The Advocate hosted a panel today entitled "Gay Filmmakers and Sexual Provocation" at The Queer Lounge at 3:00PM. The panel was conceived and moderated by Advocate film critic Kyle Buchanan and featured Isaac Julien (Young Soul Rebels, Derek), Lesli Klainberg (Indie Sex, Fabulous! The True Story of Queer Cinema) and Bruce LaBruce (Otto; Or, Up with Dead People). The premise of the panel was this question: with so many of these directors from the New Queer Cinema movement reuniting this year at Sundance, is there a chance that they will return to their sexually provocative work from the '90s? And the larger question is, what happened to sexually explicit gay cinema and what does the term even mean now?
[The stage was set for a discussion that no doubt everyone could be interested in]
The panel was very interesting and, at times, very heated. Mainly, all the directors were big supporters of the right to make queer cinema in any way that takes shape. And then, at some point, the topic veered towards GLAAD. Some panelists implied that when they read scripts containing gay characters and give notes it may be considered a form of censorship. Klainberg particularly, who had done a lot of research into the subject with her work on Indie Sex, was very vocal about her disagreement with the practice. This was made all the stranger by the fact that we were in the GLAAD-sponsored Queer Lounge and their logos were emblazoned behind the panel. GLAAD Entertainment Director Damon Romine dispelled a lot of rumors and felt that GLAAD did a service to straight filmmakers who want to get it right and have nowhere else to turn. One very vocal member of the audience disagreed and used the forum to air his grievances with GLAAD while another rebuffed Here! and Logo for not making sexually provocative enough subject matter. Julien agreed that we as a gay audience, just like the rest of culture, had perhaps become too comfortable and wanted safer images delivered in expected structures. All in all, it was a very spirited room.
[Here is LaBruce, no doubt saying something sexually explicit]
But for the most part, it was an informative perspective on how these filmmakers view the role of sex in their work and how they feel either responsible or not responsible to show more of it. LaBruce spoke very candidly about his work in the hardcore porn industry and how it perhaps shapes his aesthetic. But even he noted that having more money -- as he did in Otto -- made him constantly think about how the pushing of each boundary might affect the final product's ability to be marketed. So we come to the age-old question, "chicken or the egg?" Particularly when it comes to the question of only casting attractive people in these roles. Does society dictate these aesthetics or do these filmmakers dictate society's aesthetic? No answer was to be had, but it was a fantastic panel and Buchanan was very charismatic and adept. Afterward someone from The Queer Lounge remarked that he was one of the best moderators they'd had.
[Here I am with Bruce LaBruce and the star of Otto; Up With Dead People, Jeremy Crisfar]
After the panel we had a drink with Klainberg at the Sundance Channel party at 350 Main. She has quickly become one of my favorite people -- Kyle's, too. Here are some highlights from the panel:
LaBruce discusses the punk scene:
Julien discusses Sebastiane, Derek Jarman's first film: Klainberg discusses how film has changed since the '90s:
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