Outfest looks to the upbeat

For the last 21 years, Outfest has been doing its part in the culture wars, exhibiting a huge pageant of films primarily aimed at a gay and lesbian audience but also relevant to the larger society. This year’s event arrives Thursday at what organizers and participants consider a particularly gratifying moment in gay history.

“We have a lot to celebrate this year,” said Outfest honoree Jane Anderson. “After the Supreme Court’s decision abolishing sodomy laws, it’s a fascinating time to be seeing and discussing gay films.”

“You can’t help wondering how much of an effect the media had on that Supreme Court decision,” said the writer-director of the HBO movie “Normal.” “The more gay films and gay television programs are visible, the more willing society is to consider gay people in a different light. Somehow it all gets into the fabric of the culture.”

Even if straight audiences never see many of the films shown at Outfest, these fringe offerings inevitably infiltrate the mainstream. A few years ago one of the hits of Outfest was a low-budget comedy, “Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss,” that starred a then-unknown actor, Sean Hayes, who now stars in NBC’s popular “Will & Grace.”

Gay and lesbian film festivals have become a staple across the country, but the Los Angeles version has also become one of the most successful of the growing cavalcade of film festivals in town (including the recently concluded IFP Los Angeles Film Festival, the upcoming Hollywood Film Festival and AFI Film Festival, as well as Latino, Pan African, Jewish and Asian film festivals). Outfest and AFI are the most popular, each with attendance of about 40,000. The anticipation surrounding this year’s Outfest, which runs Thursday night through July 21, transcends the quality of the films. Most observers agree that last year’s Outfest was a disappointment, partly because of the dearth of top-notch gay movies made in America. The opening-night gala didn’t even present a feature film, settling instead on shorts from earlier festivals.

Festival directors hope this year marks a definite upswing. They promise an event dominated by upbeat, celebratory films. “The American films in this year’s festival are fun, lighthearted and campy,” said Kirsten Schaffer, who took over as director of programming for this year’s Outfest. “Of the 19 American features, I’d say three or four are serious. The international films tend to be darker, but even they are more fun than they have been in past years.” She cites as an example the Italian film “Little More Than a Year Ago,” a comedy about a gay porn star.

Among the American movies in the same impudent vein are the closing-night film, “Mambo Italiano,” which is being billed (perhaps overoptimistically) as the gay answer to “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”; the lesbian romantic comedy “April’s Shower”; the film version of Charles Busch’s parody of ‘50s melodramas, “Die Mommie Die”; and even the opening-night feature, “Party Monster,” which does end with a grisly murder but brings considerable humor to its chronicle of figures of the New York club scene of the ‘80s.

The festival’s other lighthearted offerings include a “Chicago” sing-along screening at the outdoor John Anson Ford Amphitheatre and a 20-year anniversary screening of “Flashdance.” “There’s a certain transformative power of a gay audience,” Outfest Executive Director Stephen Gutwillig said of the “Flashdance” event. “We showed ‘Grease’ two years ago, and although it was a popular movie when it came out, it played differently to a gay audience. I think that same thing will happen with ‘Flashdance.’ Jennifer Beals does all these insane, campy dances that I think our audience will love.”

The programmers make no apologies for this year’s breezy, even silly tone. “There are so many fluffy straight movies,” Schaffer observed. “I think we deserve to have our own fluffy gay movies.”

Gutwillig added, “Besides, even ostensibly frivolous films can challenge mainstream ideas about queer identity. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is about three drag divas, and I would contend that it is just as much at the barricades of social change as the heaviest documentary.”

To improve the lineup, Gutwillig and Schaffer made a conscious decision to reduce the number of films by 20%. The program encompasses films from 26 countries, experimental shorts, documentaries on Gore Vidal, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, lesbian poet Audre Lorde, and a Bay Area lesbian punk band called Tribe 8, as well as eagerly anticipated features from gay writers and directors, including Jason Schafer, the writer of “Trick,” who makes his directorial debut with “Totally Sexy Loser.”

What you won’t find are many high-profile titles with well-known actors. Outfest must deal with the realities of today’s film business, where gay movies once again have been relegated to the margins of the business, chiefly because their grosses aren’t big enough to lure larger studios or even medium-sized companies to bankroll them.

“We try to buy movies that we think will cross over,” said Matt Brodlie, senior vice president for acquisitions at Miramax and a member of the Outfest board of directors. Whereas Miramax was once a pioneer in distributing gay-themed films such as “The Crying Game” and the controversial “Priest,” the company lately has shied away from gay titles. “Other companies are happy to handle a film that may do well in its niche market but won’t cross over to a broader audience,” Brodlie explained.

Among these are Strand and a new company, TLA Releasing. Both already own several movies showing at Outfest, and they will be looking for more pictures to acquire. “Gay-friendly or gay-owned companies are becoming more aggressive in going after films that they feel have an audience,” Gutwillig pointed out. “You can’t count on Miramax or Fine Line or Lions Gate anymore. Those companies tend to release movies that offer reinforcement of gay and lesbian experience acceptable to the mainstream.”

Gutwillig and Schaffer say they would like to encourage their loyal audiences to see a few films besides the feel-good comedies and steamy dramas that are the festival’s most reliable draws. This year’s premieres include a provocative Brazilian film about a drag queen, “Madame Sata,” and a documentary, “Flag Wars,” about a gentrification battle in Columbus, Ohio, that erupted when wealthy gays threatened to displace poor African American families living in a historic district. “We elevate those films to centerpiece status in order to encourage the audience to take a chance on films they might otherwise ignore,” Gutwillig said.

The screening of “Flag Wars” demonstrates that Outfest has moved beyond the days when it served up flattering pictures of the gay community. The film, which also showed at the L.A. Film Festival, is noticeably more sympathetic to the underprivileged blacks than to the gay and lesbian interlopers. “It’s not our role to be two-dimensional cheerleaders,” Gutwillig said. “We chose to highlight ‘Flag Wars’ because of the quality of the filmmaking. It’s extraordinarily relevant in every urban center. If it’s greeted with controversy, so be it. We want the festival to present our community in all of our gorgeous complexity.”

Anderson recalls a time when there were so few gay films being made that any picture, even one with negative images, seemed like an event. “We depend on films to give us dreams,” she observed, “and Outfest performs a great service to young gay filmmakers and to audiences too. When I was growing up, there was nothing to see. I remember when John Sayles’ ‘Lianna’ came out, I was hesitant to go, because I was thinking that everyone in line would know I was a lesbian. When I got to the theater, there was a whole line of people, and they were all lesbians. That was mind-boggling and embarrassing at the same time. Now, fortunately, a lot of the embarrassment is gone, and I’m sure festivals like Outfest have played an important role in that.”

Then Anderson, who will receive an Outfest Achievement Award on opening night, added: “On the other hand, great drama comes out of shame and fear and angst. If we’re too joyful, what are we going to write about?”

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Outfest

Where: Directors Guild of America, 7920 Sunset Blvd.; Monica 4-Plex, 1221 2nd St., Santa Monica; Pacific Design Center, 8670 Melrose Ave.; Showcase, 614 N. La Brea Ave.; L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place; John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East; Orpheum, 842 S. Broadway, downtown L.A.; Ambassador Hotel, 3450 Wilshire Blvd.

When: Thursday-July 21

Price: $15 and up, subject to availability, special events higher.

Contact: (213) 480-7065 or www.outfest.org