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Outfest Report: Part 1
Photos by Jane of hotshotmag.com
Profile: Vanessa Craig
Vanessa Craig is a Los Angeles-based fashion designer who has launched her own brands, Xkiller and Sew Gay. This year she became one of the Curl Girls on a Logo network reality TV series of the same name. When not filming or riding the waves, Vanessa spends her time organizing parties and tirelessly pursuing her multifarious interests.
★To find out more about ordering Xkiller and Sew Gay clothing, follow the link here.
Outfest, held annually in the entertainment capital of Los Angeles, is one of the United States' better-known LGBT film festivals - right up there with San Francisco's Frameline. This year's event - which was also its 25th - took place from July 12th to the 23rd. Over the past quarter century, Outfest has showcased over 4,200 films and proudly welcomed over half a million guests.
Outfest website at: www.outfest.org
Currently, the film festival enjoys a premium of attention in the industry - celebrities turn out in droves and it is supported by numerous major corporate sponsors such as HBO, Heineken, Mercedes Benz, and Kodak.
Over 80 queer-themed films and videos from a variety of genres spanning commercial film, musicals, independent film, short film, documentaries and more from around the world were shown over the course of the festival's highly charged 10 days, dappled with panel discussions, music parties, and outdoor screenings.
Outdoor screening
Vanessa, fashion designer extraordinaire and Tokyo Wrestling's own special reporter for the Outfest festivities, highlights for us some of her favorite films.
"Butches and Femmes" (Shorts)
In this session, films touching on the eternal lesbian theme - butches and femmes - were showcased. The works touched on topics including butch etiquette, femmes in the eyes of butches, how to treat a femme and femme identity, as well as the ultimate women's event - the Dinah Shore Weekend.
"A Lez in Wonderland" (www.annaalbelo.com)
Director Anna Margarita Albelo (aka Anna La Chocha!) took us down memory lane, to a Dinah of yesteryear. If there was a film to be made about Dinah Shore Weekend, and a right way to do it, this girl (and her cute sound engineer) captured it perfectly. Brilliantly sandwiched between her mimed journey in the desert, Albelo with the cutest accent ever, candidly and comically uncovers what really does happen "when 10,000 women meet in Palm Springs for Dinah Shore Weekend". To which I question, what happens when 10,000 mostly lesbian women meet anywhere?...in any case, they sure ain't watchin' golf!
"A Lez in Wonderland"
After the screening, director Anna Albelo and Vanessa
head to the bar Shotgun in Silver Lake
"Triple X Selects: The Best of Lezsploitation"
Michelle Johnson, a favorite local lesbian DJ, has been amassing this unique collection of 70's porn films for years and as a hobby started splicing them together in her spare time. During the pre-screening intro, she explains that most of the lesbian scenes in these films were made for men, and notes the popularity of this b-movie soft core porn film movement throughout the 60's and 70's. The audience was clearly ecstatic over the smooth editing that offered highlights of these films' lesbian sex scenes without many male characters. She then decided to submit it to film festivals, where it has been receiving amazing reviews. It is also rumored that "Triple X Selects: The Best of Lezsploitation" actually shut down the post-screening at a local sex shop.
Role play was already in progress even before the film had a chance to drive the audience into a highly sexual state. A barrage of lovely ladies took the time to arrive at the showing dressed up in 70's porn-star style in support of their favorite characters from Johnson's strapping masterpiece. The many moustaches, wigs, and catsuits received just as many ooohs and aaahs as the film did inside. Michelle has proven herself to be a creative force within the community, showing that she can cut it up both on the turntables and in the editing room. Hot Stuff!
Left: Actors from Queer as Folk (US version)
Right: Actress Tori Spelling of Beverly Hills, 90210
Cast & crew of the "Itty Bitty Titty Committee"
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