SGN October 9, 2015 - Section 2

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Seattle Gay News

Issue 41, Volume 43, October 9, 2015

Arts & Entertainment SEATTLE LESBIAN & GAY FILM FESTIVAL

An interview with SLGFF Festival Director Kathleen Mullen

Kathleen Mullen and Jason Plourde – Photo by Brad Wilke/Smarthouse Creative

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer The 20th annual Seattle Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (SLGFF) kicked off

last night with a gala screening of the starstudded drama Freeheld at the SIFF Cinema Egyptian Theatre. Running through October 18, showcasing a collection of LGsee kathleen mullen page 8

Upstairs Inferno documents 1973 arson in New Orleans

How the AIDS epidemic changed American art

by Rachael DeCruz Communications Manager Pride Foundation “Today’s art looks like it does because of the AIDS crisis.” Rock Hushka, the Chief Curator at Tacoma Art Museum (TAM), recently shared that bold statement with me when discussing his new exhibit, Art AIDS America. The notion that the AIDS epidemic fundamentally changed American art is at the heart of the exhibition, which features work that spans three decades and ranges from overtly political art to pieces that are much more subtle and coded. Art AIDS America opened on Saturday, October 3rd at TAM. In addition to being the first exhibition to explore the impact of the AIDS crisis on art, it also honors those that have died and serves as a reminder of the disease’s continued prevalence and impact on artists. Pride Foundation was founded in the midst of the AIDS epidemic, and a significant portion of our resources go toward funding HIV/AIDS prevention and support service; making this exhibit especially near and dear to our hearts. I recently interviewed Rock to get an inside look at Art AIDS America and what viewers can expect to see.

Rock Hushka – tacomaartmuseum.org

Rachael DeCruz: What was the impetus for pulling together this exhibit? Was there anything about this particular moment in time that made you want to undertake this project? Rock Hushka: That’s a big question with an even bigger answer. I wrote my graduate thesis on AIDS activist images 25 years ago, so my interest in this topic is longstanding. Part of it is this idea that art has social relevance and is not just a treasure that you see Rock hushka page 19

20TH ANNUAL SLGFF Week One capsule reviews

Upstairs Inferno playing October 17 at the AMC Pacific Place – www.indiegogo.com

by Gary M. Kramer SGN Contributing Writer UPSTAIRS INFERNO October 17 The historical documentary, Upstairs Inferno – playing October 17 at noon at the AMC Pacific Place (600 Pine St.) as part of the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival – chronicles the 1973 fire (determined to be arson) at the Up Stairs Lounge, a New Orleans Gay bar, that killed 32 people. Filmmaker Robert L. Camina (who will attend the screening with producer Shep Shep-

pard and interviewee Johnny Townsend) uses talking heads, photographs, and archival footage to recount this horrific crime, dubbed “The deadliest arson attack in New Orleans’ history.” The film, narrated (albeit a bit stiffly) by Gay writer Christopher Rice, opens by establishing the patrons’ happier memories of the bar, a safe space with a homey feel. The bar had decorations in the stairwell and beefcake shots on the walls. The 3-story building on the edge of the French Quarter was home to not just a bar, but also a dance floor and a theatre, where patrons would put see upstairs inferno page 11

Scene from Fourth Man Out – www.oregonlive.com

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer The 20th annual Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (SLGFF) kicked off yesterday with a gala screening of the Lesbian drama Freeheld starring Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Michael Shannon and Steve Carell, but that’s only the tip of the proverbial cinematic iceberg as far as the next ten days are concerned. Features, docs and

shorts from around the globe will get their individual showcases at Seattle venues as varied as the SIFF Cinema Egyptian, the Northwest Film Forum and Pacific Place, and without question there will be something playing at some point guaranteed to get even the most casual cinemagoer excited. Keeping with tradition, here are a handful of capsule reviews of a few of the films see slgff reviews page 9


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