Gary Walker
Special to The Desert Sun
April 25, 2006

Reel Pride film festival receives high marks

If the closing night film of the second annual Reel Pride Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is any indication, the goals of the festival's promoter and the film's creator have been attained.

Steve Mason, co-owner of the host Palme d'Or theaters and festival chairman, announced at the last screening that this year's festival had doubled the attendees and sponsorship of last year's inaugural festival.

Thom Fitzgerald, producer/writer/director of the "3 Needles" closer, said "the fine line between gay and non-gay films is disappearing."

His $2 million film was mainstream, as was the appreciative audience, which gave it some of the highest marks of the festival.

Its all-star cast of Stockard Channing, Olympia Dukakis, Chloe Sevigny, Sandra Oh and Lucy Liu gave glowing performances in this triptych of stories that showed how greed, economic despair and cultural oddities exacerbate the spread of the AIDS virus.

The China segment (filmed in Thailand) exposed the blood trafficking racket, the Montreal story dealt with both irresponsible sex and AIDS monetary exploitation, and the South Africa element showed how such normal cultural rituals as multiple circumcisions with the same knife is spreading the disease while the repackaging of used needles is commonplace.

"They don't create garbage," said Fitzgerald, "they recycle it as a matter of course."

In remarks before the film's screening, Fitzgerald noted that "to me, what makes a film a gay film is its point of view." After the showing, he elaborated.

For a film to be exhibited at a gay/lesbian film festival, "It either deals with gay themes or gay sensibilities to certain issues."

"3 Needles," seen anywhere else, would be considered as mainstream as "The Constant Gardener," which it resembles in many ways. It has received an official endorsement by the United Nations and will be shown on Showtime cable network Dec. 1, World AIDS Day.

Prior to "3 Needles" the 22-minute short, "Who's the Top," was shown. It was a cute "lesbian S&M musical fantasy - and there aren't many of those," quipped Mason. Steve Buscemi made a cameo appearance.

Mason reported at the closing night reception that the festival has committed to a fourth day next year and will offer 20 films, up from this year's 15.