August 31, 2007
At 20, aGLIFF in Fine Form
aGLIFF Aferparty Preview
Midnight Opening Night Party
featuring special guest Rev. Troy Perry, founder of MCC and star of the opening night film, Call Me Troy
Friday, September 28th @ Austin City Hall
9pm-Midnight
Centerpiece Film Afterparty
Saturday, September 29 @ Club de Ville
10pm
Art Party
Thursday, October 4 @ Arthouse
10pm-Midnight
Closing Night Party
Saturday, October 6 @ AMoA Downtown
10pm-Midnight
The annual Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) is back in town next month for its twentieth installment. With new leadership and a renewed focus to engage a wider audience, the largest GLBT film festival in the Southwest is gearing up to be the best yet.
Executive director Lucas Schaefer and programming director Lisa Kaselak unveiled this year's headlining films—those to be screened on opening and closing night as well as their "centerpiece" choices—during a special happy hour reception last week at Manuel's North. Standouts among the selections include Azuloscurocasinegro (Dark Blue Almost Black), a Spanish drama revolving around "class and family" that's garnered freshman director Daniel Sánchez Arévalo comparisons to film-making titan Pedro Almodóvar (Bad Education, All About My Mother), and Ha-Buah (The Bubble), veteran director Eytan Fox's tale of young lovers caught in the Arab-Israeli conflict—set to a decidedly international soundtrack with Bright Eyes, Belle & Sebastian, Keren Ann, and more.
Both Schaefer and Kaselak are newcomers to the aGLIFF staff. Previously, Schafer co-founded and ran a national GLBT youth advocacy nonprofit called Fine By Me. Kaselak produced and directed the 2005 documentary, The Soup Peddler, about Austin "Slow Food" revolutionary David Ansel.
"One of our goals this year is to make the festival as inclusive as possible," says Schaefer. "That means showing films from all over (we have 17 countries represented this year) and from all different points-of-view. It also means going after an audience that's just as diverse as the filmmakers who are represented.
"We want to create a festival for everyone—for the folks who have been coming to aGLIFF since 1987, and also for people who may have heard about the festival in the past or thought about it, but haven't come out yet for it."
This was fun.'"
One of these demographics is the heterosexual audience, which has previously accounted for a mere five percent of total attendance. "I'd like to have some more straight attendees this year," admits Schaefer. "I'd really like to see some folks who aren't 100% comfortable even being at the festival — who better to see some of these films?
"Of course, people don't just go to a film festival, especially a gay film festival, out of the blue. They have to know about it and feel welcome. It's important to me to create that atmosphere, to create a festival with as broad of a cross-section of the community as possible. I want it to be an event that everyone will leave saying, 'I was a part of this festival. I met some new people here. This was fun.'"
Lisa Kaselak and Lucas Schaefer
aGLIFF 20 kicks off on Friday, September 28th. A full schedule and ticket details will be released in the coming weeks, but all-access badges are now available through the official site.
[aGLIFF Official Site]
[aGLIFF on Myspace]
Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF)
September 28th through October 6th
Call Me Troy |
|
Profiling the life and times of one of the gay community's most visible and tenacious advocates for change, the Reverend Troy Perry, Call Me Troy is a truly inspirational story about a remarkable and dynamic individual whose activism was decades ahead of its time. Director/Producer Scott Bloom, Co-Producer Larry Diamond and Troy Perry himself will be present for aGLIFF's 20th Anniversary Opening Night. Friday, September 28 @ Regal Arbor at Great Hills
|
|
The Bubble (Ha-Buah) |
|
The Bubble follows the story of three young Israelis who share an apartment on Sheinkin St, in the heart of Tel Aviv's coolest neighborhood. Their escapist "bubble" changes forever when Noam falls in love with a Palestinian he meets while on reserve duty at a checkpoint in the West Bank. Featuring a solid ensemble cast and a smart soundtrack including Belle & Sebastian, Keren Ann, Lloyd Cole, Nada Surf and Bebel Gilberto, The Bubble has won numerous international awards and is the seventh film of Israeli director Eytan Fox. In 2006, Fox was the first recipient of the Decade Award, a prize given to a filmmaker whose work has made a significant contribution to Jewish cinema over a period of at least ten years. Saturday, September 29 @ Regal Arbor at Great Hills
|
|
Dark Blue Almost Black (Azuloscurocasinegro) |
|
Conjugal visits become a family affair in the touching and often hilarious Dark Blue Almost Black, after an ex-con unable to get his incarcerated girlfriend pregnant enlists his little brother to help seal the deal. Winner of the Label Europa Cinemas award at the Venice Film Festival, Dark Blue Almost Black features a sharp cast of young Spanish actors and offers an original and inspired take on class and family. An engaging debut from director Daniel Sánchez Arévalo. Saturday, October 6 @ Regal Arbor at Great Hills
[Official Website] [iMDB] |
|
Kate Clinton - 25th Anniversary Tour |
|
In 2006, to mark her silver anniversary as a performer, Kate Clinton embarked on a 50-city "It's Come to This!" tour, sponsored by the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Her hilarious performances are interspersed with a variety of personal moments along the tour route, including backstage banter with her 18-year partner Urvashi Vaid, a public reading from her new book, "What the L?," and cameos from Lily Tomlin, Melissa Etheridge, Billie Jean King, Marga Gomez, Vickie Shaw and other lesbian comics. Producer/Director Andrea Meyerson will be in attendance. Saturday, October 6 @ Regal Arbor at Great Hills
|
|
Laughing Matters... The Men |
|
Interweaving stand-up material with candid interviews, viewers are given the opportunity to at once laugh and simultaneously understand the voyage that has led these performers to the stage...and what performers! Meet:
Comic Scott Kennedy and producer/director Andrea Meyerson will be in attendance. Saturday, October 6 @ Regal Arbor at Great Hills
|
|
Volunteer Opportunities
Putting on a citywide film festival with tens of thousands of attendees takes a lot of work—and, more importantly, a lot of extra hands.
aGLIFF is actively seeking volunteers to help out with just about every aspect of the festival, from box office ticket distributors and film projectionists to gift bag stuffers and afterparty helpers. If you're interested, you can email volunteer coordinator Alison Goodnow, or just show up at one of their open calls—and score a free drink, while you're at it—anytime between 5-8 p.m.:
- Wednesday, September 5th
- Thursday, September 13th
- Tuesday, September 18th*
- Thursday, September 20th*
*in conjunction with gift bag stuffing
|