All About Outfest 2009

As our fight for marriage equality rages in courtrooms, rallies and headlines across California, we view this year’s Outfest through a matrimonial lens, reiterating the fact that our battle continues. With the eclectic program this season, it was hardly difficult to assemble “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue” for your politically minded film-going experience. Regular contributor Michael Kearns explains why the “old” Barbra Streisand classic Funny Girl, which gets the Outfest sing-along treatment, still resonates with gay audiences. Kicking off the “new” season, first-time Outfest attendee, heartthrob Benjamin Bratt, gives an exclusive interview to Frontiers in L.A. on his new film La Mission, which secured the prestigious opening night slot of the festival. Award-winning makeup artist Mark Payne shares his lifelong fandom of leading ladies, from whom he “borrowed” as a child, impersonating the likes of Barbra, Judy, Liza and Shirley MacLaine. Thankfully these performances were captured on celluloid and are available in the documentary Get Happy, screening as part of the “Queerer Than Fiction: Documentary Shorts.” The docu-narrative mash-up Greek Pete, an examination of the London rent boy scene, satisfies the “blue” leg of our rhyme, with its serious themes and sizzling sexuality. Throughout this feature, members of Outfest’s board of directors offer their suggestions for the festival’s don’t-miss films. See you at Outfest. —Brian Padgett

the details

Outfest
July 9-19
outfest.org

First Lady

Outfest Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer on queer film

by Chris Freeman

Art. Commerce. Relevance. How to balance those concerns is nothing new in Hollywood, or in queer Los Angeles. Perhaps no organization does more on all three fronts than Outfest. Having been around a dozen years longer than the Los Angeles Film Festival, Outfest is the world's preeminent gay and lesbian film festival. This year, it's got the usual great line-up of films, events, and personalities—and it has a new executive director.

Kirsten Schaffer has been working for the organization for the better part of a decade, most recently as senior director of programming and operations. She came to L.A. from Washington state, where she studied film and cultural theory at Evergreen State College. An activist since her Washington, D.C. youth, she went to Evergreen thinking “that I'd get a degree related to social justice. Then I took a film program and fell in love with making movies. I realized that making movies was a whole other way to convey a message—I thought filmmaking was a more effective way of creating social change.” That realization has stayed with Schaffer, who says she “still believes that the way we create political change is through cultural change. I see artists as leaders around cultural change. That's what makes me really excited to do this job as executive director at Outfest.”

Schaffer is committed to continuing Outfest's tradition of showcasing the best in queer film and in trying to reach out to all aspects of the community.“ I think there's always a need for community. People want to be together, to experience art and culture. You can download nearly any film to bring it into your home or you can get it from Netflix, but I think there's something really valuable about the shared experience of watching a film for the first time or re-watching a beloved film with a gay audience. No matter how accessible films are on your computer or TV, people still crave that community experience.”

Corporate sponsorship has been healthy for many years at Outfest, and heavy-hitters like HBO and Absolut continue their support, but smaller organizations and individuals have been hit pretty hard. “Few organizations have been untouched by this crisis. Last year, we experienced some changes, but this year, it's been tough. Smaller organizations can't really justify philanthropy when they're laying people off. The entertainment industry—agencies, studios, and the like—haven't had a good year, between the economy and the writers' strike. It affects us, and it means we have to make some changes. We're a little leaner this year; we're doing a few things differently, but I don't think we're sacrificing anything.”

Also, the amount of money and other resources queer folk invested in fighting Prop. 8 has taken its toll. “The community is tapped out—we spent a lot of money fighting Prop. 8. One of the things we have to look at as a community is how do we remain a healthy community with healthy arts organizations and social service organizations at a time when we do need to put a lot of our energy and resources to keep that fight going.”

Schaeffer looks forward to “leading Outfest into its next decade. We're trying to stay ahead of the curve, in terms of digital space and content. How are we helping to get audiences into theaters? How are we reaching out to all aspects of the queer community? I want to continue exploring these questions.”

Outfest is an important organization, for our city, our community, and our people. As Schaffer says, “There's work to do around bringing the LGBTQ people together, and there's work to be done across the socio-economic spectrum. That's the movement I'd love for us to be building in our community as we pursue these civil rights. We try to acknowledge that diversity in our programming, our sponsors, our community partners, and the audiences we attract.”

This is the legacy Schaffer is so proud to be a part of: “There's a lot of change that comes from within the community through Outfest, strengthening ideas about who we are and what matters to us, showing our diversity. We are everywhere, living different lives, and our movies depict that. Having showcased that over more than a quarter century really is Outfest's contribution to the LGBT civil rights movement.”

"Something Old"

“Top Ten Reasons To See Funny Girl (Especially If You're Under 40)

by Michael Kearns

10. You'll forgo those plans for a nose job.

9. You'll realize the power of supersized fingernails when you're lip-synching a song about a man who you'll take back even though he treats you like sh-t.

8. You'll learn that Flo Ziegfeld is not a woman.

7. You'll know why Madonna has never won a best actress Oscar, but Barbra has.

6. You'll know the words to “Sadie, Sadie” if and when gay marriage is legalized.

5. You'll realize that when the movie was released (1968), gay men were clinging to (and reenacting whenever possible) the following plotline: ugly duckling turns into swan, finds a hot dude and gets dumped.

4. You'll find that a man with a gambling habit—even when he calls you “Darling” in a low, sexy growl—is like a man with a meth habit: bad news.

3. You'll know what to say if you look in a mirror and see yourself reflected back, wearing a leopard coat: “Hello, Gorgeous.”

2. You'll know why Jason Gould, La Streisand's son with Elliot Gould, had no choice but to be gay.

1. You'll agree that no movie queen of the 21st century—including Nicole, Angelina or Beyoncé—could pull off “I'm the Greatest Star.”

the details

Funny Girl: The Sing-Along
July 16, 8:30 p.m.
Ford Amphitheatre

don’t miss

Hollywood, je t’aime

"I've had the pleasure of screening Hollywood, je t'aime. Charming and understated, with a hint of French new wave, I look forward to seeing it on the big screen."
—Cherie Song, Esq., McGuireWoods LLP

"Something New"

Benjamin Bratt discusses his role in the opening night film La Mission.

by Lawrence Ferber

In La Mission, a Latino ex-con living in San Francisco's Mission district, Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt), discovers his beloved teenage son, Jesse (Jeremy Ray Valdez), is gay and has a boyfriend, which causes a shattering conflict between the two. Written and directed by Bratt's brother, Peter, La Mission premiered to standing (and teary-eyed) ovations at January's Sundance Film Festival. Benjamin, who also served as producer, discusses the film.

FRONTIERS IN L.A.: Che represents such a dichotomy—a warm, good person, yet hardwired to react with violence and fury towards his son's homosexuality.

BENJAMIN BRATT: It would be all too easy to demonize Che. Peter wanted to illuminate both characters' journeys. Jesse probably has the more difficult journey, which is in the face of fear, potential rejection, violence and even death, to reveal who he is to the person he loves the most, with the likelihood of losing that relationship. On the other side of the coin you have someone who has an equal fear of losing the person he cherishes the most. Che can't help but see Jesse as a direct reflection of who he is as a man. And if he's gay, which is feminine, he's “less-than.” Calling someone a faggot or bitch is to feminize them. That speaks to misogyny. That's the lesser of the species. But that's how most men are socialized. Doesn't matter if you grew up in the Mission or Des Moines.

You and Peter grew up in and around the Mission district, and employed a lot of locals for the film's production. Did anyone involved share Che's disgust regarding the gay aspect?

There was an incident when we were shooting the scene outside the house and Jesse was getting a beat down [from Che]. Some homies pulled up and asked, “Why is he getting the beating?” We didn't hide the storyline from anyone, in fact we encouraged people to understand what it was about, and when they discovered why he was receiving the beating in the context of the story [their reaction] was, “good, shit, he deserves it.” But the community could not have been more supportive.

the details

La Mission
July 9, 8 p.m.
Orpheum Theatre

don’t miss

Choosing Children

“Besides my own premiere of Transproofed in the comedy shorts, I am thrilled about Outfest's Legacy Project Gala premiere of Choosing Children. This newly-restored documentary about loving families with LGBT parents couldn't be more timely.”
—Andrea James, co-founder, Deep Stealth Productions

"Something Borrowed"

Forget Your Troubles - Mark Payne discusses his award-winning documentary short Get Happy.

by Brantley Bardin

In 1978, at the tender age of 13, Mark Payne (now a two-time Emmy Award-winning makeup artist) was stitching away at the bugle beaded gowns—bank-rolled by his own grandmother—that he wore during his faultless female impersonations of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli (which, with his equally supportive mother behind the camera, were all being captured on film for posterity). When not entertaining the neighborhood kids with his elaborate, garage drag extravaganzas, Payne acted as his own booking agent, landing himself Vegas gigs as opening acts for the likes of Bob Hope and Milton Berle. Now this singular tale, liberally featuring actual archival footage of the teenage drag savant’s jaw-droppingly intense early performances, has been turned into a multi-award winning short documentary, Get Happy: A Coming of Age Musical Extravaganza. It’s a tale so compellingly off-beat, so you-can’t-believe-what-you’re-seeing awesome that it’s already in TV development—but by all means, don’t wait for the TV show: Get happy now.

FRONTIERS IN L.A.: When did you first see a drag show?

MARK PAYNE: When I was about eleven, I guess, my hairdresser mom took me to a bar to see a manicurist who worked for her who did Barbra impersonations—I really responded and thought, “Wow! That’s what I want to do!”

Your early films of you doing songs like “How Lucky Can You Get” from Funny Lady are from 1978, pre-video days. How did you nail the mannerisms?

I would go see these movies over and over again—like when New York, New York came out I figured out that all the good stuff happened in the last twenty minutes or so. I’d go for those twenty minutes constantly. Then I’d just get into the head of these people and recreate them.

So at your shows your mother and grandmother were just applauding away at their little darling sparkling as Liza Minnelli?

Oh, yeah, amazingly so. They thought it was great. I mean, my mom was a bit of a Mama Rose character—she was a frustrated performer and when she saw how magically people responded to my drag thing she thought, “OK, this is the ticket!” Not that I didn’t love it, too.

The greatest thing she did was just let you be you.

Which is why I think so many people relate so much to the movie. It’s really about finding happiness within yourself and having people around you allowing that to happen. The story is as much about my mother and my grandmother and their strength with being able to fight off all the craziness that was going on to just keep me safe and happy. They gave me probably one of the best childhoods that anyone could possibly have

the details

Get Happy
July 10, 8 p.m., July 15, 7 p.m.
DGA 2

don’t miss

Prodigal Sons

“Kimberly Reed's documentary is about her return as a transgendered woman to her hometown, where it is also discovered that her adopted brother might be the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. I think it's a particularly important film because transgender issues may be the final frontier of gay subjects—an area that even many gay people don't understand or feel at ease with yet.”
—Ari Karpel, journalist

City of Borders

“I am fascinated by varying documentaries, especially ones that bring you into a world we do not get to see, in this case, LGBT life in Jerusalem.”
—Jonathan Howard, Vice President, Innovative Artists

“Something Blue”

Director For Hire

Andrew Haigh discusses his documentary about London's rent boy culture, Greek Pete.

by Ken Knox

In his fascinating new documentary, Greek Pete, director Andrew Haigh tracks the ups and downs of a charismatic rent boy and his group of similarly employed friends. Shot for just $5,000 over six months, the film is a hybrid of narrative storytelling and documentary filmmaking that casts an insightful light on the experience of the modern day prostitute. Haigh talks about the making of the film and why hustlers are just like everybody else.

FRONTIERS IN L.A.: So what made you choose to make a movie about rent boys in London?

It was just a world that interested me. It's kind of rarely on screen, and when it is, it's sort of cliché-ridden and romanticized. So I just wanted to find out some kind of truth about the world.

How did Pete end up becoming the focal point of the film? Did that evolve during editing, or had you planned it beforehand?

I put an ad on Gaydar and got hardly any responses. And then finally Pete responded and I met up with him. And he was exactly what I wanted. I wanted to make this film about somebody who wasn't doing it just to feed some kind of drug habit. I was looking for somebody who was doing it to forge a life for himself within this strange subculture. And then he just brought in a lot of people that he knew.

Was there anything that was off-limits to you during the course of filming?

In terms of the sexually explicit stuff, we talked about whether it should be in the film. But I think in the end as long as we all decided it suited the story, it was alright. They trusted me quite quickly, which I was amazed by, and they trusted that I wasn't out to get them or judge them. Once they knew that, it became quite an easy process. They were open to doing whatever they thought was necessary.

Was there anything about the rent boy culture that surprised you?

I think more than anything it surprised me that it was just like an office job. They would sit at home and go on the computer and get their clients. I still had this idea that escorts were on the streets looking for trade, but it's not like that at all. And the fact that they want the same thing that everybody else wants. It's sort of cliché, but they just want to be happy and have some money and meet someone, all in the context of this strange world.

the details

Greek Pete
July 15, 9:45 p.m.
DGA

don’t miss

Mississippi Damned

“One film I am eager to see is the U.S. Dramatic Centerpiece film Mississippi Damned, by first time feature director Tina Mabry. I am always excited to see emerging directors continue to excel and hone their craft by challenging themselves creatively. It is a portrait of our own desires and dreams to live openly amidst a fabric so rich with knowing, yet laden with uncertainty.”
—Tamika Miller, director/producer

Fruit Fly

“One of the films I can't wait to see is Fruit Fly from the talented director of Colma: The Musical. Colma was an award-winning original musical about a group of young friends who are in limbo and experiencing self-discovery. The cast is magical and they sing! If Fruit Fly is half of what Colma is, we're all in for a real treat.”
—Larry Grimaldi, director/producer