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Vancouver's 8th Annual

Queer Film & Video Festival

August 8-17, 1996

Reviews by Andrew Carroll and Gweny Wong

Intro by Gweny

 ~ “This year’s Out On Screen Festival includes thirteen programs from which
to pick and choose, plus the Explicit series - a multi-disciplinary event
focusing on censorship. For the first time we offer a youth program. Young,
Fun and Fabulous describes this collection of videos made both by and for
young people. Examining queer alternatives to the heterosexual model of
parenting the Dyke Mom Program, also new this year.” Out On Screen Program
Intro

 

OOOOOOOO0OOwhee! What fun, we,
Andrew and I, had at this film fest, and jeepers
were we tired out at the end of the whole thing.
I was excited to see that Out On Screen was
happening, and wouldn’t have made it to as
many as I would have if it wasn’t for the OP’s
good relationship with Video In Studios. The
Festival has been beset by challenges like lack
of funding, which was helped along by the
munificent support of organizations, the public,
and businesses, including looking for
community and individual monetary support at
viewing time. Another piece of contention was
that Canada Customs had seized, and censored
several films that were to be seen at a couple of
the showings. Except, that didn’t stop them
from presenting the films anyway because they
still had the preview copies (HAH!).

eA Ses iy by Clasd

PSE oii ee

 

This year the
films and vids
were majorly
overshadowed by
Canadian features
while the rest was
made up of
Foreign and
United States
ones. A few of the
film makers were
also locals like
Ming-Yuen S. Ma, Thirza Jean Cuthand, Diane
Barbarash, Maureen Bradley, and Ileanna
Pietrobruno. Overall, the programs were good,
varied and interesting. The attendance in
general was also very good for most films, and
many had people lining up earlier than the half
hour indicated for pass holders. There was a
good mix of censorship films, porn, political
and religious programs. “These works, often
produced on a shoestring budget, project a
daring individuality not equaled by more
mainstream projects. They provide a rare view
of (queers) not assaulted by corporations and
test audiences.” (Out On Screen program intro)
All the films were held at Video In Studios,
Pacific Cinematheque, and Emily Carr Institute
of Art and Design, Theatre.

Sweet ‘n’ Nasty: Womyn’s Sex
Program

LESBIAN EROTICA! This is
what this program is all about,
and from the name it has
promises of absolutely delicious,
lip smacking, juicy offerings for
our collective enjoyment. Or so it
says in the assurances of the
program guide. The womyn’s
programs are always well
attended because, well, hey

what’s more interesting than seeing representation of queer desire on screen. I was excited and
enthused about getting the chance to view the films, and sat ready to be totally bombarded,

mesmerized, and, in a figurative sense, drool.

SILENCE, I, like so many other womyn, was very disappointed in Sweet ’n’ Nasty. Most of
the audience, most of the time did not give much in the way of applause which echoed what I felt
about it myself. This is not to say that some of the films weren’t good, for some were. A few of the
films that I enjoyed, even out of context were, ‘J Shot My W.O.D.,’ ‘Twisted Sheets,’ ‘Dykes On
Bikes,’ and ‘Grade AA Butt.” Except, there seemed to be no continuous, and obvious flow from one
film to the next. It was very choppy, and there was no build up. As I heard one person comment
there wasn’t any anticipation built into it to make it seem more palatable to our senses. At the end
of the evening I felt I had practically wasted my time with about half the films that I saw, and many
other womyn there agreed as well. I hope that in future screenings there will be more
interconnectedness between films to make it seem more exciting.

 

  

“Show Me Your Documents: Queer Asian Histories

Now here was one program that I didn’t want to miss because I’m interested in anything to do
with Asians. Of course, anything that is queer and of colour needs to be addressed as visibly as
possible. This program consisted of three films called, ‘The Lims Live In Ottawa,’ ‘Dirty
Laundry,’ and ‘Shinjuku Boys.’

The first film is a well done personal history of the Lim family recording how the head tax
affected them, and interspersed with Canada’s past and present policies on immigration. The
second film examines Queer Asian Identity in the context of both the 1990’s and the 19th century
Chinese Canadian bachelor societies.

I really enjoyed this third film, and will give you as much detail as space allows. The vid is about
three Japanese men who are biologically female, and live their lives as men. The Japanese term of
reference for these men is, Onnabe, and the Western equivalent, drag king or the 1950’s term, stone
cold butch. S.C.B. were refered in that way because they disliked being touched expecially sexually.
The three men work in Tokyo at a place called The New Marilyn Club, a nightclub for womyn who
love men who are womyn. Their duties are to be hosts, to welcome customers, ensure they have a
good time, and if desired have relationships with them. This is an exceptional look at gender &
sexuality in Japan, and what it means in terms of sex, transvestism, and lesbianism. I totally
recommend all you straight, and queer folk alike to check this out if you get a chance.

Major Motion Picture — 100
Videos: The Movie

The title is deceiving.
Although Steven Reinke
actually produced one hundred
videos, less than half of these
were shown. Steve Reinke
through these videos explores
such issues as his sexuality, homophobia, pop culture, reality versus fiction and much more. The
whole presentation was not one you could get away not thinking and indeed the first video was
quite philosophical and hard to swallow. The videos, which were not played in order but rather
ordered to make the video’s make some overall comprehension.

One of the themes that ran through many of the videos was this theme of reality versus fiction
and the play between them. Video being a media which blurs this line. “Imaginings” turning into
reality. However, not all the videos were serious. There were several that were just plain funny, or
weird. Request is one of these. In it, Reinke visits some of his friends and asks them to take off all
their clothes. To the audience’s surprise the men do take off all of their clothes. A technique Reinke
uses quite often is running captions at the bottom of the screen or himself speaking to add a
commentary to the work.

This can make the work more humorous. An example of humour using this technique is Reinke’s
‘Stentor’, a portrayal of angry masturbation while the commentary pokes fun at the character. Much
of Reinke’s work needs to be thought over for a few minutes to really comprehend it. However,
some of it is just simple fun and needs not to be taken too seriously.

 

6 September 3 1996 The Other Press