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GLAAD has announced its inaugural cohort of 10 creatives for its newly launched Equity in Media and Entertainment Initiative.
Alexander King, Brandon Nicholas, Brit Fryer, Ish Brown, Laquann Dawson, Michael Donte, Nyala Moon, Olivia Peace, Riley Wilson and Whitney Skauge will participate in the three-year program focused on developing and elevating the work and storytelling of Black LGBTQ+ creatives.
Created and led by DaShawn Usher, the director of GLAAD’s Communities of Color and Media department, along with associate director Julian J. Walker and junior associate Kayla Thompson, the initiative — which is also supported by Gilead Sciences — is designed as a pipeline program to help address, and begin to resolve, the existing gap in equitable representation onscreen and behind the scenes in Hollywood.
Each participating creative will be granted 10,000 to fund a current or new creative project to be produced during their time with...
GLAAD has announced its inaugural cohort of 10 creatives for its newly launched Equity in Media and Entertainment Initiative.
Alexander King, Brandon Nicholas, Brit Fryer, Ish Brown, Laquann Dawson, Michael Donte, Nyala Moon, Olivia Peace, Riley Wilson and Whitney Skauge will participate in the three-year program focused on developing and elevating the work and storytelling of Black LGBTQ+ creatives.
Created and led by DaShawn Usher, the director of GLAAD’s Communities of Color and Media department, along with associate director Julian J. Walker and junior associate Kayla Thompson, the initiative — which is also supported by Gilead Sciences — is designed as a pipeline program to help address, and begin to resolve, the existing gap in equitable representation onscreen and behind the scenes in Hollywood.
Each participating creative will be granted 10,000 to fund a current or new creative project to be produced during their time with...
- 9/29/2022
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In 1992 the presidential race came down to three main candidates: the Republican incumbent, President George H.W. Bush, Democrat Bill Clinton, and Independent Ross Perot. But they weren’t the only contenders for the office. Terence Alan Smith also campaigned—as “America’s first drag queen for president.”
Smith, under his drag name Joan Jett Blakk, ran as the nominee of the Queer Nation Party on a platform of universal health care, defunding police and the military, and increased funding for education.
“Smith championed policies that are mainstream today,” writes Whitney Skauge, director of the Oscar-contending short documentary The Beauty President, which recounts Smith’s 1992 bid. “Against a social and political environment of homophobia in the 1990s, it was a defiant act of bravery for Smith to be an openly gay Black man, dressed in full drag, running for the highest seat in government.”
Skauge became acquainted with Smith’s history-making candidacy through a play,...
Smith, under his drag name Joan Jett Blakk, ran as the nominee of the Queer Nation Party on a platform of universal health care, defunding police and the military, and increased funding for education.
“Smith championed policies that are mainstream today,” writes Whitney Skauge, director of the Oscar-contending short documentary The Beauty President, which recounts Smith’s 1992 bid. “Against a social and political environment of homophobia in the 1990s, it was a defiant act of bravery for Smith to be an openly gay Black man, dressed in full drag, running for the highest seat in government.”
Skauge became acquainted with Smith’s history-making candidacy through a play,...
- 12/11/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
"At some point I realized that I actually made a little dent in history." Now this is a story we haven't heard before! And I'm glad it's being told again, especially in this format. Meet "America's First Drag Queen for President"! And spread the word! The Beauty President is a captivating 10-minute short doc film made by filmmaker Whitney Skauge from Breakwater Studios. In 1992, at the height of the AIDS pandemic, drag queen Joan Jett Blakk made a historic bid for the White House as an openly queer write-in candidate. So badass! "Our thing was visibility... the more visible we made ourselves, the less [any bad stuff] happened." Today, Terence Alan Smith, the man behind the persona, reflects back on his place in gay rights history at the height of the AIDS crisis. I admire that he admits it was all about visibility, not really about winning. Even this act made a difference.
- 10/29/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Rebecca Hall’s “Passing” won the U.S. Narrative Feature Jury Award at the 33rd LGBTQ film festival NewFest in New York City.
The jury statement reads, “A chance encounter between two friends kicks off this film’s exploration of race and sexuality in 1920s America. The film’s expressive cinematography, beautiful performances, and clear directorial vision all come together in this devastating story of destabilized identity.”
The Documentary Feature Jury Award went to “Miguel’s War,” directed by Eliane Raheb. The jury described the doc “as emotionally captivating as it is visually stimulating.
“’Miguel’s War’ impressively tangles with deep human emotions and complex aspects of the human condition in its wide-ranging exploration of trauma, repression, the fallibility of memory, and the messiness of fantasy,” the statement continued. “Using fictional techniques to unearth essential truths, ‘Miguel’s War’ combines traditional interviews with staged reenactments and fanciful animation to take...
The jury statement reads, “A chance encounter between two friends kicks off this film’s exploration of race and sexuality in 1920s America. The film’s expressive cinematography, beautiful performances, and clear directorial vision all come together in this devastating story of destabilized identity.”
The Documentary Feature Jury Award went to “Miguel’s War,” directed by Eliane Raheb. The jury described the doc “as emotionally captivating as it is visually stimulating.
“’Miguel’s War’ impressively tangles with deep human emotions and complex aspects of the human condition in its wide-ranging exploration of trauma, repression, the fallibility of memory, and the messiness of fantasy,” the statement continued. “Using fictional techniques to unearth essential truths, ‘Miguel’s War’ combines traditional interviews with staged reenactments and fanciful animation to take...
- 10/25/2021
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Festival also honours Elliot Page and Octavia Spencer.
Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise Of Queer Comics and Lyle Kash’s Death And Bowling have been named among the award winners at the 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.
No Straight Lines took the documentary feature grand jury prize at the August 13-22 festival, back this year as an in-person event at several Los Angeles venues, and Death And Bowling won the narrative feature audience award.
The festival’s closing night awards ceremony also saw Elliot Page receiving the Outfest Annual Achievement Award and Octavia Spencer the Outfest Annual James Schamus Ally Award.
Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise Of Queer Comics and Lyle Kash’s Death And Bowling have been named among the award winners at the 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.
No Straight Lines took the documentary feature grand jury prize at the August 13-22 festival, back this year as an in-person event at several Los Angeles venues, and Death And Bowling won the narrative feature audience award.
The festival’s closing night awards ceremony also saw Elliot Page receiving the Outfest Annual Achievement Award and Octavia Spencer the Outfest Annual James Schamus Ally Award.
- 8/25/2021
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Outfest announced the winners of its 2021 edition, including Vivian Kleiman’s “No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics” for documentary feature and Brielle Brilliant’s “Firstness” for U.S. narrative feature.
The Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival also honored Pooya Mohseni with the grand jury prize for best performance in a U.S. narrative feature for her performance in “See You Then,” while Wes Hurley won best screenplay for “Potato Dreams of America,” a non-traditional portrayal of a gay immigrant’s transition to America and his relationship with his mother.
Park Kun-young was awarded best international narrative feature for “A Distant Place,” and Ümit Ünal won best international screenplay for “Love, Spells, And All That.” “Sweetheart” actor Nell Barlow took home the award for best performance in an international narrative feature “for her ability to emote even under a pair of sunglasses and a bucket hat.”
Xavier Seron won...
The Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival also honored Pooya Mohseni with the grand jury prize for best performance in a U.S. narrative feature for her performance in “See You Then,” while Wes Hurley won best screenplay for “Potato Dreams of America,” a non-traditional portrayal of a gay immigrant’s transition to America and his relationship with his mother.
Park Kun-young was awarded best international narrative feature for “A Distant Place,” and Ümit Ünal won best international screenplay for “Love, Spells, And All That.” “Sweetheart” actor Nell Barlow took home the award for best performance in an international narrative feature “for her ability to emote even under a pair of sunglasses and a bucket hat.”
Xavier Seron won...
- 8/24/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
In 1992, Joan Jett Blakk made a bid for the White House as the first openly queer person to run for US president. As a write-in candidate, Blakk went up against Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush, and although Clinton got inaugurated in the end, Blakk's name will forever be cemented in US history. Blakk is the drag persona of activist Terence Smith, and Smith's story is being revisited once again in Whitney Skauge's documentary short The Beauty President, which is being shown at this year's Outfest Fusion Film Festival after it originally premiered at SXSW.
Through footage from his campaign trail and a charming present-day interview, Smith reflects on what it was like to come out during a time of political unrest and the height of the AIDS crisis. He also makes it clear that despite his presidential bid, his intentions were never to actually become president. Instead,...
Through footage from his campaign trail and a charming present-day interview, Smith reflects on what it was like to come out during a time of political unrest and the height of the AIDS crisis. He also makes it clear that despite his presidential bid, his intentions were never to actually become president. Instead,...
- 4/16/2021
- by Monica Sisavat
- Popsugar.com
The Santa Barbara Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Aaron Maurer’s documentary Invisible Valley, which profiles the stories of the disparate people that make up the Coachella Valley. It kicks off a festival that will run March 31-April 10 with a hybrid edition that includes online elements and screenings at a pair of pop-up beachside drive-in venues.
The full lineup revealed Tuesday features 47 world premieres and 37 U.S. premieres from 45 countries alongside the fest’s annual tributes featuring the likes of Bill Murray, Carey Mulligan, Sacha Baron Cohen and Amanda Seyfried which will be livestreamed online.
Every film screening will be offered for free this year, with a ticketed online component that will showcase the entire film lineup along with the tributes, industry panels and filmmaker Q&As.
The fest will close with a series of short documentaries by local filmmakers.
Here’s the trailer for Invisible Valley,...
The full lineup revealed Tuesday features 47 world premieres and 37 U.S. premieres from 45 countries alongside the fest’s annual tributes featuring the likes of Bill Murray, Carey Mulligan, Sacha Baron Cohen and Amanda Seyfried which will be livestreamed online.
Every film screening will be offered for free this year, with a ticketed online component that will showcase the entire film lineup along with the tributes, industry panels and filmmaker Q&As.
The fest will close with a series of short documentaries by local filmmakers.
Here’s the trailer for Invisible Valley,...
- 3/9/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
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