Newsline #6 - 13th Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

NEWSLINES

13th Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Newsline #6 – July 15th, 2007


SHAKE YOUR BOOOOTY!!!!

How much fun was that?!?!

C'mon! She’s one of the most recognizable faces on the planet, she’s larger-than-life, she’s a self-proclaimed “Supermodel”, she’s the most undeniable glamour queen in the world… that’s right it was RuPaul herself! Right there shaking her booty up on stage in front of the entire Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and the BEST PART OF ALL – She was up there thanking TLA Entertainment for the opportunity to do it!!!

What a night! What a film festival!!! We hope you’re enjoying everything as much as we are.


SIZZLIN’ SATURDAY…

Today, started off with a tribute to one of the most prominent gay pioneers in history as the Philadelphia Film Society saluted Barbara Gittings by presenting the Free Library of Philadelphia with a $1,000 donation, in honor of the Independence Branch’s Gittings Book Collection.

Barbara’s surviving lifetime partner, Kay Tobin Lahusen was in attendance and graciously described how she and Barbara looked forward to attending the festival each year and how Barbara was a “closet” film enthusiast. She relayed jokingly that Barbara would be thrilled that she’d finally be “outed” as a lover of the movies.

Just a few hours later and a quick flight of steps away from where Barbara Gittings was honored in the Black Box, more awards were distributed. This year’s Rising Star Award was presented to a humble and ever-so sexy Charlie David who donned a stunning suit and tie for the occasion. Charlie genuinely thanked his family, friends and fans for supporting him and his decisions to be a publicly gay figure in the LGBT community while pursuing his career in acting. He relayed that being true to himself was far more important than a career, but with the support from so many people, (including his grandparents, who have even helped finance his next film) he has been able to succeed and to be recognized with honors such as the Rising Star Award.

As evening approached, Charlie was later spotted enjoying other festival presentations with friend and co-star Jesse Archer including the script-reading of Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild. You wouldn’t believe the roars of laughter erupting from doors of the Wilma, as these guys did what they do best -- Got Wild! Joined by Entourage’s Rex Lee and Short Bus’ Peter Sickles, the entire cast brought down the house and gave everyone a sneak peek at what we can expect from the next movie. Now that we’ve had a taste, we can barely wait!

And then the ‘Starr’ arrived…

The applause began…

The camera flashes lit up…

The room ignited…

And RuPaul sashayed her way across our stage.

But that was just the beginning. After a sold-out screening of Starrbooty, Ru and her cast members, joined audience members and festival patrons for the X-rated afterparty at Nineteen Lounge and kept it going until 2:00am.

How are we ever supposed to top this? How could we top this? Well, it may not be easy, but we’re still gonna try.


WHERE YOU SHOULD BE TODAY

Today, will be a great opportunity to see a solid 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.

If you missed them the first time around, we’ll also be giving you one more chance to check out the erotic-thriller Socket, two sell-out film’s from Friday night, Shelter and Out At The Wedding and the encore of Starrbooty.

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!


WHO’S IN TOWN?

Today may also be your last chance to get snapshots of some of your favorite festival guests, who’ve been spending the weekend in town.

Lez Be Friends, Sunday July 15th, Arts Bank, 12:30pm – Director Glenn Gaylord
Starrbooty, Sunday, July 15th, Wilma Theater, 2:30pm – Mike Ruiz (Director), RuPaul, Michael Lucas, Tom Judson Ari Gold and Editor Spencer Schilly.
Socket, Sunday, July 15th, Arts Bank, 5:00pm - Sean Abley (Director/Cast member/ Screenwriter/Producer), Derek Long, Georgia Jean, Matthew Montgomery
Shelter, Sunday, July 15th, Prince Music Theater, 4:30pm – Jonah Markowitz (Director)
Out At The Wedding, Sunday, July 15th, Wilma Theater, 5:00pm – Cathy DeBuono, Andrea Marcellus
In Sickness and In Health, Sunday, July 15th, Black Box at the Prince, 5:15pm – Director Pilar Prassas, Cast member Diane Marini
Kitchen Table Stories Shorts Program, Sunday July 15th, Arts Bank, 7:15pm – Director Chandra Stapleton
In The Blood, Sunday, July 15th, 9:30pm – Director Lou Peterson, Producer Sean Cassity


SOLD OUT - 7/15/07 In Sickness and in Health Black Box at Prince, 5:15pm

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.

7/15/07 Life of Reilly Black Box at the Prince 3:00pm
7/15/07 Emile Norman Black Box at the Prince 7:30pm
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
7/21/07 Bears Black Box at the Prince 7:15pm
7/21/07 In The Blood Black Box at the Prince 9:30pm
7/22/07 Out in Philly – Shorts Arts Bank 2:30pm
7/22/07 Rag Tag Black Box at the Prince 7:15pm


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.


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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.