Over the past 14 years, the Outflix Film Festival -- which begins today and continues through Thursday at the Malco Ridgeway Four -- has become one of the Mid-South's premiere movie events, and a legitimate showcase for acclaimed international narrative films and documentaries.
Four of the 19 movies on this year's schedule debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, including the Iranian forbidden-love saga "Circumstance," which opened theatrically two weeks ago in New York and Los Angeles, and won the Audience Award for drama this year at Sundance. (Intriguingly, that's the same award won in 2005 by "Hustle & Flow.")
According to the New York Times, "Circumstance" -- which screens here at 6:30 p.m. Saturday -- is a movie of "undeniable power and conviction" that "ripples with the indignant energy of youthful rebellion." More specifically, it's not just a film about young love in a disapproving Islamic fundamentalist society, but a story of love between two women. Other Outflix films are from India, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as the U.S.
"Romeos"
"Loose Cannons"
"Gun Hill Road"
"Hollywood to Dollywood"
Unlike the area's other major film festivals, the increasingly high-profile Outflix -- which dates its origins to the first "Twinkie Museum" festival at the University of Memphis -- is dedicated to movies with content of particular relevance to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. A fundraiser for the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center, the festival raises the visibility of GLBT issues in the Mid-South, where many people apparently think "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should apply to more than military service.
"Things definitely have changed for the better, but it's still rare to see ourselves represented in full and purposeful ways on TV and in the movies," said Will Batts, community center director. "At a time when legislators and other leaders would try to make us invisible, it's even more important for us to be as visible as possible, as public as people. We're not ashamed of who we are, and we want people to live the most free and honest and open lives they can. Outflix offers ways to show how that's possible."
The festival is one of the community center's biggest fundraiser. Last year's event was attended by close to 2,000 people, and raised almost $12,000 toward the center's $125,000 annual budget, Batts said.
Even so, the mass audience typically doesn't turn out for movies with strong gay themes unless the films are publicized as important Oscar contenders, and carried by major (often heterosexual) stars. Examples include "Philadelphia" with Tom Hanks and "Brokeback Mountain" with Heath Ledger.
But "this year, we have a lot of quality films that a lot of the straight audience would want to see," said Memphis filmmaker Mark Jones, a member of the Outflix screening committee. "These movies are entertaining but also informative. For example, there may be some straight people who hear the words 'transsexual' or 'transgender,' and wonder, what does that mean? Well, this year we have two really good films with characters who are transitioning (from one sex to the other), so audiences can come see this and get a better idea. But it's also great for people in the transgender community to see themselves on the big screen." (The movies are "Romeos," from Germany, and "Gun Hill Road," set in the Bronx.)
Not all the Outflix movies are heavy, however. The dance musical "Leave It on the Floor" (9 tonight) is a sort of drag "Step It Up." And the opening-night selection at 7 tonight is "Hollywood to Dollywood," a comic road-trip documentary in which aspiring twin actors from small-town North Carolina, Gary and Larry Lane, travel in an RV they name "Jolene" from their new Tinseltown home to East Tennessee, to meet superstar entertainer -- and gay icon -- Dolly Parton.
"It kind of turned into a journey of self-discovery," said Gary Lane, 36. He said the film had been accepted to 31 festivals so far, about a third of which are not gay-oriented. "So the movie is really opening doors. We tell the personal story of growing up gay and how we had to deal with that on a day-to-day basis. We grew up watching Dolly on Larry King and Oprah, and they would always ask her about her gay fans, and she had so much love and acceptance of them, it really inspired us." In fact, Parton is now a fan of the twins, and has loaned 15 songs to film.
John Lavin, a Chattanooga native who directed "Hollywood to Dollywood," said the movie is "really touching a nerve" with audiences of all types.
"I'll be honest, I thought the movie was funny and I thought it had some moments that would make people want to cheer, but I wouldn't have predicted the reaction," said Lavin, who will introduce the film and answer questions after tonight's screening. "We've had people at screenings share really personal stories. A lot of people still aren't 'out' to their families, or if they are, they have absolutely no relationship with their parents at all any more. So the film's message of acceptance has been really powerful."
Also at the festival will be producer Howard Rosenman, who will answer questions after a 6:30 p.m. Thursday screening of "Paragraph 175," a documentary about Nazi persecution of homosexuals. Rosenman's credits include "Father of the Bride" with Steve Martin and the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" feature.
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OUTFLIX FILM FESTIVAL
Friday through Thursday (Sept. 15), Malco Ridgeway Four, 5853 Ridgeway Center Pkwy. Tickets: $9 per feature; $24 for three features; $45 for seven features; and $75 for a festival pass. For details, visit outflixfestival.org. Longer reviews of some films will appear on TheBloodshotEye.com.
Friday
"Hollywood to Dollywood," 7 p.m. Director John Lavin to attend.
"Leave It on the Floor," 9 p.m. Dance-packed musical comedy-drama about L.A. "drag ball" competitions.
Saturday
"I Am," 1:30 p.m. First-person documentary by lesbian filmmaker Sonali Gutali of Delhi, India.
"T'Ain't Nobody's Business: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s," 2:45 p.m. Explores the lives of Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and others.
"Longhorns," 3:30 p.m. Romantic comedy set in 1980s Texas, a contradictory place of big hair, synth-pop and "beers, steers and a couple of queers."
"Circumstance," 6:30 p.m.
"Going Down in La-La Land," 8:30 p.m. A struggling young actor in Hollywood turns to male porn and prostitution.
Sunday
"We Were Here," 1 p.m. Acclaimed Sundance documentary examines the arrival and impact of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco.
"Loose Cannons," 2:45 p.m. Italian "coming-out" comedy.
"The Night Watch," 5:30 p.m. A BBC drama set in wartime and postwar London, based on a novel by Sarah Waters.
"The Wise Kids," 7:30 p.m. A sympathetic Southern coming-of-age tale, set against the backdrop of a South Carolina Baptist church.
Monday
"Wish Me Away," 6:30 p.m. Documentary about Chely Wright, the first major country music star to "come out."
"Judas Kiss," 8:30 p.m. Fantasy about the mysterious events that occur when a failed filmmaker returns to his alma mater to be a judge at a film festival.
Tuesday
"Daphne," 6:30 p.m. Geraldine Somerville stars as "Rebecca" author Daphne Du Maurier in this BBC film about the writer's passion for a glamorous American publishing heiress, Ellen Doubleday (Elizabeth McGovern).
"Romeos," 8:30 p.m. In this German film, young Lukas arrives on campus at a difficult time: He's in the midst of his female-to-male transition.
Wednesday
"Christopher and His Kind," 6:30 p.m. A British film about the romance between novelist Christopher Isherwood (Matt Smith) and poet W.H. Auden (Pip Carter).
"Eating Out 4: Drama Camp," 8:30 p.m. The raunchy comedy series -- imagine a gay "Porky's" or "American Pie" -- continues.
Thursday
"Paragraph 175," 6:30 p.m. A special screening of the 2000 documentary about the Nazi extermination of close to 100,000 homosexuals, arrested under the title paragraph of the German penal code. Producer Howard Rosenman will attend.
"Gun Hill Road," 8:30 p.m. In this acclaimed Sundance premiere, a tough ex-convict (Esai Morales) returns to his Bronx home to discover his teenage son (Harmony Santana) now identifies as female.
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