Terminato con grande successo l’Outfest 2007, il festival LGBT di Los Angeles, un festival gay che, anche solo per rispettare la rinomanza della città, Mecca del cinema mondiale, è secondo solo al pioniere festival gay di San Francisco.
A testimonianza di questo rilievo nazionale e internazionale dell’Outfest di Los Angeles, la decisione della GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), in occasione del 25° anniversario, di donare al Festival la sua cospicua collezione di opere cinematografiche e televisive, in modo da assicurare, ha dichiarato il presidente della Glaad, Neil G. Giuliano, che “questo importante materiale sia fruibile dalle future generazioni”.
Il Festival di Los Angeles ha recentemente istituito, in collaborazione con UCLA Film & Television Archive, l’Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation, l’unico ente al mondo dedicato al restauro e alla conservazione del cinema Lgbt.
L’Outfets 2007 appena concluso è stato anche un momento d’incontro culturale, progettuale e commerciale tra importanti addetti al settore. Anche l’Italia era presente con diversi operatori dei nostri festival e della nostra nascente industria cinematografica gay oriented. Simone Morandi, della Fourlab, ha detto di avere riscontrato per la prima volta un particolare interesse da parte di americani e canadesi verso il nostro mercato. Sono in vista accordi commerciali e distributivi molto promettenti (vi daremo presto notizie precise in merito).
Di seguito i premi delle giurie e del pubblico di Outfest 2007. Ricordiamo che da quest’anno Outfest ha istituito anche il Premio Platinum, assegnato per l’occasione alla grande regista Barbara Hammer, che dal 1960 ad oggi ha creato più di 80 film e video tra i più significativi nella storia del cinema lesbico.
OUTFEST 2007 FILM COMPETITION WINNERS
Premi delle Giurie:
Miglior opera narrativa americana ($2,500 cash prize, courtesy of 20th Century Fox):
25 CENT PREVIEW
regia di Cyrus Amini
Miglior opera narrativa internazionale:
TULI
regia di Auraeus Solito
Miglior documentario:
JERUSALEM IS PROUD TO PRESENT
regia di Nitzan Gilady
Miglior attore:
Merlin Gaspers and Dorian Brockington in 25 CENT PREVIEW
Miglior attrice:
Michelle Ehlen in BUTCH JAMIE
Miglior sceneggiatura:
Casper Andreas e Jesse Archer per “Dire fare baciare” (A FOUR LETTER WORD)
Miglior corto drammatico:
PARIAH
regia di Dee Rees
Miglior corto documentario:
LEGACY
regia di Inge Blackman
Special Programming Awards:
Premio Libertà (Freedom Award):
THROUGH THICK AND THIN
regia di Sebastian Cordoba
Miglior talento emergente ($5,000 product grant from Kodak):
Dominique Cardona e Laurie Colbert, registe, FINN’S GIRL
Miglior contributo artistico:
Angelina Maccarone, regista, VIVERE
Premi del pubblico:
HBO Miglior Opera Prima ($5,000 cash prize):
SHELTER
regia di Jonah Markowitz
Miglior Film Drammatico:
THE BUBBLE
regia di Eytan Fox
Miglior Documentario:
FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO
regia di Daniel Karslake
Miglior corto di fiction:
PARIAH
regia di Dee Rees
Miglior corto documentario:
FREEHELD
regia di Cynthia Wade
Miglior colonna sonora:
Michele Mulroney e Micah Schraft per SUNNY AND SHARE LOVE YOU
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GIURIE FILM IN COMPETIZIONE:
U.S. DRAMATIC FEATURES COMPETITION
JENNI OLSON
Jenni Olson, director of e-commerce at WolfeVideo.com, is a leading expert on LGBT cinema history. She is a curator and archivist, has established PlanetOut. com’s massive queer movie database, PopcornQ, serves on the advisory board for Outfest’s Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation and is launching the new Wolfe Vintage Collection. Also a filmmaker, Jenni’s debut feature, THE JOY OF LIFE, won the Outfest Award for OUTStanding Artistic Achievement in 2005. She is in development on a new feature, GET ME GUINEVERE TURNER.
BARRY SANDLER
Barry Sandler is the screenwriter of CRIMES OF PASSION, THE MIRROR CRACK’D, EVIL UNDER THE SUN, GABLE AND LOMBARD, THE KANSAS CITY BOMBER, and the groundbreaking MAKING LOVE. He is the recipient of the GLAAD Media Award and the Outfest 2002 Gay Pioneer Award for Courage and Artistry, and was named by The Advocate as one of the most influential gay artists in America. Sandler also serves as Artistic Director of the Outfest Screenwriting Lab, and teaches screenwriting at the University of Central Florida School of Film and Digital Media.
DARRYL STEPHENS
Darryl Stephens studied acting while attending UC Berkeley and was part of the university-based theater troupe, Sassymouth. His television roles include MTV’s “Undressed,” CBS’ “That’s Life” and VH1’s “Red Eye.” Stephens studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse prior to joining the cast of “Noah’s Arc” in the leading role of Noah. Stephens can be seen in two feature films, Q. Allan Brocka’s BOY CULTURE and in a supporting role in Todd Stephens’ ANOTHER GAY MOVIE. His other feature film credits include SEAMLESS, CIRCUIT, and the independent feature NOT QUITE RIGHT.
INTERNATIONAL DRAMATIC FEATURES COMPETITION
ALONSO DURALDE
Alonso Duralde is the author of 101 Must- See Movies For Gay Men (Alyson Books) and vice president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. He was the Arts & Entertainment Editor at The Advocate and Artistic Director of the USA Film Festival/Dallas. He is featured in the documentaries FABULOUS! THE STORY OF QUEER CINEMA and HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU, BOY and on the DVDs of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. He is currently at work on his next book.
EVE OISHI
Eve Oishi is Associate Professor of Cultural Studies at Claremont Graduate University. Her research specialities include Asian American, queer and experimental cinema and transnational media culture. Her book, The Memory Village: Fakeness and the Forging of Family in Asian American Literature and Film, is forthcoming from Duke University Press. She has curated film and video programs for film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia and served as international features consultant for the Sundance Film Festival.
CARLOS GARZA
Carlos Garza began his programming career at the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival while he was studying at the University of Texas in Austin. In 2003, he became a founding member of the Morelia International Film Festival, which has emerged as one of Mexico’s premiere film events. Garza has been a freelance journalist, editor, and publicist, coordinator of the World Cinema Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, and nominator for the Media Arts Fellowship program for Mexican film and video artists administered by Renew Media and established by the Rockefeller Foundation.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION
BILLY LUTHER
Billy Luther studied film at Hampshire College and worked for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian-Native American Film and Video Festival. A past honoree of Film Independent’s Project: Involve, Luther was recently selected for the Tribeca Institute’s All Access Program, the 2006 Sundance Ford Fellowship and FIND’s FastTrack with his feature documentary MISS NAVAJO, which screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. He is in development on the UNTITLED INDIAN MARCHING BAND PROJECT and Nanobah Becker’s FULL. Luther belongs to the Navajo, Hopi and Laguna Pueblo Tribes.
MEENA NANJI
Meena Nanji has been working in experimental and documentary film/video for the last twelve years. Her films VIEW FROM A GRAIN OF SAND, VOICES OF THE MORNING, LIVING IN COLOUR, and IT IS A CRIME have been recognized by the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Paul Robeson Fund, The American Film Institute, and NAATA. Meena has curated various film/ video festivals and screenings in Los Angeles and San Francisco, been a juror on grant-giving organizations and film festivals, and guest lectures at universities and conferences around the world.
LAURA NIX
Laura Nix began her documentary career in the early nineties in Boston, and has since produced and directed over 50 presentations for DVD and television, including the feature documentary on the creative evolution of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, titled WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT: THE STORY OF HEDWIG. She also wrote and directed the fiction feature THE POLITICS OF FUR, which won numerous awards during its appearance at 70 film festivals worldwide including the Grand Jury Prize for Best American Narrative and Best Actress Award at Outfest 2002.
SHORT FILMS COMPETITION
DIANE GAIDRY
Diane Gaidry is the Executive Director and co-founder of Filmmakers Alliance. She co-produced the feature film, THE DOGWALKER, and has overseen the production of numerous shorts made through FA. Diane has played lead roles in several independent features, including LOVING ANNABELLE (Best Actress Outfest 2006), NEED, THE DOGWALKER and AMERICA SO BEAUTIFUL. She is currently in pre-production on an omnibus film, RED WHITE AND BLUE, which was developed with 10 FA writer/directors.
ROBERTA MARIE MUNROE
Roberta Marie Munroe is the Program Director at the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. She was a short film programmer at the Sundance Film Festival from 2001-2006, and is the author of the upcoming book, How Not To Make A Film: Confessions Of A Sundance Programmer. Her short film DANI & ALICE has screened at over 70 film festivals and won the Planet Out Best Drama Award. In 2005, Roberta was named one of the 10 Amazing Gay Women in Hollywood by POWER UP.
CAMERON YATES
Cameron Yates is the Short Film Programmer for NewFest: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Film Festival. He has also worked for Sundance, the New York Film Festival, Albert Maysles, and Zeitgeist Films. As a documentary filmmaker, Cameron’s first film 14 AND PAYROLLED, a portrait of teenagers working for the Virginia House of Delegates, premiered on PBS in 2003. He is currently working on a feature documentary about a New Orleans Madam and her family.
dal sito di Outfest
