SAN DIEGO -- Over the next 11 days, LGBT movie lovers have a chance to view films that reflect their lifestyles, relationships and struggles. Part of the annual San Diego Latino Film Festival, Cine Gay brings together the latest in LGBT cinema - locally and from around the world.

Although the festival is in its 17th year, the Cine Gay showcase began five years ago and was the vision of Patric Stillman, innovations and programming officer for Media Arts, a local nonprofit focused on changing lives through film.

In addition to organizing San Diego’s Latino Film Festival, Media Arts also teaches San Diego teens media literacy, provides local filmmakers with mentoring and networking opportunities, and creates digital story programs for local libraries.

“It was amazingly received very well,” Stillman said of his initial pitch to add LGBT films to the film festival.

“Two things happened: 1) The local community was thrilled to have a presence at the festival; they felt like it was a great recognition; and 2) among the straight audience, people were more positive than negative. It really helped to create a new targeted audience at the festival.”

Stillman was also pleased with how quickly the LGBT community embraced the idea. FilmOut San Diego co-sponsored the first Cine Gay showcase and GSDBA, Diversionary Theatre and The Center were also among the first supporters.

Of the dozens of submissions Cine Gay receives each year, Stillman works with the selection committee to showcase films that focuses on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender content. However, he does acknowledge that it is not always easy to find films for all four categories. Another important component of selecting the films is finding a diverse mix, from comedy and drama to animation and documentary, which express the different LGBT lifestyles throughout the world.

“We often get that universal mentality that all gay people are the same everywhere and the truth is we are not,” Stillman said. “We are all living and experiencing life through our different cultures, traditions and communities. So part of the mission is to bring to life that there are other ways of creating your own sense of self identity.”

Stillman also acknowledges that in Latin America, the family unit structure tends to be much stronger, especially in the smaller countries, and there are very strong religious ties in the cultural upbringings of LGBT people as well a lot of political oppression. The films that are selected also creatively reflect these struggles.

The 2010 Cine Gay films
For a detailed synopsis of each film as well as screening times see our Events Calendar, “Cine Gay” precedes each film title.

"Ander"
Basque Cinema’s first gay film co-presented by FilmOut San Diego

"Chica Busca Chica (Girl Seeks Girl)"
Spain’s hilarious lesbian webisode series

"Contracorriente (Undertow)"
Sundance World Cinema Audience Award

"Dzi Croquette"
Outrageous documentary on Brazil’s '70s cabaret performers starring Liza Minnelli

"La Mission"
Gay and Latino cultures collide in this drama starring Benjamin Bratt

"Cine Gay Shorts"
10 shorts from the U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain and Brazil that focus on lesbian and gay life

"La Mission" is in English and all other films are screened in Spanish or Portuguese with English subtitles.

Stillman laughs when asked if he has a personal favorite from this year’s film selections.

“It is a really tough choice. I am really proud of the program, but I am excited about the documentary 'Dzi Croquette' – it’s a marvelous piece of history that would have been lost had the film not been made. And both 'Contracorriente' and 'Ander' are beautiful films about personal drama, exploring what it’s like to be gay and living in really small rural communities.”

Additional details
Past Cine Gay actors and directors have come from countries outside of the U.S. like Argentina, Spain, Brazil and Mexico to present their films. Notable directors in the past have included Mexico’s openly gay director Arturo Ripstein, who presented the first Mexican film to deal with gay issues in the '70s.

This year, Peter Bratt, brother of movie and TV star Benjamin Bratt, is drawing notable media attention for his film “La Mission” and will be presenting his film on its opening night.

In addition to actors and directors briefly speaking before film screenings, Cine Gay has a main event on Thursday, March 18, which brings together the community and Cine Gay sponsors. The event is hosted, and has been for the last five years, by local drag activist Franceska (Franko Guillen).

Guillen’s father gave her the name Franceska when she hosted her first benefit at age 18. Since 1982, she has been an activist and fundraiser working in the field of HIV/AIDS.

“Sueno echo realidad de ver la verdad del mundo homosexual, lesbico, transgener y bisexual en su total realidad tal cual es!” Franceska said.

Translation: “It’s a privilege to see that our lives are put into such a good format. I have finally seen what I have always wanted to see in my life. It’s a dream come true to see films that reflect the real life of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community!” Franceska said.

She will continue to host the event as long as she is asked, adding that, “It’s not about me, it’s about our community being represented with the utmost respect.”

The festival’s overall attendance this year is expected to reach about 20,000 and in previous years, roughly 8 percent have been there to view Cine Gay films. Since its first year, Cine Gay films have averaged about 300 audience members and with pre-sale tickets this year already exceeding expectations, those numbers are expected to grow.

Video created by Local filmmaker Matthew Funke

Esther Rubio-Sheffrey is a Staff Writer for SDGLN. She can be reached at (877) 727-5446, x711 or at esther@sdgln.com.