|
Forget
the
Sundance
Film
Festival.
The
famous
event
is
in
freezing
Park
City,
Utah,
which
can’t
compare
to
the
steamy
weather
and
sultry
backdrop
that
Miami
offers.
From
April
27
to
May
6,
South
Floridians
will
have
their
own
Hollywood-style
event
—
the
Miami
Gay
&
Lesbian
Film
Festival.
Now
in
its
ninth
year,
MGLFF
offers
film
openings,
appearances
by
film
directors
and
tons
of
parties.
This
year’s
films
run
the
gamut
from
comedy
to
drama
to
thrillers.
The
one
thing
these
films
all
have
in
common
is
that
they
are
all
aimed
at
the
GLBT
community.
Carol
Coombes
has
been
the
festival
and
program
director
of
MGLFF
for
the
past
six
years
and
has
seen
many
changes.
“It’s
grown
a
huge
amount,”
she
says.
In
fact,
last
year,
the
festival offered
89
films.
This
year,
it
has
grown
to
104.
Coombes
says
that
the
festival
has
changed
from
just
showing
films
to
launching
films.
“We’re
having
a
lot
of
world
premieres,”
she
says.
Although
the
event
centers
on
a
variety
of
amazing
films,
there
are
also
several
parties.
On
April
27,
opening
night,
MGLFF
will
kick
off
with
a
performance
by
Latin
diva
Albita
at
the
Gusman
Center
for
the
Performing
Arts
in
downtown
Miami.
Albita’s
performance
will
be
followed
by
the
screening
of
“The
Picture
of
Dorian
Gray,”
which
promoters
describe
as
a
new
vision
of
Oscar
Wilde’s
quest
for
eternal
youth.
The
biggest,
most
outrageous
event
will
occur
on
Wednesday,
May
2.
The
Centerpiece
Gala
Party
is
called
“WayOUT,”
and
will
take
place
over
two
blocks
of
Espanola
Way
in
Miami
Beach.
This
wild
after-party
will
feature
all
kinds
of
attractions
throughout
the
street.
There
will
be
digital
format
art
from
Kenneth
Anger
and
Barbara
Hammer,
singing
divas
and
drag
flamenco
lessons.
The
tour
along
Espanola
will
also
include
digital
and
performance
works
by
many
artists
and
a
show
by
local
dancer/performer
Octavio
Campos.
The
massive
party
should
be
quite
a
sight
to
behold.
Other
highlights
of
the
week
include
an
outdoor
screening
of
the
film
“A
Four
Letter
Word”
and
a
closing
night
party
at
Parrot
Jungle
Island.
Putting
the
festival
together
is
a
large
undertaking.
“The
minute
one
ends,
I
start
working
on
the
next
one,”
Coombes
says.
She
says
that
the
Centerpiece
party
on
Espanola
Way
has
been
in
the
works
since
last
May.
One
thing
that
requires
a
lot
of
work
is
coming
up
with
a
theme.
But
this
year
an
idea
came
quickly
to
Coombes.
This
year’s
festival
theme
centers
on
the
30th
anniversary
of
Anita
Bryant’s
anti-gay
campaign
against
Dade
County’s
human
rights
ordinance,
Coombes
explains.
The
festival’s
official
logo
will
be
an
orange,
a
reference
to
Bryant’s
former
role
as
spokesperson
for
the
Florida
Citrus
Commission.
But
Coombes
says
the
logo
of
an
orange
also
stands
for
the
many
gay
Floridians
who
fought
against
Bryant.
“I
wanted
to
reclaim
the
orange
brand,”
she
says.
The
short
film
at
the
beginning
of
the
festival
will
reflect
the
Bryant
era
as
well
as
earlier
times.
“It
will
show
the
1950s
and
1970s,”
Coombes
says.
“It
will
show
what
it
was
like
back
then.
Florida
was
so
different
30
or
40
years
ago.”
This
year,
there
are
more
films
for
the
lesbian
community
than
in
the
past.
Jamie
Babbit,
director
of
the
much-loved
“But
I’m
A
Cheerleader,”
brings
us
“Itty
Bitty
Titty
Committee.”
The
film
is
about
Anna,
a
high
school
senior
who
gets
over
being
dumped
by
her
girlfriend
by
joining
the
feminist
group
C.I.A.
(Clits
in
Action).
Actresses
like
Melanie
Mayron
from
“Thirtysomething,”
Daniela
Sea
from
“L
Word”
and
model
Jenny
Shimizu
add
their
star
power
to
the
film.
Another
lesbian
film,
“The
Chinese
Botanist’s
Daughter”
is
a
romantic
epic
shot
in
China.
The
much-hyped
film
will
be
the
closer
of
the
festival.
There’s
also
a
wide
range
of
films
for
men,
including
“The
Curiosity
of
Chance”
which
takes
place
in
the
1980s
in
an
American
high
school
in
Europe.
The
cute
dramedy
is
about
openly
gay
Chance
Marquis
and
how
he
survives
his
sophomore
year
when
he
is
transferred
to
the
unique
school.
It
stars
the
adorable
Tad
Hilgenbrink,
from
“American
Pie
Presents:
Band
Camp,”
as
Chance
and
“Eating
Out
2’s”
Brett
Chukerman
as
his
crush,
Levi.
Coombes
says
that
the
diverse
selection
of
films
offers
something
for
every
audience.
“It
speaks
to
different
segments
of
the
community,”
she
says.
 |
 |
| The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by floridablade.com. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed. |
|
| 
