By Wendy Jo Carlton
Gay or straight, there is no way to get a good night's sleep during the opening weekend of the Sundance Film Festival. With so many fun freaks, good films and free drinks at your elbow, the only problem is finding somewhere to warm up and not have to mingle. Held in Park City, Utah, every January, Sundance is the most prestigious American film festival and has had a huge impact on the success of countless independent films, such as Hedwig and the Angry Inch. In fact, this year the two top Sundance awards were bestowed upon a breathtaking film, Quinceanera, about a Latino gay man and his sister.
Sundance has increasingly become a valuable place of networking for queer filmmakers, programmers and supporters. One cannot sneeze without spraying a queer director, producer or special event. It's getting harder and harder to be subversive. Anchoring the scene at Sundance is the Queer Lounge. The Queer Lounge is a hub for film festival info, eclectic parties, and juicy industry panels. Created three years ago by former Hollywood producer, Ellen Huang, the Lounge has seen incredible growth. Huang and her team have done an impressive job of creating a dynamic and inviting atmosphere there.
Special panelists at the Queer Lounge this year included Gus Van Sant ( Good Will Hunting, To Die For, My Own Private Idaho ) , who spoke to a standing-room-only crowd about his penchant for unconventional storytelling. Often referred to as a godfather of queer cinema, Van Sant also shared the fact that his first feature, the gorgeous Mala Noche, had been rejected by Sundance 20 years ago, the same year that Desert Hearts premiered. Other engaging panelists offering insights at the Lounge were Armisted Maupin ( The Night Listener ) and Maria Maggenti ( The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love and her latest, Puccini for Beginners ) . Another popular panel was on alternative distribution for queer films, which illuminated the many new avenues for exposure that didn't exist even a couple years ago.
On Saturday night, Q Television Network hosted a sexy dance party, which was big fun due to the friendly vibe and queer ladies up near the stage. The featured band was The Man, fronted by Silas Howard ( formerly of Tribe8 ) , with Patty Schemel on drums, singer Romy Suskin and new L Word heartthrob Daniela Sea on bass.
Silas Howard is a tour de force who previously co-directed the award-winning feature, By Hook or By Crook. Howard also screened a new short at Sundance entitled, What I Love about Dying. The scoop is that Howard is working with HBO to develop a narrative feature about the life of Billy Tipton, a well-known jazz musician, born Dorothy Tipton, who successfully passed as a man for more than 50 years.
The next evening at the Queer Lounge brought the GLAAD Media Award Nominations. Infusing the room with a welcome political vibe, The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation screened video clips of each of its nominated television shows, films, or organizations that offer fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of gay and lesbian characters. After the announcements, the DJ fired up her tables and most folks got to the business of dancing. Although some were spotted wolfing down pot stickers and stuffing their bags with free breakfast bars. If you're not going to sleep, you at least have to eat.
There were two yummy Sundance queer brunches to take advantage of on the first weekend. Planet Out hosted one at the lovely restaurant, Cisnero's. Jenni Olson, director of the The Joy of Life and founder of PopcornQ, was there and talked about her involvement with the Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation. In conjunction with UCLA and Outfest, it's the first film preservation program in the world dedicated to saving and protecting LGBT films.
The next morning, Outfest ( the Los Angeles Lesbian Gay Film Festival ) , celebrated its tenth year of hosting the pioneering Queer Brunch at Sundance. The Outfest brunch is a terrific opportunity for the LGBT film community to share production stories, promote projects, and gain access to an abundance of resources. The Grub Steak restaurant was packed to the rafters with emerging filmmakers and a who's who of queer cinema. Film festival programmers from around the world were talking about new work. The brilliant John Waters introduced his new series, Movies That Will Corrupt You, on Here! TV. And representatives of the other queer networks, Q Television and LOGO were also on hand.
The Gay Games Chicago 2006 were also a part of the queer scenery at Sundance. Staffers Brenda Schumacher and Stacy Jacobs promoted the cultural and artistic aspects of the Games. 'The artistic community has been incredibly generous and eager to work with the Gay Games,' said Schumacher. Several prominent figures signed on to be Gay Games Champions, including Daniela Sea and Guinevere Turner of The L Word, supermodel Jenny Shimuzu, musician Rufus Wainwright, Honey Labrador of Queer Eye for the Straight Girl and author Armisted Maupin.
Other Chicagoans spotted at Sundance were Shauna Raye, her partner Elizabeth Ward and Shauna's mother, Marilyn Raye-Osmon. They were there for the premiere of Rosie O'Donnell's new feature film, All Aboard, in which they appear as Rosie's fellow cruise ship passengers. There was also a sneak peek of the Stoli-sponsored documentary film, Be Real, in which Chicago filmmaker Red Vaughan Tremmel is featured ( she is currently making a documentary called Gurlesque Burlesque ) .
Sundance screened nearly 30 queer-themed films this year. In addition to features like Small Town Gay Bar and Quinceanera, a couple favorite shorts were, Smudge, by Gail Maurice; a documentary on how a small group of Aboriginal women celebrate their right to worship the way they want to; and Bill Basquin's feature, Range, about a farmer relating his life to his transgendered son. Range completes a trilogy of beautiful, Midwestern-based films Basquin has directed. This and many others can be viewed for free at www.sundance.org .
Sundance has a refreshing queer river running through it. Though many mainstream celebrities ( Sam Shepard, Minnie Driver, Sting, Gwyneth Paltrow ) seemed to be disappearing into secret bat cave parties, just as many were at the visibly queer ones ( Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, James Van der beek ) . Sleep will evade, but adventures are easy to find at Sundance. Filled with fruity water, vitamins and breath mints, all the free goodie bags sure come in handy.
