The
history
of
gay
cinema
germinated
with
the
origins
of
filmmaking,
likely
begun
way
back
in
1896
when
two
cowboys
danced
the
two-step
and
a
train
rushed
by
in
the
background
as
Thomas
Edison’s
Vitascope
camera
rolled
on
an
historic
experiment.
A
century
of
movies
later,
gay
cowboys
are
still
smoldering
their
brand
on
audiences
and
filmmakers
alike.
The
art
of
camp,
and
the
contributions
of
two
groundbreaking
directors
will
flash
across
movie
screens
in
the
Plaza
Theatre
during
Out
on
Film,
Atlanta’s
gay
film
festival
and
second
largest
annual
gay
cultural
event.
“In
general,
as
far
as
the
retrospectives
go,
we
like
to
do
some
retrospectives
just
to
sort
of
remind
people
that
in
the
cinema,
there
is
a
history
built
up
and
you’re
always
sort
of
following
who’s
gone
before
you,”
says
Dan
Krovich,
who
stepped
in
Oct.
3
as
Festival
Director
for
Image
Film
and
Video,
the
organization
that
produces
Out
on
Film.
Opening
night
kicks
off
with
a
screening
of
“Puccini
for
Beginners,”
the
latest
film
from
Maria
Maggenti,
the
lesbian
writer
director
who
helmed
“The
Incredibly
True
Story
of
Two
Girls
in
Love,”
in
1995.
Before
he
rescued
“Brokeback
Mountain”
from
years
of
false-starts
in
development,
Ang
Lee
wrote,
directed,
and
produced
the
1993
Chinese
romantic
comedy
“The
Wedding
Banquet,”
a
comedy
of
errors
spun
on
the
deceptions
of
a
single
woman
and
a
gay
man
who
bow
to
family
pressures
and
their
own
hearts
desires.
Lee
and
Maggenti
were
able
to
tell
the
stories
of
gay
characters
during
the
early
1990s,
a
time
when
independent
cinema
emerged
to
capture
audience
attention
with
previously
seldom
heard
voices.
“To
make
a
film
has
become
cheaper.
So
from
that
aspect,
the
budget
means
a
film
doesn’t
have
to
appeal
to
everybody.
You
can
fulfill
more
sort
of
niche
or
underserved
audiences,
because
you
don’t
need
everyone
to
see
it.
On
the
other
hand,
as
they
do
keep
getting
made,
they
obviously
do
become
more
broadly
accepted,”
says
Krovich,
noting
the
megawatt
success
of
“Brokeback
Mountain.”
Out
on
Film
moves
to
the
Plaza
Theatre,
a
first
for
the
festival,
which
has
spent
much
of
the
past
decade
housed
at
Midtown
Arts
Cinema.
It’s
definitely
a
completely
independent
theatre.
And
so,
we
try
to
support
the
independence
of
it,
and
it
fits
what
we’re
doing,”
explains
Krovich
of
the
move.
Gay
cinema’s
campier
elements
will
be
thrust
in
the
spotlight
during
the
festival,
with
Saturday
night
screenings
of
“The
Rocky
Horror
Picture
Show,”
a
recent
addition
to
the
National
Film
Registry,
and
“Mommie
Dearest,”
the
breathtakingly
spectacular
send-up
of
Joan
Crawford’s
career
as
a
mother,
which
celebrated
its
25th
anniversary
in
2006.
“Rocky
Horror
sort
of
came
out
of
the
fact
that
the
Plaza
does
that
regularly.
And
we
just
thought
“Mommie
Dearest’
would
be
fun
and
we
noticed
that
it
had
an
anniversary,”
Krovich
shares.
“This
Filthy
World,”
which
makes
its
U.S.
premiere
at
Out
on
Film,
chronicles
the
stand-up
and
lecture
circuit
musings
of
gay
cinema
auteur
John
Waters.
Krovich
said
he
expected
“Loving
Annabelle,”
a
romantic
drama
about
a
lesbian
affair
between
a
boarding
school
teacher
and
her
student,
to
draw
in
crowds.
Krovich
predicts
some
changes
for
future
festivals
now
that
he’s
at
the
helm,
but
expects
plenty
of
new
cinematic
fare
to
be
available
for
future
festivals.
“I
still
think
there’s
a
lot
of
stories
to
be
told
for
the
group
and
the
community
that
still
will
not
be
touched
in
the
mainstream.”
8
p.m.
The
Opening
Night
Feature
is
a
tad
disappointing
for
a
festival
lineup
that
is
refreshingly
diverse
and
experimental.
Director
Maria
Maggenti,
whose
charming
“The
Incredibly
True
Adventure
of
Two
Girls
In
Love”
also
screens
during
the
festival
as
part
of
a
retrospective
on
her
work,
makes
a
slight
miss
here.
The
story
of
Allegra
(Elizabeth
Reaser),
who
falls
in
love
with
a
man
and
a
woman,
never
quite
takes
off.
Often,
the
film’s
supposedly
funny
situations
degenerate
into
predictable
sitcom
triteness.
Maggenti
could
have
skipped
the
80
minutes
between
the
film’s
beginning
and
end
and
given
the
audience
the
conclusion
they
probably
saw
coming
from
the
start.
1
p.m.
If
you’ve
seen
one
documentary
about
female-to-male
transitions,
you’ve
seen
them
all.
“Boy
I
Am”
holds
little
distinction
from
its
predecessors.
Profiling
three
FTMs
pre-
and
...
