Friday, July 18, 2008
Last night was Outfest’s uproarious “South Park Sing-Along” at the Ford, and it was a fantastic, raucous crowd. Hats off to programmer extraordinaire Alonso Duralde for pushing for the screening.
Today is all-girl Friday at the DGA, so I hope to see you there. Our short “Casting Pearls” screened there last year as part of this program and went on to have a great run. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the Regency Fairfax for the Platinum shorts and the edgy feature ‘Squeezebox!’, which is also part of the Platinum showcase of experimental work.
Be sure to check out all the screenings added on Sunday, including many of the festival’s most popular and buzzworthy offerings. Then head out to Awards Night and a screening of ‘Were The World Mine’ at the Ford.
There’s something for everyone at Outfest this weekend, so check it out!
Outfest website
http://www.outfest.org/fest2008/index.html
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/18 at 10:50 AM
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Thursday, July 17, 2008
Last night I saw the Outfest dramatic centerpiece Affinity, based on the Sarah Waters novel. It’s a lesbian drama set in Victorian England. From an IMDb synopsis:
The film centers on Margaret (Anna Madeley), a wealthy young woman suffering from depression after the death of her father and the rejection of her best friend and former lover who’s gone and married her brother. Searching for a new way to get through her days, she signs up to become a “lady visitor” at a bleak women’s prison, Millbank. A mysterious girl named Selina (Zoe Tapper) soon catches her eye. Selina claims to be a spirit medium a person who channels spirits and the souls of the dead. She’s also serving a long sentence after being convicted for murder, but she claims the murder was the work of one particularly strong and malicious spirit called Peter Quick.
It’s well acted and has lots of twists and turns. Worth checking out!
Tonight I plan to attend Outfest’s South Park Sing-Along at the John Anson Ford Theatre. Come on out for a sassy evening!
Friday I am speaking on an HBO panel on women in entertainment for Outfest, and then Calpernia and I are speaking at Warner Brothers as guests of Out@WBS. Be sure to come to Outfest’s all-girl Friday at the DGA, or go see Mulligans at the Ford.
Lots of great films all weekend, including Del Shores’ Sordid Lives: The Series on Saturday at the DGA (as well as some edgy stuff over at the Regency Fairfax). Sunday will have several encore screenings of popular films, followed by Awards Night at the Ford. Come check it out!
Outfest website
http://www.outfest.org/fest2008/index.html
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/17 at 08:39 AM
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Last night’s Outfest offerings at the Directors Guild of America included Wild Combination, a beautifully-shot documentary on eclectic musician Arthur Russell. I was not familiar with his work, so it was a great introduction to his life and work. Director Matt Wolf made some fantastic choices in terms of look and feel (lovely B-roll restagings and cool rack focuses on still photographs). Though the music is not something I would want to listen to personally, I came away with a true appreciation of Russell’s innovative style.
Following a reception in the Heineken Green Room, I watched Sex Positive, about the work of Richard Berkowitz in promoting safe sex in the early years of the AIDS crisis. Berkowitz is an activist cut from the same cloth as me. Polarizing, strongly opinionated, and kind of obsessive. It was a real treat to have him there in person as well. He’s very charismatic and cares deeply about the community, even though he was often villified for his views about the causes and prevention of AIDS. Very thought-provoking in light of the uptick in HIV infections in the gay and trans communities.
Outfest website:
http://www.outfest.org/fest2008/index.html
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/16 at 08:24 AM
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Last night Outfest screened the restoration print of Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives, the groundbreaking 1977 documentary. I had never seen it before, so it was a real treat. One woman in it was born in the 1800s, and there are lots of discussions about pre-Stonewall life, so it’s an amazing historical document. All the directors were on hand (except Peter Adair, who died in 1996), and they announced a 30-year follow-up piece that will be part of the DVD extras.
The restoration was part of Outfest’s Legacy Project, a collaboration with the UCLA Film & Television Archive, which aims to have a complete archive of all LGBT-themed films ever made. Both are worth your support!
Legacy Project
http://www.outfest.org/legacysite/index.html
Outfest tickets and info:
http://www.outfest.org
Tonight I’ll be in the Heineken Green Room for major donor cocktails at the Director’s Guild, then I’ll be attending the Platinum Centerpiece film, Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell. After that, I plan to stop by the Producers Party at O Bar in West Hollywood.
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/15 at 09:54 AM
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Monday, July 14, 2008
Following a fabulous pool party in the Hollywood Hills, I headed over to the Directors Guild of America for a screening of ‘Hamlet 2,’ an absolutely hilarious film about a talent-free drama teacher who mounts a sequel to Hamlet at his local high school. I am a tough customer in the comedy department, and I laughed out loud. A lot. Then there was a great Australian surfing movie called ‘Newcastle’ by longtime Outfest filmmaker Dan Castle. I have previously discussed my fascination with surfing when Shelter screened last year. Both films weren’t “gay” per say, but had gay characters. It’s nice to see things expanding a bit in the programming!
Hope to see you at the Legacy Project gala screening of ‘Word Is Out’ tonight! For a more relaxed evening, go check out ‘She’s A Boy I Knew’ at the Regency Fairfax.
Outfest tickets and info:
http://www.outfest.org
Below: a shot I took on Mulholland Drive on the way home from the pool party. Part of my series on LA taken from cars.
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/14 at 12:06 PM
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Sunday, July 13, 2008
Saturday’s Outfest offerings included the tense ensemble drama Clapham Junction, about the intertwined lives of several gay men near a British park, and She’s A Boy I Knew, Gwen Haworth’s autobiographical documentary about her life and transition, with extensive interviews with family and friends. Gwen is here at the festival, so I urge everyone to check out the screening Monday at 9:30 at the Regency Fairfax Theatre at Beverly and Fairfax in LA.
Outfest tickets and info:
http://www.outfest.org
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/13 at 12:00 PM
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Saturday, July 12, 2008
Last night at Outfest I saw XXY, the 2007 film about a Uruguayan intersex teen. It’s a great humanization of issues surrounding sexuality and gender identity.
I also had a chance to see Trinidad, the documentary about Trinidad, Colorado, which has been a major center for trans surgeries for 40 years. It has interviews with Stanley Biber and his successor, Marci Bowers. It also chronicles a group of trans women planning and renovating a house designed for postoperative recovery.
Today I will be at the Directors Guild of America at 4pm for FTM (Fine Transman), a group of shorts by and about trans guys. There will also be a reception sponsored by Magnet, and then a screening of She’s a Boy I Knew at 7:15pm. Please don’t hesitate to come up and say hi if you see me at these events today!
Though I will not be in attendance, there’s a screening of the short “Laundromat” at the REDCAT Theatre at Disney Concert Hall downtown today at 5pm (part of the Fusion Shorts program). I play Maya in the film, and the director and DP are scheduled to attend. If you missed it, Trinidad also plays Sunday at 1pm at the REDCAT.
Monday I’ll be at the Legacy Gala premiere of the restored print of Word Is Out, a historically significant documentary shot in 1978. See my Facebook group below for more details on upcoming appearances.
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Outfest tickets and info:
http://www.outfest.org
Posted by Andrea James on 07/12 at 10:43 AM
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Friday, July 11, 2008
Photos at the Outfest gala from excellent event photographers Brian Putnam and Tony DiMaio. Yes, that’s right, I have been caught without eyewear.
In addition to a nice write-up/shout-out from Neal Broverman, some nice images in my Facebook stream courtesy of attendees.
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/11 at 02:01 PM
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Thursday, July 10, 2008
I didn’t take too many pictures last night, but the event was simply lovely as always. They opened the festival with a very charming film called Breakfast with Scot, about a very assimilated gay couple who inadvertently comes to take care of a very flamboyant child. It touched on themes I like to explore in my own work, and it was a historic film in that it was the first gay film to be granted permission to use a major sports team’s logo (The Toronto Maple Leafs). One of the guys in the couple is a not-very-out former hockey star turned sportscaster who struggles most with his feelings about Scot’s flamboyant behavior.
A real highlight for me was FINALLY meeting RuPaul after about half a dozen missed opportunities, including at the Starrbooty premiere in San Francisco last year. Ru is good friends with our producer pal Randy Barbato. They were both up in the scene when it was a true scene! Legendary!
I’ll be posting more about the festival over the next week and a half. Be sure to check out a few films - there’s truly something for everyone!
http://www.outfest.org/fest2008/index.html
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/10 at 07:17 AM
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Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Part of my series on LA taken from cars.
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/09 at 06:56 AM
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Part of my series on LA taken from cars. This one has everything: river, mountains, film studios, palm trees, overhead power lines, smog, and skyscrapers.
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/08 at 06:52 AM
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Monday, July 07, 2008
Part of my series on LA taken from cars.
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/07 at 06:44 AM
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Sunday, July 06, 2008
Part of my series on LA taken from cars.
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/06 at 06:41 AM
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Saturday, July 05, 2008
Part of my series on LA taken from cars.
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/05 at 06:39 AM
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Friday, July 04, 2008
This long exposure while driving looked kind of like fireworks, which seemed fitting today. Part of my series on LA taken from cars.
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Posted by Andrea James on 07/04 at 03:04 PM
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