Contact: justin adkins

Williams College Queer Life Coordinator

413-597-4513

justin.adkins@williams.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WILLIAMS COLLEGE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL HOSTED BY: IMAGES CINEMA
JANUARY 15-17, 2009

Williamstown, MA - The Williams College Dively Committee for Human Sexuality and Diversity is proud to present The Williams College Queer Film Festival 2009 January 15-17 at Images Cinema, 50 Spring Street in Williamstown, MA. The highlight of the Festival will be the January 17 appearance of acclaimed director Jennie Livingston to host the screening of her films Paris is Burning (1990) and a new short feature, Who’s the Top?, complete with a Q and A session.

“Following on the success of our festival last January, we wanted to bring another group of exciting films to northern Berkshire County. Once again, Images has kindly agreed to host the screenings,” justin adkins, Queer Life Coordinator at the College explained.

The Festival starts Friday night, January 15, with the provocative documentary Outrage (2009), which focuses on closeted American gay politicians and the anti-gay positions they uphold. Travel Queeries (2009), by contrast, explores the activism and cultural production of radical Eastern European queer communities. At midnight, we will once again join the South Hadley-based Come Again Players for a traditional live-cast midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

On Saturday, January 17 join us for a double feature: The Aggressives (2005) and Mom’s Apple Pie (2007). The former documents the experiences of black male-identified lesbians while the latter details the plight of lesbian mothers in the early seventies. Following Mom’s Apple Pie there will be a discussion of the issues raised by the films and a reception.

Later that afternoon join us for the Northern Berkshire premiere of the feature film, Hannah Free (2009), starring Sharon Gless of Cagney and Lacey fame.  Finally, finish off the evening with a lesbian horror film, Bandaged (2009).

Sunday, January 17, The Amazing Truth about Queen Raquela (2008), a comedy about a Filipino drag queen who comes to America seeking fame and fortune.  Then in the afternoon, Jennie Livingston screens her multiple-award winning, lesbian short feature, Who’s On Top, a fantastical S/M musical comedy in which one writer finds her true self by determining who’s the bottom,” and her feature-length documentary, the controversial and groundbreaking Paris is Burning. A discussion with the director will follow.

Tickets for all screenings will be available from Images starting January 5. Regular ticket prices apply. Free for Williams College students with ID. For more information visit http://williamsqueerfilmfestival.com/ and http://www.imagescinema.org/ or call Images’ Movie Line: 413-458-5612 or office: 413-458-1039

The Williams College Dively Committee for Human Sexuality and Diversity strives to develop an understanding of human sexuality and sexual orientation and their impact on culture through a broad array of programming that explores issues relating to gender difference, sexuality, homosexuality, and feminism, and that encourages a respect for and awareness of human sexuality and diversity.

This year’s Festival is also sponsored by the Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition (http://www.berkshirestonewall.org/) and The Rainbow Times, the region’s premiere LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) newspaper, dedicated to increasing awareness of LGBT issues and serving as a vehicle to unify and strengthen the communities in Massachusetts, the Capital District of New York, northern Connecticut, and southern Vermont while providing quality news to its diverse readers. http://www.therainbowtimesmass.com/