I was watching some of the press screeners of some of the shorts that will be playing at the festival, and I am so excited for everyone to see these films! Don’t forget about the shorts that will be playing before some of the movies (see your AGLIFF festival guide for details! Don’t have one? Get out of the house and get one! They’re all over town!). Everyone knows the big feature films playing (don’t you?), but don’t forget about the shorts! They play before each feature. But never fear! I am here to enlighten you all about some of the highlights for the upcoming festival (ahem, in 6 days).

The short film called Four Steps made me gasp with delight as actress Thea Gill nonchalantly appears reading in a cafe. Don’t recognize the name? How about Lindsay Peterson from the loved/hated Showtime series Queer as Folk.

Thea Gill in Four Steps

It always excites me to see actors/actresses the cast out and about in post-QAF life (like seeing Gale Harold/Brian Kinney on Desperate Housewives).

I don’t want to reveal too much of the film (as it is a 15 minute short), but it is about a listless lesbian going through gaydar bootcamp. It’s campy. It’s cute. Go see it. I (and the programmers) recommend it!

Four Steps will be playing before Hannah Free on Saturday, September 12th at 4:55 pm (both are Programmer’s Pick!).

Four Steps still from http://fourstepsfilm.com

With the 2009 festival rapidly approaching, it’s time for the AGLIFF street team to take the message of the festival to the masses! We will be hitting the local hot spots in our fabulous new festival shirts. If you see us around town, feel free to hunt us down and ask about the festival! We speak film.

On Friday, August 28th, we hit up the happy hour at Rain.

Sponsor Spotlight: Dean Mahan, Yoga Vida
Dean Mahan, Yoga Vida
3620 Bee Caves Road, 78746
707 W. 7th, 78701
6a-8p
For Questions:
Call - 512.750.2213
Online - YogaVida.net
Email – YogaVida@mac.com

Next in our Sponsor Spotlight series, we interviewed Bronze-level Sponsor, Dean Mahan, Owner of Yoga Vida.

Dean teaches Power Vinyasa Yoga at Yoga Vida on Bee Caves Road. Yoga Vida, which has been around for ten years, offers classes, clothing, mats and anything needed in order to reach full yoga potential. LGBTQI owned and operated, Yoga Vida endeavors to broaden their students’ yoga potential and horizons.

Dean got involved with aGLIFF through one of his students, board member John Livingston, in order to support his belief that the LGBTQI and arts communities need to be supported financially and by the community. Dean, who hasn’t seen anything like aGLIFF in any other place he’s every lived, deeply feels that the festival has provided a unique and important good to the city of Austin.

“I’m not interested in what aGLIFF will do for my business, I just want to support the festival,” says Dean, “I’m not giving to receive.”

And that is exactly the spirit that Dean puts into Yoga Vida every day. It’s about creating a whole in the community and spirit, not about quid pro quo. His belief that aGLIFF provides a voice and platform of support is what drew Dean to the festival and in sponsoring its ongoing endeavor to educate, expose artists and entertain the LGBTQI and Austin at large.

Dean believes that aGLIFF brings comfort and a return of support to LGBTQI businesses in the community and that it supports other companies and nonprofits, like Out Youth.

As we do with our interviews, we asked Dean about movies. His favorite movie is AGE OF INNONCENCE, his favorite genre is romance and though he likes all that act, he specifically enjoys the talent of Tom Hanks.

aGLIFF appreciates the support of our business sponsors and offers the Sponsor Spotlight as a venue for business owners to share more information about their business with aGLIFF members. If your business is interested in becoming a sponsor, please visit our Sponsorships page.

Scot Maitland, Your Personal Massage Therapist
2003 S. Lamar Blvd., Suite 11
W-F, 10a-8:30p
Sat, 11a-6:30p
For appointments:
Call - 512.965.6800
Online - AustinTouch.com
Email - Scot@AustinTouch.com

In the first of our Sponsor Spotlight series, we interviewed Bronze-level Sponsor, Scot Maitland and Austin-based massage therapist.

Scot offers customized massage sessions that are tailored to each client’s personal needs, be it the relief of muscle tension, addressing repetitive stress injuries, or general relaxation. Sessions vary in length from 15 minutes to two hours and range from a basic in-studio chair massage to a customized massage at your home or office. Scot recently returned to Austin and has opened his own studio on South Lamar to lend his many years of experience to the tired and achy bodies of central Texas.

Though Scot identifies as a gay man, it’s not the primary reason he got involved in film and aGLIFF. His brother, Keith Maitland, has been a filmmaker for 10 years and recently completed the documentary THE EYES OF ME, which will premier at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Scot also conveys his observation that the media (film/TV/print/web) do a great job at portraying people like himself (white gay men), but doesn’t do so well presenting the wonderful diversity of the LGBTQI community.

“I love going to the festival because I get to see films that tell the stories of our community told by the members of the community,” said Scot in our interview. “And everyone in the theatre, though they see the same film, all take something different away from the stories. They learn something regardless of how they identify because they go away with human stories.”

Scot decided that sponsoring aGLIFF22 was a great move for his business. He says he likes the variety of promotional outlets offered through aGLIFF. Sponsorship includes more than on-screen advertising, but also having the opportunity to sponsor a film, being listed as a sponsor in the program makes good business, or speaking directly to the audiences at the festival.

“Though I just became a sponsor and haven’t gotten the exposure at the festival, it’s a great conversation starter as I network for my business,” says Scot. “Not only do I build credibility as a business owner who gives back to the community, I get to promote the festival at the same time.”

During the informal part of our interview, we also ask our sponsors to tell us about their favorite films. Scot shared with us that his favorite genre of film is comedy, his favorite film is THE PELICAN BRIEF, his favorite queer film is TALES OF THE CITY (the original, on PBS), and his favorite actor is Sandra Bullock.

- - -

aGLIFF appreciates the support of our business sponsors and offers the Sponsor Spotlight as a venue for business owners to share more information about their business with aGLIFF members. If your business is interested in becoming a sponsor, please visit our Sponsors page.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is bringing back the venerable David Schmader for a live annotated screening of Showgirls on Thursday March 5th!

David Schmader, the World’s foremost authority on Paul Verhoeven’s masterpiece, will be appearing at the Alamo Lake Creek to provide a live commentary to what very well could be the most terribly awesome movie ever made.

At 7:30pm on Thursday March 5th, for one night only, Schmader will be dissecting Showgirls for our entertainment.  In addition to the 7:30 Showgirls Screening, we will also screen David’s one man stage show Straight with a live Q&A after the presentation.

Continue reading →

Download the Press Release (pdf)

Launch Party with the film’s Director Sebastian Cordoba to Follow

Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009
Time: Screening 7pm, Launch Party 8:30pm
Place: The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum’s Spirit Theatre
Admission: $5

This screening is free for Members of aGLIFF, AFF, AFS, Cine las Americas, and TSHM.

aGLIFF will begin its Monthly Screening series with THROUGH THICK AND THIN, a documentary by filmmaker Sebastian Cordoba, who will be in attendance. This screening is also a collaboration with the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum’s Altered Lives: An Immigration Film Series.

THROUGH THICK AND THIN follows the extraordinary stories of seven bi-national gay and lesbian couples whose lives are dramatically affected by the current state of immigration laws in the United States. Cordoba intimately captures integral moments of each of the couples as they struggle to stay together at whatever cost, sometimes demonstrating that love does not conquer all.

For some couples, this means immigrating to a different country, while others try to maintain a semblance of normalcy by commuting between distant places overseas. And, for some of them, in which the foreign partner is already illegal, they try to keep things as they are while avoiding the scrutiny of immigration enforcement.

The immigration rights issue is a sensitive and personal one to the director, Sebastian Cordoba, who will join us to discuss the film and his own experience as he was in a binational relationship with an American citizen and has struggled with this very issue first-hand. In fact, he was able to maintain a working visa status by producing this documentary.

aGLIFF will host a launch party for its Monthly Screening Series as well as the launch of the Texas State History Museum’s Immigration Film Series outside the Spirit Theatre following the screening.

Call for Documentary & Narrative Features

A National Program Connecting Mentors and Projects Before They are Submitted to Festivals

Documentary Lab Submission Deadline: February 13

Narrative Lab Submission Deadline: April 17

Led by experienced producers, the Labs assist filmmakers in tackling the creative challenges of completing their modestly-budgeted, independently produced films - getting a leg-up before industry exposure. The five-day mentorship program in NYC challenges filmmakers to realize the full potential of their footage and stories with ongoing dynamic feedback and advice on technical & creative issues and distribution methods. The Labs are for first-time, narrative & documentary feature directors in the late stages of post-production.

For more info & application: http://labs.ifp.org

The Austin Jewish Film Festival, in partnership with the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival is proud to present: THE SECRETS

Screening: Tuesday, January 27, 7pm, Texas Hillel, UT Campus, 2105 San Antonio Street

Director: Avi Nasher
Release Date: 2007
Runtime: 120 minutes
Genre: Drama
Country: Israel
Language: Hebrew with English subtitles
Rated: Rated R for some nudity, sexuality and brief language.

Synopsis:
In The Secrets, two brilliant young women discover their own voices in a repressive orthodox culture where females are forbidden to sing, let alone speak out.

Naomi, the studious, devoutly religious daughter of a prominent rabbi, convinces her father to postpone her marriage for a year so that she might study at a Jewish seminary for women in the ancient Kabalistic seat of Safed. Naomi’s quest for individuality takes a defiant turn when she befriends Michelle, a free-spirited and equally headstrong fellow student.

When the pair encounters a mysterious, ailing foreigner with a disturbing past named Anouk (the iconic French actress Fanny Ardant) they begin a risky journey into forbidden realms. In the hopes of easing her suffering, Naomi and Michelle secretly lead Anouk through a series of Kabalistic cleansing rituals. The process opens up overwhelming new horizons for the girls who find themselves caught between the rigid male establishment they grew up in, and the desire to be true to themselves, no matter the cost.

Download the Press Release (pdf)

It is official! Calvin Williams, long-time supporter and board member of aGLIFF has been elected to serve as President of the Austin-based film festival. Calvin is replacing outgoing three-term President Alisa Weldon who helped oversee the successful transition of aGLIFF into a nonprofit organization and the creation of the annual BLOOM event.

Calvin, a fan of gay films since he saw two men kiss in MAKING LOVE when he was 17, has avidly supported aGLIFF as a festival participant since 1989 and jumped headfirst onto the board only one week before the 2006 festival. He is thrilled to channel his experience as an educator and administrator into his role as President of an organization that brings the LGBTQI community together through film.

“I appreciate my fellow board members for their confidence and support by electing me President,” Calvin said immediately after the confirmation vote. “I am excited to help steer aGLIFF as it maintains its distinction as the premier LGBTQI international film festival in the southwest.”

In addition to this change in leadership, aGLIFF has recently added several new staff and board members. This infusion of new blood and ideas has inspired the creation of several new educational programs and the expansion of the film and arts activities of the organization.

Download the Press Release (pdf)

aGLIFF and the Austin Video Bee are proud to co-sponsor the traveling exhibition of CHANNELING: An Invocation of Spectral Bodies and Queer Spirits.

The screening will take place on Saturday, January 24th, from 8:30pm-10pm at the Hideout Theatre on Congress Avenue.

The program’s curators, Latham Zearfoss and Ethan White (who will be in attendance) describe the program as:

…an entryway into the spirit realm and the queer body politic: a program of experimental moving image work that calls up the ghosts of the past and the specters of the future.

The intent of the program is to re-imagine film and video as occult technologies that allow us to connect with the bodies, experiences, and emotions that are often invisible – ghostly, even – in everyday life.

The works in the program take a personal approach in dealing with the political and historical problems that haunt the queer experience: the AIDS pandemic (Renwick, DiStefano), the body in transition (Montague), the idealized nuclear family (Pena, Robinson), and the narrow cultural standards of desirability (EMR, Moulton).

CHANNELING presents emerging and established artists critically engaging with these concerns on their own campy, poetic, sexual, humorous, and even utopian terms, using a variety of aesthetic approaches such as digital video, homemade effects, saturated 8mm, home movies, animation, green screen, and more.

Please visit the CHANNELING website for news, tour info, and more information about the artists and works included in the program.

The 68-minute program includes:

• Vanessa Renwick - 9 IS A SECRET (2002, 6:00, video)
• Elliot Montague - WELL DRESSED (2006, 10:00, Super 8mm on video)
• Shana Moulton - WHISPERING PINES #7 (2006, 5:00, video)
• Michael Robinson - CAROL ANNE IS DEAD (2008, 7:30, video)
• EMR (Math Bass & Dylan Mira) - SOMETHINGS GONNA SOON (2008, 4:00, video)
• Aay Preston-Myint - SOME GHOSTS (2007, 2:00, video)
• Jillian Pena - COMPROMISE (2005, 10:00, video)
• John Di Stefano - (tell me why): THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF DISCO (1990, 24:00, video)

And be sure to join us for an afterpary DJ’d by the program curators, Latham and Ethan at the Cockpit from 10pm-2am.