Buskirk-Chumley to hold 3-day PRIDE Film Festival

The lights will dim and the people sitting in the 500 seats inside the Buskirk-Chumley Theater will grow quiet as the fifth-annual PRIDE Film Festival kicks off at 8 p.m. today.\nThis weekend, a mix of short films and full-length feature films from all across the globe will be shown to an expected crowd of 2,000 college students, community members and people from across the state.\n“The purpose of the PRIDE Film Festival is to create a space to celebrate the (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning) community, and to expand our knowledge and understanding of the diversity of our community,” said Danielle McClelland, executive director of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.\nAbout 30 films will be shown during the four-day festival. The films cover a variety of topics, touching on issues pertinent to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people. The films are diverse, and they cover all walks of life from the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and Israel.\n“We wanted each individual night to stand on its own so if you couldn’t come to the entire festival, you would have a wide range of films and diversity in that screening,” McClelland said.\nThe volunteer steering committee viewed about 200 films while choosing productions for the festival. The committee began previewing the films in July of last year and didn’t finish its search until October. Directors and producers sent their films through an application process as early as March of last year, but the committee also searched for films to present in the festival, said Mary Gray, chair of the volunteer steering committee.\n“We looked for films that were really popular in other festivals,” Gray said. “We wanted films about women, men, transsexuality and race issues. We wanted political issues that bring us together. We wanted people to see a different perspective they otherwise wouldn’t expect to see.”\nOne film the committee sought for the festival was the “Itty Bitty Titty Committee.” The film is about a young girl who has just graduated high school, but her girlfriend has just dumped her and she didn’t get accepted into college. During her journey in the film, she meets a radical feminist who helps her find herself politically.\n“It’s a gentle call out to women that we don’t have equal rights,” said Lisa Thrasher, the producer. “Our country is still not where it needs to be.”\n“The Itty Bitty Titty Committee” has been featured in more than 100 film festivals and has won eight awards, including Best Feature Film at the South-by-Southwest Film Festival. It was created by POWER UP, the only volunteer, non-profit, women’s queer film company in the country. POWER UP is also presenting “Billy’s Dad Is A Fudge Packer” at this year’s festival.\n“Our mission is to make films for women, by women and to try to make them be seen by as many people as possible,” Thrasher said.\nThere is an admission price for the major screenings, but free screenings and panel discussions are also open to the public. Two free screenings will be offered, one at 5 p.m. today at the Whittenberger Auditorium and one at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.\n“Seeing people’s reactions to these films and their reactions to each other is unlike any other experience I’ve ever had,” Gray said of her impressions following the free screening and discussion Tuesday night at Collins Cheshire Café. “There aren’t a lot of opportunities to watch a film and discuss it. It’s one thing to laugh or cry with people in a theater, it’s another to turn on the lights and discuss the films. It takes you to a whole other place.”\nSaturday evening’s screening will be followed by an after-party from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. The party will include a DJ, food, dancing, as well as beer and wine for the 21-and-older crowd. Erotic dress is encouraged to go with the carnival \ndecorations.\n“It’s an opportunity to see the Buskirk-Chumley Theater transformed into the most incredible dance floor you’ve ever seen,” McClelland said.\nTickets can be purchased at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater box office. Gray encourages anyone interested in purchasing tickets in advance because the Friday and Saturday screenings usually sell out, she said. \n“I’m ecstatic,” Gray said. “We have some of the most amazing films.”