Fusion Film Festival

I went to my first film festival this past Saturday with Jenny :)

Fusion: LGBT People of Color Film Festival. It's put on by Outfest (who also does the oldest film fest in socal...the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival).

First we went to the conference at the Village and sat on the panel that Cheryl Dunye curated about the history of queer people of color in cinema. It was interesting to hear all this talk about Richard Fung and Marlon Riggs since I've seen/read their work in class but didn't really know how much of a legend they are! The Q&A section at the end got a little problematic (both Jenny and I agree) because they kept talking about how difficult it is for people in the industry to make the shift from underground culture to mainstream culture..

1) As if they are these 2 mutually exclusive "cultures" that don't have any influence over each other OR:

2) As if the goal of every filmmaker is to MAKE IT in mainstream culture OR:

3) As if there is this universal understanding of what the "underground" and "mainstream" culture is (when I think the internet definitely blurs those lines)OR/ESPECIALLY:

4) As if everyone has the same ability/resources/privileges to make that shift.

Cheryl was smart with her closing remark to all the other pseudo queer cinema legends on the panel....that it always comes back to a question of COLOR.

Anyway..After name dropping JENNIFER TERRY a couple times (hahaha) we got to talk to Cheryl after the conference and she SPIT KNOWLEDGE at us for a good 10min on the significance of having a conference tied to the festival, and the direction that she thinks the film festival is going in the future. I wish I could take one of her classes at UCLA she just radiates knowledge....amazing amazing woman!



So the film screenings were shown at the Egyptian Theater. We watched 2 documentaries on transmen:
1. In My Skin
AWESOME documentary of a latino butch lesbian who takes t shots to transition into being a man. He grows up in a very Catholic family and the film documents his struggles going through this transition mentally, physically, and spiritually
2. Still Black: A Portrait of a Black Transmen
Documentary of 6 black transmen just trying to make it through life

...And we watched the 5:00 shorts.
1. Queerer Than Thou
2. Souljah
3. Laundromat
4. Wig
5. When I become Silent (MY FAVORITE!)
6. Dish (Second favorite! Main character was definitely a more scenester version of Sean Patrick HAHAH)

I feel like I'm not really entitled to do a full blown film critique because that's not my specialty, and besides that wasn't the main reason we went to the conference anyway. I do have a thing or two to say about the messages the films carried about queer life....and I won't bore my audience now, so if you're wondering just ask me.

What I took out of it was how the environment and space shaped interactions. It was interesting because it seemed like everyone who was at the festival was just as interested in meeting people as they were in watching the films. I don't know if that's how all film festivals are, or because this was a queer film festival (the queer community is generally more inviting, at least in my experience)...but I felt this sense of belonging and support for each other that's definitely not found in most public spaces. We even got invited to the gala that night, which is their huge after party event. Everyone was just SO WILLNG to talk to us and find out our story and share ideas. I wish that happened with everyday interactions!

But maybe it's because we were hot girls at a queer event...who knows. hahahah