Pride films breakthrough onto the big screen

Keith Romaine, a Bloomington resident since 1991, attended last year's PRIDE Film Festival party and decided that, while it was nice, he could do better. With improvement in mind, he went to work, taking on the position of party coordinator for this year's festival.\nRomaine has hand-sewn more than 60 banners and silks, which he will use during the after-party to decorate the auditorium of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, located at 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., the site of this year's festival. Using fabric, food, drinks, music, dancing, and a man covered in chocolate Romaine hopes to "generate a queer celebratory space where creativity, play, acceptance, vitality and the carnivalesque are available to everyone."\nAfter nearly quadrupling in size since its conception two years ago, the PRIDE Film Festival is back for its third year. This year's festival has doubled in length from last year's two-day event, to a four-day celebration. Agnieszka Drobniak, a member of the PRIDE marketing committee, said this year's festival includes more documentaries than in previous years. \n"A lot of the films the selection committee most enjoyed ended up being documentaries," she said. "We didn't want to turn them away just because they didn't fit into our prearranged timeslot, so we made the festival longer." \nAmy Neymeyr, a member of the steering committee and this year's dance party deejay, said because there are no other events like this in the Bloomington area, the film festival is vital.\n"When you see these hundreds of people all sitting in the theater side-by-side, it makes you wonder where they all came from," she said. "This event is really important for providing visibility to the GLBT community in Bloomington."\nIn addition to movies, the festival promises a film panel discussion with the IU department of communication and culture, a performance by Quarryland Men's Chorus, a high-voltage PRIDE dance party, and a reception for "Sex in the Cinema," the Kinsey Institute's latest art exhibit.\nThe panel discussion will take place 4 p.m. Thursday at the Buskirk-Chumley and includes gender studies department chair and professor Suzanna Danuta Walters, author Claudia Breger, communication and culture doctoral candidate Sarah Sinwell, and assistant professor of communication and Culure Mary L. Gray moderating. The performance by Quarryland Men's Chorus, also at the Buskirk-Chumley, is scheduled at 5 p.m. Saturday.\nThe panel discussion will focus on GLBT film, why it has recently become so popular, and specifically, what this popularity means for film festivals. "We want to explore how and why films like 'Brokeback Mountain' are in the limelight right now," she said. "We will also be discussing how queer film festivals like PRIDE fit into this popularity." \nThe Kinsey Institute's newest art exhibit, "Sex in the Cinema," opens Thursday and runs through April 7. The exhibition uses posters, press kits, photographs and other artifacts to explore the use of sex as a marketing tool in Hollywood. Selected posters represent a number of genres, from the exploitation pictures of the 1930s through the first mainstream X-rated films of the 1970s.\nA public reception will be held 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26 at The Kinsey Institute, located in Morrison Hall. Guest curator Brian J. Woodman will give a gallery talk at 6 p.m. Reservations are not necessary for this event and admission to the exhibit is free. During the film festival, the gallery will be open to visitors Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Also, a guided tour of the Kinsey Institute will be offered at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. To reserve a space on the tour call 855-7686.\nThe films begin tonight at 7 p.m. and continue through 3 p.m. Sunday. General Admission tickets are $8 per screening or $25 for a festival pass. Student ticket prices are $2 per screening or $10 for a festival pass. Tickets can be purchased in advance or prior to each screening at the Sunrise Box Office, located on 114 E. Kirkwood Ave..\nFor Neymeyr, it's all about the experience people have when attending the festival. "We want everyone to have a wonderful time, see some great films, meet new people and feel welcomed into this safe space we are creating," she said.