14th, Arts Banks, 5:00pm – Boi Wonda (Director), Damien Lee, Keith Young-Fountain, Trevite Willis (Producer)
Through Thick and Thin, Saturday July 14th, Black Box at the Prince, 5;00pm – Sebastian Cordoba (Director)\
Another Gay Sequel Staged Reading, Saturday, July 14th, Wilma Theater, 7;00pm – Todd Stephens (Writer/Director/Producer), Rex Lee, Michael Carbonaro, Jonah Blechman, Mitch Morris, Peter Sickles, Andersen Gabrych, Jake Mosser, and Eric Eisenbrey, (Producer)
Starrbooty, Saturday, July 14th, Prince Music Theater, 9:30pm – Mike Ruiz (Director), RuPaul, Michael Lucas, Tom Judson Ari Gold and Editor Spencer Schilly.
Socket, Saturday, July 14th, Wilma Theater, 9:30pm - Sean Abley (Director/Cast member/ Screenwriter/Producer), Derek Long, Georgia Jean, Matthew Montgomery


AND IF YOU’RE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW...

You’ll have a great opportunity to see another batch of excellent films during their first festival screenings, including the “visually sumptuous and explicitly erotic lesbian feature” The Chinese Botanist’s Daughters, Pantasya, an exotic film from the Philippines “featuring five erotic interludes,” as well as Kitchen Table Stories, one of this year’s featured Shorts programs highlighting women of color. This collection focuses on female stories centered on African-American, Hispanic and Lebanese women.

Once you’ve had your daily fill of screenings, you can head over to Lucky Strikes Bowling Lanes (1311 Chestnut Street) for our Strykes for Dykes (and gay boys too!) get together social at 10:00pm. They’ve graciously offered all of our guests complimentary bowling and billiards until midnight as long as we handle the cost of our own drinks. Not a bad deal at all!



MOVIES ON THE VERGE OF SELLING OUT

The following movies have less than 50 seats available before they’ll be sold out, so if you’re interested in them, don’t wait a minute to purchase your tickets.

7/14/07 A Four Letter Word Prince Music Theater 2:45pm
7/14/07 Trantasia Black Box at the Prince 2:45pm
7/15/07 In Sickness and in Health Black Box at the Prince 5:15pm
7/17/07 Dead Boyz Don’t Scream Arts Bank 9:30pm
7/21/07 Kate Clinton: 25th Anniv Black Box at the Prince 5:00pm


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.

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