Lesbian Vampires, Gay Werewolves, and Fluffers... Oh My!
by Jed Ryan

The Wolves of Kromer - Playing at the LI G&L Film Festival

A wise woman once said, "Music makes the people come together." She's right! But from October 11th through the 14th, "MOVIES" will make the people-- or at least the Long Island gay, lesbian, bisexual,and transgendered community-- come together. "The idea of this Festival is NOT to show only gay- and lesbian-themed movies that already have distributors. A lot of the movies and short films that we're showing this year have never been seen before in the New York metropolitan area." These are the words of Steven J. Flynn, Esq., who is the busiest man in the Long Island GLBT community this week. Steven is the Chairman and Director of the Fourth Annual Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, a four-day, highly anticipated event which will be held at Huntington's Cinema Arts Centre on 423 Park Avenue in Huntington, NY. Whether you religiously attend every local gay or lesbian event, or have been "out of the scene" for a while, this is without a doubt expected to be the most crowd-pleasing and culturally enlightening events of the year! If you're a movie lover (and what gay man or lesbian isn't?), the creators and coordinators of the Film Festival have worked hard to guarantee we'll see a vast assortment of full-length films and shorts guaranteed to entertain as well as educate. There will be a balance of 14 feature films, including documentaries ("Our House," "Scout's Honor"), short films (40 of them), and some movies which can be described as more "commercial" ("All Over the Guy," "Big Eden," "Lost and Delirious"). Of course, the more "experimental" element, always a trademark of film festivals, will be there, as evidenced by the film selections with titles such as "Tell Tale Vibrator," "Monogamous Slut," and "The Cucumber Chronicles." And if you need further encouragement to attend one or more of the days/nights of the event, here's an incentive: the Festival benefits Community House of Long Island (CHOLI).

The 2000 Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival received the LIPP Award for "Outstanding Cultural Event," and was named "Best Entertainment and Cultural Event of 2000" by Outlook Long Island Magazine. The Cinema Arts Centre, where the Festival will be held, has always been at the forefront in their commitment to gay and lesbian cinemaphiles. Through the years they have delighted us with everything from crossover gay favorites ("The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," "Go Fish"), to screenings of landmarks in gay cinema ("The Boys in the Band"), to the truly cutting edge (Harc Huestis' documentary "Sex Is..."). Long before the local multiplexes woke up and realized that yes, Virginia, there IS a market for gay/lesbian-themed, independent, and foreign cinema, the Cinema Arts Centre proudly served the GLBT community through film through the years. It should be pointed out that the Cinema Arts Centre has ALWAYS been doing their Gay and Lesbian Film Festival every year, usually consisting of two films in two days. Ron Soper, Publisher and President of Long Island Pride Publishing, Inc., brought the concept of bringing the Festival more into the hands of the GLBT community as a CHOLI fundraiser, back in the early days of CHOLI. Steven Flynn subsequently took it to the next level, bringing the Festival to one of the most well-attended community events of the year. Michael Mulvaney is a member of the Festival Programming Committee and artist who designed the conceptual artwork for the cover of the Film Festival Journal. He is also a contributing writer to the CHOLI newsletter. Michael states that "The Festival is a celebration of diversity and of gay life in its varied form, in the setting of a social gathering." Michael, along with the other members of the Programming Committee, had the difficult job of choosing the films for the event. "We saw a real wealth of different stories, from the excruciating to the quite affecting. The variety was refreshing. The characters' gayness was often secondary to who they are, and to the story. As Michael pointed out, "AIDS spearheaded the way the gay community was pictured on screen"-- and set the background for so-called "issue movies" where so many gay-themed movies (especially "mainstream" ones) had to revolve around an "issue:" almost always, coming out or AIDS. Michael stated that he enjoyed the way many of the movies went beyond "issues" and represented the "naturalization" of our lives-- including, for example, the realistic depiction of the ups and downs of such things as our relationships.

Expectedly, and to the disappointment of several members of our community, many short films had to be rejected, given financial restrictions as well as the sheer volume of submissions. "We saw hundreds of short films. Even some of the films I liked the most were ultimately rejected," added Michael.

Steven Flynn, Attorney at Law, worked on the Film Festival all year long. As if Steven weren't busy enough (He is a former Board Member of CHOLI, frequent contributor to [the now defunct - Ed.] LIPP Magazine, and has volunteered his legal talents to the legal clinic of LIAAC. He was honored by The Long Island Gay Men's Discussion Group this past April as Outstanding Citizen and Friend of the GLBT Community.), He's dedicated a great deal of time to organize and to promote the event, often having to make sacrifices to his other commitments. To get ideas, Steven attended the Manhattan Gay and Lesbian Film Festival this past June. Fellow Organizer Peter Daly attended the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and Organizer Julia E. Maresca attended the Festival in Miami. At the Ninth Annual AIDS Care Inc. Brunch at RS Jones, Steven gave a sneak preview of some of what promises to be the best bits of the event.

On Thursday night, October 11th, at 7:30 PM, the Festival will present "Tell Tale Vibrator," followed by "Blood and Roses." "Tell Tale Vibrator" (USA, 9 min), in case you didn't guess, is a mirthful retelling of the classic Edgar Allen Poe story. "Blood and Roses" (Italy, 1960, 74 min), from oversexed director Roger Vadim ("Barbarella," "And God Created Woman") is a lush, lively, provocative story about sexy young woman Carmilla, who gets seduced by a lesbian vampire ancestor who proceeds to take over Carmilla's body! The lusty young heroine then makes her moves on a young maid as well as her beautiful cousin. Loaded with beautiful photography and lesbian sensuality as only the Europeans know how to do it, this movie was lent to the Festival by Paramount and has never been shown at a film festival before! At 9:30 that night we move from lesbian vampires to gay werewolves in "The Wolves of Kromer" (UK, 2000, 80 min) a British-made parable about a band of "wolves" (all played by impossibly good-looking male models!) which was very well-regarded by both Steve Flynn ("Terrific!") and Michael Mulvaney ("It's a warped mystery. It demonstrates how filmmakers are being original. The two leads are smoldering in their ambiguity towards each other and toward the community. Sex is secondary to the story-line." The 16 mm film was directed by Will Gould (who was awarded "Outstanding Emerging Talent" by the Directors' Guild of America.) who satirizes attitudes about homophobia ("What if the child grows up to be a wolf?!") and speculates on tolerance (The "wolves" become scapegoats.) and on what motivates gay bashing. Also, according to Michael, "There's a great kicker ending." To top it off, the movie is narrated by Boy George! "The Wolves of Kromer" is followed by "Traditional Family Vampires" (USA, 2000, 24 min), a 16 mm film in which a family of right wing vampires meets the wrong victim. Now if THAT doesn't get you curious...

On Friday, October 12th, the Festival starts at 5 PM with "Amazing Queer Stories," a collection of short films described by the Festival creators as "our version of The Twilight Zone." This segment will feature the two films mentioned above, "Tell Tale Vibrator" and "Traditional Family Vampires," as well as the shorts "Lulu Takes a Lover" (What happens when a love potion falls into the wrong hands?), "Women In Black (WIB)" (England, 1997, 7 min) (Two lesbian couples go out on the town and have to deal with unwanted male attention. They're tough, they're cool, and they've had enough!), "Closet Case" (US, 2001, 11 min) (There are voices coming from the closet!), and "A Family Outing" (Australia, 5 min) (A young gay man makes his first visit to a bathhouse-- with startling consequences. Think about the title and you may guess what happens! Is this based on a true story... or is it just gay urban legend?).

At 7:30 we'll see a collection of female-oriented, female-directed shorts called "Women on Film," which include "Women In Black (WIB)" (see above), and "Monogamous Slut" (USA, 2001, 7 min) This is a parody which features folk/rock sensation "Indigo Etheriidge" (!), who sings her heart out about her search for the perfect woman. In "Beautiful Girl" (US, 2000, 6 min), intergalactic lesbians beam down to wreak havoc on a screening of "Singin' in the Rain!" Director Erin Greenwall will be in attendance for this segment. "Top of the World" (US, 25 min) is a comedy featuring a new girl in town looking for love.. Will she find it in her opposite, the town's "dangerous" butch? "Ashley 22" (US, 2000, 12.5 min) is another comedic story a woman in pursuit of love, in the setting of the local lesbian bar. In "NIA" (US, 7 min), a group of lesbians gather to celebrate community and empowerment through dance and poetry. "Lez-be-eet" (Canada, 2000, 2 min) is a young woman's self-portrait of coming out, and "Jeanne & Hauviette" (USA,1993,13 min) is a fantasy about Joan of Arc as a young woman, filled with passion and desire, who shares her dreams with a girlfriend before beginning her journey. This segment of short films sounds like a great opportunity to get a taste of the wok of aspiring female directors at the early stages of their careers. Support new talent! Don't miss it!

The Fluffer (2001) being presented at the 4th Annual LI Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

At 9:30 that night will be the exclusive, highly anticipated New York premiere of "The Fluffer" (US, 2001, 94 min), which is scheduled to open nationwide in November. This is adult film director Wash West's crossover film, but Mr. West doesn't move too far away from his familiar environment with "The Fluffer!" For those of you unfamiliar with porn movie terminology, a "fluffer" is a crew member of the set of an adult film who's responsible for making sure that the male stars'... um, "equipment," doesn't fail . (Haven't they heard of Viagra?) The movie tells the story of a young filmmaker who becomes so obsessed with a gay porn star, named Johnny Rebel, that he gets a job as a cameraman with the star's production company. It doesn't take long before the wide-eyed young man is promoted to the harder-- uh, sorry-- role of "fluffer." What happens? See the movie and find out! The Long Island Ravens M.C. are hosting a special complimentary wine and cheese reception with entertainment in the Sky Cafe starting at 8 PM, so be there early! After "The Fluffer," the party continues at the Long Island Eagle in Bay Shore. You'll get a free well drink or domestic beer with your movie ticket stub. There will also be a stripper! The contestants for the Mr. Long Island Leather 2002 competition will be in attendance for the film and will meet the audience, as part of the L.I. Ravens MC "Mr. Leather" weekend. On October 13th, the Contest will be held at the Long Island Eagle. Before"The Fluffer," we will also see "Cyberslut" (USA, 2001), another film new to New York, described by Steven Flynn as "Intellectual" and not as salacious as the title implies. You'll also get another chance to see "A Family Outing" (see description above), which, well... is not as wholesome as the title implies!

But wait... there's more! Stay tuned for the schedule of Saturday's and Sunday's events! For more information about the schedule through Sunday, check out the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival web-site, www.liglff.org

Go to Part 2 of our coverage of the LI Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

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