chillfested

chillfest was a great success. opening night's screening of the lady in question is charles busch with special guest charles busch nearly filled the house. a great question and answer period followed the screening and i got to meet and eat with the famous charles b. friends daisy and donald came to the opening, too. afterward the crowd walked a few blocks to a beautiful old theater whose lobby has been turned into a bar. and after that dinner at an intimiate cafe. jersey city has come a long way in a couple years. we all had great hopes for saturday, but the great weather and the outdoor glbt festival in jersey city probably drew most of the potential audience away. sunday--the day i spoke--drew a nice crowd. i gave my talk during which i showed clips from four of my films (a couple made with roger mckeever). i had a great time talking with folks after the screening. i'm hoping that i can do more with the jersey city museum. they have a great space with several video viewing stations. i'd love to make some stuff for them. i think my video probably works best in a museum setting. it's awkward screening them in a theater because it sets up an expectation dynamic that i don't like. i'd rather people just stumble upon my stuff like they would a unexpected but beautiful view in nature. several really great films: call me malcom about a female to male transgendered minister; wtc view about a guy and his experience trying to rent out a room after 9/11; No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon about two remarkable pioneers of gay rights. all highly recommend. also, a piece for the new glbt channel, logo, was excellent: the evolution will be televised.

john, charles, charles, arnie on stage after the screening sunday night at the hard grove donald in the garden a beautiful dead tree in jersey city, near a mosque!

after sunday's shows, i visited the episcopal church that friend donald has painted. it's stunningly beautiful and really great to see at this moment because parts of it aren't finished and you get a strong sense of how his painting has brought the interior back to life after having been painted monochromatically. we also visited his house (donald in the garden pictured here). it's a wonderful four floors of eccentric interiors lovingly attended to for over more than 20 years. i love getting away and doing things like this festival. meeting new people, showing my stuff, talking art and exploring new ideas, just being out in the world, is simply fantastic. i thank john and charles for putting me into their brand new festival. i hope to be a part of it next year. and many thanks to linda from the jersey city museum who did my press release and did a great job promoting and executing the festival. thanks to mike for manning (and rewiring!) the projection booth so that it would work for us.