LGBT film fest explores gays trying to fit into religion

Bruce Fessier, The Desert Sun
James Franco and Zachary Quinto start in the Cinema Diverse film "I Am Michael," screening at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Camelot Theatres.

Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs Gay and Lesbian Film Festival isn’t striving to be the biggest or the best LGBTQ festival in the country.

The event running Thursday night through Sunday in Palm Springs and Cathedral City just wants to show more LGBTQ content than any other film festival in the Coachella Valley.

“Really what we want to do is let our community see what’s out there in LGBT cinema and be able to meet the filmmakers, meet the actors,” says Cinema Diverse Director Michael C. Green. “If you look at the big film festival (the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January), they show 15 to 16 LGBT films and we’re showing 50 or 80, including short films. It’s a much more in-depth look at this genre of filmmaking. (We’re) bringing those stories to an audience that may not otherwise get to see them on the big screen. Some of those films won’t get distribution. Others will get distribution, but they’ll go immediately to the TV screen.”

Festival Director Michael C. Green, seen last year with comic actor Jason Stuart, sifted through 250 submissions to assemble this year's Cinema Diverse.

Why is it so important to show so much LGBT content? Well, in this valley, there’s a demand for it.

“I’m always amazed by the number of people who buy the all-access passes and kind of live at the theater for three-and-a-half days,” said Green. “They’ll grab lunch there, they’ll grab dinner there, and they really appreciate being able to see those films.”

But there’s also a need for it in the same way there’s a need for a festival that screens films from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and South America. The Palm Springs International Film Festival is a window into the world. Cinema Diverse is a window into a community within our community.

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And this year, Cinema Diverse will be reaching more members of the entire Coachella Valley’s LGBTQ communities than ever before. It will screen films, for the first time in its eight-year history, at the Desert Cinemas (formerly Mary Pickford) in Cathedral City, and the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs. And, in this desert, where a trip from Palm Springs to Palm Desert feels like going to a different state, that’s going to make Cinema Diverse a bigger draw.

“I think it will,” said Green. “Theaters are like anything else. You’ve got that five-mile radius thing, which does play a part. I think there are people further down valley that might come to that theater (in Cathedral City) that might not come all the way to Palm Springs to see a bunch of screenings.”

Just as significantly, the Desert Cinemas venues will let more people see the most popular festival films.

“We selected a few films to show at both locations,” said Green. “One of the challenges we have is, we typically don’t repeat films. So a lot of people are always going, ‘Wow, I really wanted to see this film but it’s programmed at the same time as another one.’ So I tried to select some things that would enable people to see a film at two different time slots.”

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Green had more submitted films than ever this year – 250, including shorts. That’s a far cry from the more than 3,000 submissions the Palm Springs International ShortFest receives, but it means more LGBTQ content is being made and 99 percent of it isn't being shown at the cineplexes.

Of course, cineplexes provide programming geared to mainstream filmgoers used to studio movies. It takes an attitude adjustment for even gay-friendly viewers to get out their houses and into the spirit of watching unknown indie niche films. But Cinema Diverse inspires that as effectively as its fellow Palm Springs Cultural Center-presented niche festivals, the Arthur Lyons Palm Springs Film Noir Festival and the American Documentary Film Festival, using LGBTQ films as visas for those not familiar with the issues of their world.

Guide to films

The programming this year has much to satisfy a wide range of local audiences. The opening night film, "Lazy Eye," was filmed largely at a house in the desert near Joshua Tree. A short film, "Diane From the Moon," was shot entirely in Palm Springs, including scenes filmed along Palm Canyon Drive and on hiking trails around the city. 

The ubiquitous James Franco is one of several stars seen throughout the festival.

There’s not as much content about same-sex marriage as there has been in the past. But the divide between mainstream religion and the LGBTQ community is still hot fodder. The festival has two documentaries on the subject.

“One (“Out of Order”) is about the Presbyterian Church,” said Green. “The Presbyterian Church has legalized membership for gay people, and even legalized gay people becoming ministers in the church. The problem is that the local churches are not accepting these gay ordained ministers. Even though it’s technically legal, the gay ordained ministers are having trouble finding churches.

“The second one is called ‘An Act of Love.’ (Readers will) probably remember this because it made national headlines. This Methodist minister officiated at his son’s same-sex wedding and the regional church actually put him on trial for it. They forced him out of the ministry. He appealed, but, these are two big examples of Protestant American congregations who are really dealing head-on with the reality of LGBT people.”

Another documentary, titled “Oriented,” looks at how Muslim and Jewish gays in Tel Aviv can overcome their religious differences.

“It’s a documentary that talks about their lives and having friendships and really intimate relationships,” said Green. “It’s fascinating because there’s a scene where the one guy is sitting with his lover – one Muslim Palestinian and one Israeli Jew – and the evening news is on. Here’s this couple with their dog and the evening news is talking about the kind of headlines we always hear -- the clash between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And, how do you have a conversation about that with your lover without taking sides? Or without having an opinion?

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“I paired it with a short called ‘Seder,’ which is about two guys going to a family Seder together and it has a fun little surprise ending, so they’re a real good pairing with each other.”

The short, “The Women’s Bathroom Project,” preceding the transgender-themed documentary, “Major!” also is ripped out of recent headlines. It shows a little girl having a conversation with a transgender woman in a public bathroom.

Religious-motivated conversion therapy is another hot festival topic, with three films exploring the subject on Saturday. “I Am Michael,” starring Franco, Zachary Quinto, Emma Roberts and Charlie Carver, is about a real life gay activist who Green says became “kind of a poster child for the conversion therapy movement.” “Fair Haven,” starring Tom Wopat and Gregory Harrison, is about a boy who has lost his mother and has a distant relationship with his father. He voluntarily undergoes conversion, but winds up rekindling a gay relationship. “The Pink Triangle” is a documentary focusing on a Danish doctor who develops “conversion therapy” in a World War II Nazi concentration camp. And he doesn’t stop there.

“What’s interesting about him,” says Green, “is after the war, he went to Argentina and opened up a practice doing the exact same kind of work he was doing when he was in Nazi Germany. He was able to continue that until the mid-‘60s -- electro-shock therapy and genital mutilation. He continued doing this under the radar and you wonder, how on earth could that happen? They never found out about him until after his death. They’re talking to his kids and his grandkids, who also never really understood the nature of his work.”

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The festival concludes with the documentary, “Stonewall: The Movement,” in which historian Ron Williams shares stories with people at the 1969 riots that launched the gay rights movement.

“This film was actually made by a local historian and he’s taking a look at it from a historical perspective,” said Green. “It’s to me the definitive history of Stonewall because it takes it back to the time and interviews so many people who were around -- from the people who were pornographers at the time to the people who were running gay magazines to the politicians. I felt like it was a good documentary for this particular market because of the age of the people in the market, many of whom lived through Stonewall.”

If you go

What: Cinema Diverse: Palm Springs LGBT Film Festival, presented under the auspices of the nonprofit Palm Springs Cultural Center

When: Opening at 7 p.m. Thursday with "Lazy Eye" at the Camelot Theatres and running through 7:30 p.m. Sunday with a closing night screening of "Stonewall: The Movement" at Desert Cinemas.

Where: Camelot Theatres, 2300 E. Baristo Road, Palm Springs, and Desert Cinemas, 68510 E Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City.

Tickets: All Access Pass $159, Cinema Six Pack, $69, individual tickets $13

Information: (760) 880-4921 or (760) 324-7333 or cinemadiverse.org