Film Festival Overview

Film Festival Overview

Movies selected for the Desperado Film Festival reflect the comedy and drama of LGBT life. PLUS: Festival details and the film schedule.

By Glenn Gullickson

Scene from eCupid

Desperado LGBT Film Festival

Movie selections reflect issues of gay and lesbian life

The drama and comedy of LGBT life will be on the screen when the Desperado Film Festival presents three days of features, documentaries and short films.

The third annual event will be Jan. 27-29 at the Center for the Performing Arts at Paradise Valley Community College.

Among the eight full-length films to be screened are Wish Me Away, a documentary about a country music star's coming out and the dramedy Going Down in La-La Land about what it takes for a young gay actor to survive in Hollywood.

The festival will also screen short films and conduct panel discussions and filmmaker question and answer sessions. And new this year, the festival will feature musical performances.

Alan East, the festival's chair who is in charge of finding the movies, said the opening night film, Wish Me Away, will remind people of the struggles of coming out. But in the documentary, it's a high-profile coming out as the film follows country music star Chely Wright as she goes public about her sexual orientation.

"To me, seeing a film like that takes me back to the struggles I went through, that most LGBT people went through," East said. "But coming out in Nashville, to be such a high-profile person, it must have been very difficult."

East said he became aware of Wish Me Away and some of the other Desperado selections last summer when he attended Outfest, the LGBT film festival in Los Angeles.

Other films were submitted to Desperado. East said the selection committee had a choice of 250 films — most of them short films — about 75 more submissions than last year.

Among the guests at this year's festival will be Matthew Ludwinski, star of Going Down in La-La Land, the story of a young gay actor's struggle to survive in Hollywood. "He'll probably be a big draw as far as the men go," East said. "He's beautiful."

East called another selection, Joe + Belle "an LGBT Thelma and Louise ... There's a murder, there's a chase, it's a very dark comedy," he said.

Another movie, Three Veils, which deals with gender roles in Islamic families, may have been a risk, East acknowledged. "I'm not sure how it will fly," he said. "I'm curious to see how the audience reacts to that."

East, who came up with the idea for the film festival, said Desperado is "much more on the radar" after successful festivals the past two years. Since the 2011 event, East moved to California, but he continues to serve as festival chair. "It's still kind of my baby," he said.

More festival details:

The shorts: There will be two screenings of packages of short films at the festival. Unlike previous years when the shorts were divided into men's and women's programs, this year the short film subjects will be mixed.

Student films: Two finalists from the festival's student film contest will be screened with the short films on the final day. East hopes to involve the audience in selecting the winning film. "I think they're going to be amazed about what these students did," East said. "They're just as professional and just as challenging as the other films."

Special guests: J.C. Calciano, director of eCupid, will conduct a Q and A after his comedy about looking for love online, which is the festival's closing film. Local filmmaker Christopher Bradley will answer questions after the screening of the first package of short films, which will include his short, The Violation.

Music: East said festival organizers have always wanted to include music, but this is the first year that performances will be staged in the amphitheater outside the Performing Arts Center. He said the music will provide something to do for people who want to make a day of the festival, but may want to skip a film.

Food: Also new this year, the campus vendor will provide food during the festival in the theater's lobby.

Scholarships: East noted that the film festival's "ultimate goal" is to raise funds for the campus LGBT scholarship. This year's festival also marks the end of a year-long fund drive for the Maricopa Community College Foundation's Out and Up scholarship for disenfranchised LGBT youth.

Sponsors: East said the festival has had support from the community college system as well as the LGBT community. The film festival is presented by the Paradise Valley Community College's Office of Student Life, the campus P.R.I.D.E. student organization and the Center for the Performing Arts. Several local and community groups are among the event's sponsors, including Echo Magazine. -E

VITAL STATISTICS

Desperado LGBT Film Festival
Center for the Performing Arts,
Paradise Valley Community College,
18401 N. 32nd St., Phoenix
Tickets: $10; students and seniors $8;
all access pass $82;
three-film festival pass $9 per film.
602-787-7738; www.desperadofilmfestival.com

Genderf*kation

The Festival Schedule

Jan. 27

6-7:30 p.m. Reception for guests and all-access pass holders.

7:30 p.m. Wish Me Away

Jan. 28

*10:30 a.m. Genderfkation screened with the short film The Family Journey (free screening).

11:45 a.m. Panel discussion on gender identify (free).

Skallmaman

1 p.m. Mixed shorts: The Queen, Tech Support, Pride, Poker Face, 52, Slashed, The Violation, Spiral Transition and Skallmaman; followed by question and answer with local filmmaker Christopher Bradley, director of The Violation.

3:30 p.m. Tomboy

5:30 p.m. Three Veils

8 p.m. Going Down In La-La Land, followed by question and answer with Matthew Ludwinski.

Ketherton's

Jan. 29

12:30 p.m. This is What Love in Action Looks Like

1:50 p.m. Panel discussion on civic engagement (free).

3 p.m. Mixed shorts: Couples Therapy, Coffee and Pie, Loop Planes, Club Scene: The Under-Ager, Nice Shirt, Door Prize, Thank You for Your Call and Ketheron's Bucket-Mending & Hymen Emporium, plus student films Cyclicity and More or Less.

5:15 p.m. Joe + Belle

7 p.m. Half-Share (free short film screening)

7:45 p.m. eCupid, followed by question and answer with director J.C. Calciano.