Gay/Lesbian Film Festival

by Luke Baumgarten & r & The gem of this year's Gay/Lesbian Festival - taking place at EWU's Riverpoint Auditorium on Nov. 4-5 - is a story of love and struggle. Made by Spokane documentarian Frank Hays, Journey of Love: Learning To Forgive is the impassioned narrative of Christopher Lawrence and Kevin-Anthony Porter. When Kevin-Anthony was diagnosed with AIDS, says Hays, "Christopher's role changed from a lover to care giver," which "[changed] the course of their relationship forever." Tracking the couple through Kevin-Anthony's death 10 years later, Journey of Love "[details a] relationship that was filled with love, hurt and forgiveness."





FRIDAY, NOV. 4, AT 3 PM


Bikini (Animation, 7 minutes) & r & A classic motif about a guy's love affair with his mother's bathing suit





A Fish (Almost) Eaten by a Shark (Documentary, 17 minutes) & r & A girl wants to produce a video, "How To Start a Gay-Straight Alliance in Your High School," and gets hassled by the principal.





Proteus Point (16 minutes) & r & Mythical Proteus was a shape-shifter, and so is Jason, the protagonist of this film. He's got a girlfriend, but he can't stop flirting with his closeted roommate. File under: bi-curious.





Hi Maya (12 minutes) & r & Two elderly women meet up unexpectedly at a salon and it prompts their recollections of a shared (possibly sexy) past.





In My Father's Church (Documentary, 49 minutes) & r & Charissa wants to be married by her father, a United Methodist pastor. Problem is, she's a lesbian and doing so would put his career at risk.





SATURDAY, NOV. 5, AT 3 PM


Irene Williams, Queen of Lincoln Road (23 minutes) & r & "Eric Smith's gem concerning a colorful old bird in homemade gauche-couture outfits and her adoring hag fag." Couldn't have said it better ourselves.





Small-Town Secrets (7 minutes) & r & A woman's recollection of a mid-'80s childhood growing up with closeted gay parents in the Midwest.





Medo de que? (Animation, 18 minutes) & r & Young Marcelo starts having weird desires. We know what that means. Despite being Brazilian, and having no dialogue, the film is still apparently very accessible.





Journey of Love (Documentary, 45 minutes) & r & This is the local film showcased above.





SATURDAY, NOV. 5, AT 7 PM


Me, Myself, I (Animation, 3 minutes) & r & "A hand-processed, black-and-white film animation using paper dolls, magazine cutouts, vintage Valentines and a Mr. Rogers song [exploring] gender assumptions."





Cairo Calling (Film, 8 minutes) & r & "Ahmed's life is thrown into a tailspin when his mother comes over from Egypt for a visit." Proving that mothers are as ruinous to the love lives of gay Arabs as they are to everyone else.





My Hustler Boyfriend (Still narrative, 4 minutes) & r & This is a simple day-in-the-life type film - of a transsexual and her pimp. "Daily they sell drugs, do sex work, and look fabulous."





Inclinations (13 minutes) & r & Mia's struggling to come up with a narrative for an erotic story. Meanwhile characters (of various genders, we're guessing) try to get her to start an erotic narrative of her own.





We Are Dad (Documentary, 68 minutes) & r & Doc about two gay men in Florida who take in children with HIV/AIDS and other crippling diseases. Covers the unique needs of special-needs children, and the struggles surrounding "Florida's anti-gay bias."