Gay/Lesbian Film Festival Planned at UCI

UC Irvine will have its first public gay and lesbian film festival throughout May to screen a series of films designed for “educating and enlightening” viewers to the homosexual and bisexual community, organizers said.

The Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Student Union, with support from other organizations in the county, has planned the event to begin May 8 with a screening of “Paris Is Burning,” a 1990 feature by Jennie Livingston about sex roles and cross-dressing set in the Harlem and Brooklyn club scene.

“We just decided it was about time to have one of these,” said Kevin Campbell, president of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Student Union. He said the film festival titled “Behind the Orange Curtain” is as much for the straight community as for the homosexual and will hopefully become an annual event. “We’ve been getting very good response to this on campus,” he said.

Among the other films and videos are “Poison,” a 1991 film by Todd Haynes about author Jean Genet, “Law of Desire” by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and “Voices from the Front,” a 1991 video about the AIDS activist movement focusing on ACT UP New York. In all, 12 films and a smattering of short videos will be offered in the series. Films will be shown Fridays at 9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 4, 6, and 9 p.m. in the UCI Physical Science Hall Auditorium.

A schedule and tickets are available from the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Student Union. Information: (714) 856-4260.