we're here, we're queer...

we're going to the movies this weekend! not me, I'll be in flying to new york and then taking the train out to massachusetts, but if you're in new orleans, it's time to check out the annual queer film fest.

WHAT: Reel Identities LGBT New Orleans Film Festival
WHERE: Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts
Center at Tulane University's School of Architecture
WHEN: July 20-22
CONTACT: Danny Curtis, coord@reelidentities.org
WEB SITE: www.reelidentities.org

The Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New Orleans is excited to
announce REEL IDENTITIES, its fourth Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Film Festival.

After a festival that exceeded expectations in 2005, Reel Identities
went on hiatus in 2006 due to Hurricane Katrina, and instead held
individual screenings and curated the film portion of the DecaFest gay
arts festival in August. Now Reel Identities is back with three days
of programming July 20-22 in the space used by Zeitgeist
Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center at Tulane University's School of
Architecture.

Opening night features include "A Four-Letter Word," a romantic comedy
by director Casper Andreas in which main character Luke ultimately
realizes that being true to one's self may be the best way to deal
with the many complications of a four-letter word called love.

Also on opening night will be "Itty Bitty Titty Committee," a new
comedy by Jamie Babbit, who directed "But I'm a Cheerleader." In "Itty
Bitty," Anna, who lives at home and works in a plastic surgeon's
office, falls in with a haphazard group of dyke activists in a classic
girl-becomes-woman tale. Daniela Sea (the L Word), Jenny Shimizu and
Guinivere Turner star.

On the lineup and of lesbian interest: "The Gymnast" features love
blooming during practice for a circus aerial routine. For some
lesbian herstory, check out the double feature "BD Women" and Barbara
Hammer's "The Female Closet." For a New York modern comedy of manners,
we have "Puccini for Beginners," by Maria Maggenti. And a gender double feature of "Black and White," a portrait of an intersex person, and "Boy I Am," a portrait of transitioning FTMs balanced with feminist analysis of the phenomenon.

For the guys: On Saturday, we have a high-school gay boy comedy, "Fat Girls," by Ash Christian, and a fabulous documentary by Gene Graham, "The Godfather
of Disco" (fabulous soundtrack). Finishing up the festival Sunday
night is the double feature of the short film "Arie," about a professional dancer and his unrequited love for a choreographer, and a feature "The Bubble," by the director of "Yossi & Jagger" and "Walk on Water." It's the story of a gay Israeli who falls in love with a Palestinian.

Reel Identities is supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana
Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of
Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana
State Arts Council, administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans.