The Milwaukee LGBT Film\/Video Festival \u2013 a cultural mainstay of Milwaukee\u2019s film-going and LGBT communities and one of the oldest such festivals in the nation \u2013 celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Opening night festivities begin with a 7:30 p.m. Thursday showing of \u201cFrom This Day Forward\u201d at the Oriental Theatre.<\/p>\n
The festival\u2019s lineup has evolved over the years to reflect wider interests of an increasingly diverse LGBT community, said festival director and lecturer Carl Bogner of the Peck School of the Art\u2019s Department of Film, Video, Animation and New Genres. Festival screenings at the Oriental Theatre and the Union Cinema total 33 programs: narrative features, documentaries, short films and experimental work. A number of the artists will be on hand to talk about their works.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019Coming out\u2019 films used to be the staple of LGBT festivals, but in today\u2019s films you can see all of these different representations of life \u2013 stories about queer youth, faith journeys, intersections of race and sexual identity,\u201d Bogner explained.<\/p>\n
An example is the film\u2019s opening-night selection. In her documentary, \u201cFrom This Day Forward,\u201d filmmaker Sharon Shattuck chronicles her family\u2019s embrace of her father\u2019s gender transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really a film about the complicated relationships within a family. It\u2019s in no way melodramatic, but a story about a pretty remarkable family,\u201d said Bogner, who added that Shattuck and her father will be at the opening.<\/p>\n
Films that get Milwaukee talking<\/strong><\/p>\n For decades, the annual Milwaukee event was the only LGBT film festival in Wisconsin, and it has become a major event for the local LGBT community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always had a lot of support from the university, local business and people in the community, including this year\u2019s $6,000 challenge grant from the Cream City Foundation,\u201d Bogner said.<\/p>\n Audience support is key, as well. The festival regularly draws crowds who have come to expect from it something different from what they might see in big-box movie theaters. But what\u2019s \u201cdifferent\u201d to some mainstream moviegoers is everyday life to others, and Bogner said representation and conversation are two positive outcomes of the festival \u2013 in addition to its eclectic lineup.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes the festival change people\u2019s attitudes?\u201d Bogner asked. \u201cI guess I see it being about visibility. Historically, you might not have seen two men exchanging a kiss on the big screen in mainstream theatres.\u201d<\/p>\n The festival is also a chance to see beautiful films that might not make it to many local theatres, he added.<\/p>\n Festival favorites for 2015 include \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n To find the best films for the annual festival, Bogner and his team check out other LGBT festivals, search out reviews and scour the Internet.<\/p>\n A few of their favorites for this year reflect the broader portraits that filmmakers are painting of LGBT life.<\/p>\n