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Beyond gay & lesbian

Annual Philly film festival evolves into QFest

WHEN THE Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival premiered 15 years ago, "Will and Grace" wasn't on TV, "Brokeback Mountain" hadn't won an Oscar, and gay marriage was legal in exactly zero states.

Pretty soon though, the community that had at first embraced the festival had a problem.

"People complained that it was the 'gay and lesbian' film festival instead of the GLBT film festival," said Raymond Murray, citing the acronym that includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Murray, who founded the festival back in 1995 and remains its artistic director today, is vigilant about selecting a range of films that represent the diversity of the community, but he was reluctant to begin adding letters onto what was already a somewhat unwieldy name.

"I was resistant to being that PC," said Murray. "QFest" - PGLFF's new name as of this year, where the "Q" stands for the umbrella term "queer" - "seemed to solve a lot of the problems."

QFest starts tomorrow through July 20, with screenings at the Prince Music Theatre and the Ritz East, and other events around the city. This year's festival will have 115 films, selected from over 500 submitted for consideration. The program includes six collections of short films, four outdoor screenings of cult classics like "Hair," and a special double feature as part of Sunday's "make it a Doris Day" event, celebrating the film icon.

Parties like Friday's "Sexxxmas in July" at Tavern on Camac are scheduled throughout the week. Festival honorees Chad Allen and Sharon Gless will be celebrated at VIP receptions tomorrow and next Sunday.

Murray's aversion to heavy-handed political correctness has made Philadelphia a bit of an iconoclast among the country's major gay and lesbian film festivals.

"We don't have as many rules as the other festivals about what should be in there," said Murray. "When something's critical of the gay community or a little upsetting or has some negative characters, I have no problem showing it."

Murray speculated that "Autopsy," a French police thriller that will have its world premiere at QFest, was rejected by other festivals because it depicts its gay characters in an unflattering light. But the programmers of Philadelphia's festival will often screen something because it is fun to watch, even if it doesn't send a positive message.

"I think you have to show the whole wide range of films," Murray said. "The main goal is to entertain."

As a summer event, QFest tends to favor lighter fare more than its mainstream cousin, CineFest, which happens in the spring.

"We have documentaries, and they explore different issues within the community," said Murray. "But the vast majority of the [QFest] films are romantic comedies or lighter dramas."

Murray pointed to "And Then Came Lola," a Centerpiece Screening that was inspired by 1998's "Run Lola Run," as one of this year's most exciting films. "I hope it finds a general audience," he said. "It's fast, it's funny, it's well-made. It's about beautiful women just living their lives."

In fact, one of the key differences between the films included in QFest now versus those screened at the first PGLFF 15 years ago is that the majority of current films show people "just living their lives." These stories come from a distinctly modern sensibility some have called "post-gay": Today, many GLBT people can have lives that don't revolve around their sexual orientations, and the films in QFest often reflect this new reality.

"Characters used to be obsessed with being homosexual, and the films were all about acceptance," Murray said. "Now, the characters are gay, and then the story begins."

Films like "Patrik, Age 1.5," a comedy in which a same-sex couple think they are adopting a 1 1/2-year-old baby but get a 15-year-old delinquent instead, take a stable gay family as a given and then go on to address more universal themes like parenting.

"That's the single biggest change, and you see it in most films," Murray said.

While QFest reflects a changing world, many of the screenings still struggle to draw a younger crowd, and Murray described the audience as "getting a year older every year." The same realities that create the "post-gay" sensibility found in many films may also jeopardize the existence of the festival itself.

"We're finding there's a break," Murray explained. "The 35-and-under crowd has grown up in a more open world, coming out and being accepted early."

Fifteen years after PGLFF's humble beginnings, many young GLBT people don't embrace the festival the way their elders once did. "I'm pessimistic," Murray said. "I think it might have to become a section of [CineFest]."

I'm worried we're not attracting new audiences," he continued. "They just don't see the importance of this festival." *

QFest, tomorrow through July 20, with screenings at the Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., and at Ritz East, 125 S. 2nd St. Tickets are $10-$15, available at 267-765-9800, extension 4; www.qfest.com, or at TLA store locations.