Movie Screenings

A comedy to be screened in Tucson and a drama to be shown in Prescott have similar themes about finding acceptance and tolerance.

By Laura Latzko

Movie screenings are tool for education, filmmakers say

A comedy about coming out and a drama about transitioning are very different, but the filmmakers behind the movies say the themes are similar — the importance of finding acceptance and tolerance. The movies will be screened during December in Tucson and Prescott.

Keith Jordan and Adamo Ruggiero

Tucson: Make the Yuletide Gay

The Southwest LGBT Film Society in Tucson will host a screening of Making the Yuletide Gay Dec. 14 as part of the Out on Wednesdays film series.

The 2009 comedy is centered around how Olaf "Gunn" Gunnunderson, played by Keith Jordan, will tell his parents he is gay during his holiday break in Wisconsin. Adamo Ruggiero plays Gunn's boyfriend, Nathan, who shows up at the family's Christmas.

Rob Williams, director and screenwriter of the film, said the film explores how even LGBT people with liberal families have a difficult time coming out.

"It's so common for parents to know, and it's so common for kids to be stressed out," Williams said. "Somewhere in everyone's mind, there is this idea that my parents will throw me out or disinherit me. Movies can show people a positive experience."

Williams said he wanted to do a lighthearted gay holiday movie because he loves the reassuring and hopeful tone in Christmas movies. "I wanted to have the feel of Christmas movies that feel warm, that make you laugh," Williams said.

Williams said the film breaks stereotypes about what types of families are most accepting and sends the message that people don't always have to be afraid to be open with their families.

"I hope when people watch Making the Yuletide Gay, they take away a sense of joy from having a fun experience and a sense of hope that there are parents who love their children no matter what," Williams said.

Joe Sprague, director of the Out in the Desert Film Festival, said the film society screens films because local theaters don't show a wide range of LGBT films. He said the film society tries to show a range of lighter and darker films and sometimes plays short films before feature-length movies.

Prescott: Normal

Normal, a film about how coworkers, church friends and family members react when a Midwestern man named Roy transitions into Ruth after 25 years of marriage, will be screened on Dec. 18 by the T-Time transgender group at the Prescott Pride Center.

The 2003 film stars Tom Wilkinson as Ruth, Jessica Lange as Ruth's wife, Irma, and Hayden Panettiere as Ruth's daughter, Patty.

Bobbie Sue Shattuck, the facilitator of T-Time, said the film shows how people from different backgrounds, including individuals outside of the gay community, deal with issues related to gender identity.

Shattuck said it is important to show films such as Normal because people in different communities are often fearful of or violent toward people who don't fit within social norms, including transgender and transsexual people.

Jane Anderson, director and screenwriter of the film, said the movie is about the larger topic of how someone deals with a change in a partner's physicality. She said the movie is meant to make audiences question what makes people care about each other.

Anderson said she set the film in a Midwestern location because she wanted to explore how middle class people who value normalcy would react to someone who is different. She said that the film can help gay and straight audiences to better understand issues faced by transgender people and their loved ones.

After the screening, T-Time will have a discussion with audience members. T-Time regularly hosts screenings of films exploring transgender, transsexual and gender-identity-related issues. -E

VITAL STATISTICS

Making the Yuletide Gay
Out on Wednesdays Film Screening
7:15 p.m. Dec. 14
The Screening Room
127 E. Congress St., Tucson
Tickets: $7, available online or at the box office an hour before start of film
520-207-8358; outinthedesertff.org

Normal
T-Time Film Screening
3 p.m. Dec. 18
Prescott Pride Center
111 Josephine St., Prescott
Free admission
928-445-8800; prescottpridecenter.com