Cover Story
By Scott Brassart

Cinema Diverse
LGBT Film Festival Heats Up Summer

Over the years there have been numerous attempts to establish a gay and lesbian film festival in Palm Springs. Unfortunately, either the timing wasn’t right, or the various organizers were unable to generate sufficient community involvement to sustain the idea. Cinema Diverse, July 22-27 at  the Camelot Theatres, is the latest effort, and by far the most likely to succeed as an annual event.
Cinema Diverse is the brainchild of the new Palm Springs Cultural Center—the same group that recently established the city’s Saturday morning Farmer’s Market (on hiatus until fall).
“When the Board of Directors for the Cultural Center was putting the center together, they wanted to find ways to embrace all of the Coachella Valley,” explains Tim O’Bayley, publicist for Cinema Diverse. “They wanted to be green and sustainable and healthy, which is why the Farmer’s Market started. They wanted dance, they wanted art, and they especially wanted film. They work with the Student Fest at Palm Springs High School, the Agua Caliente’s Native Fest, and now Cinema Diverse. They’re planning a Senior Fest as well, starting next year.”
At first glance, the timing of the festival seems poor. After all, the middle of July isn’t exactly high season in Palm Springs. But there is a method to the madness. Blake Smith, Associate Programmer for Cinema Diverse, says, “There are a number of gay and lesbian film festivals nationally that take place over the summer, and ours happens immediately after Outfest in L.A.” With Outfest closing on Monday the 21st, and Cinema Diverse opening Tuesday the 22nd, the logistics of bringing films and celebrities to the desert is greatly reduced, making the festival much easier to mount.
“We’re getting a great response from the directors of the films,” says O’Bayley. “A lot of them are based in L.A., and the ones that aren’t are going to be there for Outfest. Since we’re opening the day after Outfest closes, they can come here really easily. And they do want to come. It’s great to see. There will definitely be celebrities.”
Another reason to schedule in July is that there’s virtually no competition for the community’s attention. With the year-round population growing rapidly, there is a tremendous need for summer entertainment—particularly for the gay and lesbian audience.
“The response has been amazing,” says Smith. “Every day we get more calls from people, from businesses and organizations who want to be involved, who want to sponsor something.”
“Cinema Diverse decided early on that it was important to work with community groups, so we reached out to Gay Associated Youth and the Pride Center, Equality California, probably 20 groups,” O’Bayley continues. “Nearly all of them said, ‘Yes, we want to be a part of it.’ They’ll help us promote the festival, and they’ll get a screening that’s theirs. They’ll get a couple of minutes before the screening to get up and talk about their organization, they’ll get to put literature out, and we’ll have some sort of an event with them either before or after. We’re matching them up with restaurants and bars, so we’ll be all over town.”
The festival’s Artistic Director and Director of Programming is Thomas Ethan Harris. “He was the founder of the Los Angeles Film Festival, and he’s put together numerous others over the last 25 years,” says Smith. “Basically, he wants to reinvent what a gay and lesbian film festival is. The last 25 years of gay and lesbian film festivals, it’s been a little bit inward looking—gay and lesbian filmmakers making films about gays and lesbians, for gays and lesbians. His idea is that the gay aesthetic is appropriate for anybody. So we’re programming the festival with a diverse selection of movies to showcase what LGBT filmmakers say about society in general.”
Perhaps the most obvious example of programming breaking out of the typical gay and lesbian film mold is the Australian surfer film,  Newcastle . “It’s not super gay,” Smith says. “It’s not gay surfers. But the director is gay, the boys are pretty, and the movie is very homoerotic. It’s a big, beautiful movie; the shots of surfing are unparalleled. It’s a coming of age story about a group of guys, and there is some gay content, but not a lot of it.”
Among the programming highlights is a pair of documentaries. First up is Pageant, a top-tier documentary about the Gay Miss America Pageant. “It’s uplifting, and it’s hilarious,” Smith says. “It’s like Best in Show  for drag queens.” Then there is  Eleven Minutes, the story of Jay McCarroll, the season one winner of Project Runway. “It’s a year-long documentary that shows what happened to him after he won. It’s a commentary on reality TV, basically, in that everyone thinks that after you’ve won a show like this you’re a star, but the reality is completely different.”
Feature films include: XXY, an Argentinean film about a 15-year-old intersex child forced to deal with her sexuality; Save Me, a movie by Judith Light, Chad Allen and Robert Gant about a man forced into a Christian-run camp to be cured of his “gay affliction”; and Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild, the follow-up to Todd Stephens’ goofy gay teen comedy, Another Gay Movie .
Of particular interest to lesbians is Itty Bitty Titty Committee.  “This was made by the Power Up organization, a group of lesbian filmmakers in L.A.,” Smith says. “It’s the story of a young lesbian who gets sucked into an activist group that’s rebelling against society’s male hierarchy. It was a really big movie last year, but it never has played in Palm Springs. We’re really happy to be bringing it to the festival.”
Smith says the festival received over 500 submissions, which he and Harris whittled down to 16 film programs, one on opening night and three per day thereafter. There is a mix of narrative and documentary films, along with a few short films.
“A lot of the features are an hour, or a little over an hour,” Smith says. “We’re shooting for programs that run about an hour and a half, so we’ve selected a number of shorts to pair with the shorter features.” There are no all-short film programs, though, because Cinema Diverse does not wish to compete with the International Festival of Short Films in August.
The unquestioned highlight of Cinema Diverse is also the boldest programming choice: the opening night presentation of the first three episodes of  Sordid Lives: The Series, which premieres on Logo Television the following day. “When Thomas Ethan Harris was in L.A. talking to Del Shores (see interview page 66) about this film festival, they were also talking about Del’s new series,” O’Bayley says. “Basically, Thomas was thinking out of the box and said, ‘Why just do films?’ So we’re going to show the first three episodes, and also a reel with some selected scenes from future episodes.”
The series stars much of the original film cast, including Leslie Jordan, Beth Grant (see interview page 54), Bonnie Bedelia and Olivia Newton John, along with high-profile newcomers like Rue McLanahan and Caroline Rhea. “Del will be here on opening night,” Smith says, “along with about nine members of cast. They’re coming in from L.A., and they’re all very excited because they know Palm Springs really made  Sordid Lives  with that 96-week run at the Camelot.”
Tickets to opening night are $50, and include the screening, the Q and A following the film, and the opening night bash at Zoso. Passes for the entire festival are only $125. “It’s cinema accessible,” O’Bayley says. All screenings are at the Camelot, one each at 1, 4 and 7 pm each day of the festival. “We feel like our audience is anybody,” Smith says. “These aren’t just gay films for gay people, these are films by gay filmmakers than can be enjoyed by anyone.”

If You Go — Cinema Diverse runs July 22 - 27 at Camelot Theatre. The opening night screening of Sordid Lives: The Series is 7 pm, July 22, with an after-party at Hotel Zoso. To order tickets or festival passes log on to cinema diverse.org. The website also has a full schedule of films