 |
 |
| Jérémie Renier and Bruno Todeschini play lovers Jean and Phillipe in the 2004 French film ‘A Love to Hide.’ The two men try to keep their romance a secret during the German occupation of France in World War II. The Nazi holocaust film was voted the best feature film of Reel Affirmations 15. |
|
|
| | |
| |
|
|
| | |
HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
COMMENTS
 
Reel Affirmations, D.C.’s annual gay film festival, saw an increase in attendance and overall box office sales this year, according to officials. The 10-day event concluded last Saturday. “Every venue saw an increase in attendance,” said Daniel Meloy, executive director of One in Ten, the main sponsor of the festival. “We had several sold out screenings.” Audience members voted “A Love To Hide (Un Amour A’Taire),” as the festival’s best feature; “little man” was awarded best documentary. “A Love to Hide” tells the story of a gay couple living in France during the German occupation of World War II. One of the lovers is sent to the concentration camps, where an estimated 100,000 gay men were killed. ‘Little man’ is the story of a baby born prematurely to a lesbian couple. Festival officials don’t yet have a final tally of money raised but said the event met its goal of reaching a donor’s $15,000 matching contribution, in honor of its 15th anniversary, Meloy said. The event also earned a record $7,500 at the silent auction. Those funds go toward the Plant A Seed grant program, which gives $5,000 grants to filmmakers for their next projects. This year’s winner was Sarah Kellogg, a local filmmaker and former festival director, Meloy said. When asked if there was a perception of a conflict of interest by awarding Kellogg the grant, he said there was not. The One in Ten staff chooses the grant recipient, he said. “There was no favoritism shown at all,” he said. “The award was well-deserved.”
The Family Research Council’s Peter Sprigg has been appointed to Montgomery County’s Citizens Advisory Committee, which will advise the school system on revisions to the county’s sex education curriculum. Sprigg was nominated by the group Parents & Friends of Gays & Ex-Gays. The Board of Education accepted PFOX’s only nominee despite a request that each organization with a seat on the committee nominate three people. The board of education rejected the sole nominee from Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, Henrietta Brown, who had served on the committee before. CRC joined PFOX in opposing the previous sex ed plan because it included gay topics and a condom demonstration. In rejecting Brown, the board said that nominees are not allowed to have served on the committee before. CRC is now considering legal action to force the board to accept Brown, officials said. They claim that the board of education has violated a legal settlement reached in June. “We already have the suit prepared,” said Mat Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, which is representing CRC. “CRC is considering what to do.” The agreement signed by the board of education, CRC and PFOX allows the board to maintain control over who is selected for the committee. It states nominees from CRC and PFOX are “to be selected by the Board … provided such representatives are Montgomery County residents and are otherwise qualified.” Teach the Facts, NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland and Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays will also be represented on the committee.
The District government filed a motion in D.C. Superior Court on Monday seeking permission to seize the property of six gay clubs and more than a dozen other businesses located on the site of a proposed baseball stadium in Southeast Washington. If the court agrees to the city’s request, as expected by legal observers, the gay clubs and other businesses on the properties would face eviction on Jan. 25. According to documents filed in court by D.C. Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti, as of Oct. 24, only seven of the 23 owners of property on the stadium site had agreed to the price the city offered for their land. The remaining 16 property owners, including gay businessman Robert Siegel, who owns the buildings where five of the six gay clubs are located, have refused the city’s offer. Under rules associated with eminent domain, which the city has invoked, the 16 property owners have 20 days to persuade the court that the city’s eminent domain request is flawed and should be rescinded. If the court denies the request, the court will approve the city’s request to seize the property while the court deliberates over the price the city should pay the landowners. Gay club owners on the site have said they were searching for a new location for their businesses but ...
|
