Throughout the five-day festival, in addition to the films, there'll be debates with many of the directors and other lesbians in the public arena. And of course, your taste buds will be tempted by all the delicious dishes the kitchen crew is planning for you, and you'll be able to wash it down with a drink (alcoholic or non-) from the bar.
And on Friday night, after the sexy stuff, come dance the night away (from 11 p.m. 'til dawn). This year's party, organized in collaboration with Chocha, the new queen of the Parisian lesbian scene, will have a whole new feel to it, with a multimedia show, new deco, 3 new DJs and lots of other surprises.
But don't plan on sleeping late the next day, because you'll only have two days left to catch all the films you still want to see! Of course, there's always the special Sunday afternoon show, when we screen our favourite films for this year, as a last reminder before it's time to say, "So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, au revoir".
And "thank you", too. Your satisfaction, and the fact that you keep coming back, in ever-greater numbers, is what motivates us and keeps us going year after year. So, see you next year, in a new place, with new films, new girls and new adventures...
Time for the annual challenge: not only do we have to find the films and organise everything, but on top of that, we have to tell you all about it. And believe us, summing up 70 long and short films from 20 different countries - plus all the extras - ain't easy!
So let's start with the extras. You're going to be amazed. We've got a live show for you this year: clips from 101... no, not Dalmatians, lesbian films, with clever, timely, political, funny, caustic and educational commentary, live on stage. And what is the subject you ask? SEX, every which way... The show is in English, presented by its creator, the American sex educator (that's why her résumé says) Laura Weide.
Plus: feature films galore... Chutney Popcorn by Nisha Ganatra, tells the tale of two women dreaming about having a baby - with a twist: one of the woman is Indian, the other is American, and not quite ready to cope with her girlfriend's pregnancy. In Mary Guzmán's Desi's Looking for a New Girl with the fabulous Desi del Valle, Desi's going through the whole singles thing after a recent break-up. Then there's Lost and Delirious, the latest from Lea Pool: it takes place in an all-girl boarding school, and we'll give you three guesses what happens... Then there's the mid-length Taiwanese film, Incidental Journey, by Jofei Chen, and The Girl by Sande Zeig, based on a short story by Monique Wittig, in which a beautiful young woman, The Painter, succumbs to the charms of The Girl, a chanteuse she met in a nightclub.
It's raining documentaries this year:My Left Breast for example. This autobiographical film by lesbian-feminist activist Gerry Rogers, describes her dealing with a mastectomy. Sounds horrible? Not at all! It's full of love, humor and friendship. Just like Southern Comfort, by Kate Davis, where cancer strikes lower this time. Imagine a transsexual trying to get treatment for uterine cancer... in America, no less. We're honoring Pratibha Parmar with a mini-retrospective: Flesh and Paper, a portrait of the lesbian writer and poet Suniti Namjoshi; and A Place of Rage, about African-American women, including Angela Davis, June Jordan and Alice Walker.
Radical politics and terrorism are the subject of Out: the Making of a Revolutionary by Sonja de Vries and Rhonda Collins, (who also made We Don't Live Under Normal Conditions, which takes a close look at depression and asks if perhaps society isn't ill as well?). The Brazilian, Mônica Sucupira and Tika Tirilli, give us A felicidade nunca está escondida, part of an Aids-prevention campaign aimed at lesbians. For something more upbeat, try For the Love of Rock, by Lydia Allen; or Colleen Ayoup's Kings, a light-hearted look at drag kings in Montreal.
And let's not give short shrift to the shorts...
One of the privileges of going to a festival is seeing all those shorts that never make it to theatres. Many of this year's crop are about how families cope with homosexuality. Shannon Halwes shows the humor in American Slices; Sharon Sliwinski's experimental film Dear Mom and Dad, and Francine Zuckerman's Passengers show the pain.
Short films are also the way into other cultures. 17 ½ is the story of a girl who is 17 ½, made by a girl who is... 17 ½! Her name is Monica Lee, and she's from Hong Kong. But we also have films from Hungary, the Philippines, Slovakia, Israel, Japan, Taiwan and more... twenty countries in all!
What about the debates?
The festival wouldn't be what it is without these times set aside for discussion. Last year's debate on violence within lesbian couples attracted nearly 200 women (no fighting over seats though!). So we thought we should propose the theme again, this time based on the films Rancour and Helpless Maiden Makes an 'I' Statement. The butch/femme question will also be discussed after the Questions de genre screening. The director of the film À la découverte de Mama Cash will tell us about this women's organisation. A debate about minorities and their struggle and violent vs. non-violent tactics will follow Out: the Making of a Revolutionary. Last but not least, a discussion with Florence Fradelizi, the director of Amazones 2000.
