I'm several days behind writing about the films — the festival closed last night with a great film, with the last few days filled with great films, which I will write about in the next few days. Tonight I'll mention three, along with some questions about attendance at the festival.
One of the issues this year at the New Festival has been attendance. It was rather shocking to be at the Opening Night and see empty seats. I can’t recall a first night that wasn’t jam packed. I don’t know what the PR for the festival has been, but given the LGBT population of this city, and how starved many of us are for interesting and uncensored queer representation, something about the numbers just doesn’t seem right. As an example, consider the film Emile Norman: By His Own Design (on a smartly designed program with the excellent Bob and Jack’s 52 year Adventure, of which more later).
The Norman documentary captured the life of an American Picasso. “What?” you say. You’ve never heard of Emile Norman, and I’m calling him an American Picasso? One of the things that determines the greatness of artwork is how it shows us our lives, nature and reality in fresh and surprising ways that wake us up and make us more alive to the moment, to every detail of life. Norman’s work does just that in breathtaking sensuousness. And this documentary captures all of it.
Like Picasso, Norman has an unwavering dedication to his own artistic vision, a vision that was at variance with the times. In spite of that he made his own way, creating art that has stood the test of time. And like Picasso, he never stops working. I had never heard of Norman before this film. After seeing it, I will never forget him. His art, the story of his relationship with Brooks Clement, the great love if his life with whom he created a home that is also a work of art at a time when openly creating a life with another man was anything but easy — this is part of our hidden history at queer people. We can only be grateful to the producers for making this film.
In a moment of programming genius, the Norman film was paired with Bob and Jack’s 52 Year Adventure. The story of an army sergeant enters into an affair with his commanding officer that develops into a lifelong relationship, this documentary was a beautiful portrait of love between two men that has endured in spite of all the obstacles they had to face. [bobandjack.org] With simple interviews of the two men, together and alone, along with period photographs and archival material to round out the history, the film didn’t need great drama to leave the audience deeply moved. The warmth and love that was on display between these two men was heart opening. And it isn’t only for the gay community. I can think of few films that address two of the main issues facing our community today so sweetly and completely. By that I mean the question of queer folk in the military and same-sex marriage.
Because these men met in the military and started their relationship there we see how it affected the soldiers around them — and how the couple confronted their unit when someone wanted to turn them in. Because they’ve been together for 52 years, without slavishly following a heterosexual model, we are given a new model for marriage, one that is filled with compassion for imperfection and commitment to each other without an insistence on monogamy. More importantly, it shows why it is so important that same-sex couples have the same rights as other married couples, since we see an elderly couple deal with questions of Social Security, Medicare and the safety net of community that all older people need. On so many levels, this deceptively simple documentary is a very important film.
These two films together give gay men a model of long term relationship to counter the lies we are fed by those who created the closet, a closet that makes such relationships that survive all the stronger for the obstacles they must overcome.
But to come back to the question I asked at the start: why wasn’t this program well attended? There were only about 60 people in the theater. The people in the audience wanted to keep the producers and director of both films a long time after at the Q&A, there was so much to ask and talk about and the films engendered a passionate response. This was a program that demanded a larger audience, and if the community really understood what it was about, perhaps there would have been more people. This was also the case with a program on closing day, Tied Hands, an Israeli narrative film.
This movie starred Gila Almagor, the first lady of Israeli stage and screen. It’s as though there were a film at NewFest that starred Judi Dench, and only a few people came. What’s more, Almagor was there at the screening to answer questions, along with the Consul General from Israel. This was a big deal. And yet the screening was not well publicized or attended. How could such a thing happen? Clearly the word about the quality and importance of these movies hasn’t gotten out in a way it should. This is just about the only issue I have with NewFest — they aren’t doing a good job of promoting themselves or their film programs. As an ad guy, I know that this isn’t an easy job, but there is a built in community for these films.
The question of attendance was something that buzzed around the group of folks I sit with every year. We come every year and see upwards of 25 programs each — we’re a dedicated crew. And a rather, uh, fussy group. So this group of kibbitzers talked about why it seemed to us the numbers were down (despite Basil telling us it just isn’t so). Some suggested it’s that people stay home and watch video. Some suggested that with more mainstream images available, people don’t feel quite the need for the festival. Some wondered about the advertising and pr. I don’t know. What I do know is that I am rather passionate about this annual event, and want it to grow, nurture talent, and build an audience that is also a community. And I hate seeing empty theaters for events like the Emile Norman program, and Tied Hands. So if you're reading this and didn't go to the festival this year, you missed some great films.
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