Letters from Abroad: Showing some national PRIDE

BOLOGNA, Italy – This weekend, I am going to miss one of my favorite Bloomington events – the PRIDE Film Festival at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The weekend allows the local community, gay, straight and questioning, to come together to discuss issues and new ideas and throw one sweet dance party. The film series showcases the talents of independent filmmakers and documents the struggles and triumphs of queer culture. I don’t pretend to be an expert in the field of film studies, but there is something about an independent film, especially a short, that I find irresistible. \nOn Saturday, a friend and I attended a screening at the Future Film Festival. This week-long event has been held for the past 10 years here in Bologna and is considered “the most significant Italian event dedicated to animation and special effects,” according to its Web site. Rather than local discussions about gay pride and acceptance, this festival sparks international conversations on new technologies and techniques used in movies (especially cartoons) and videogames. \nThe showing that I attended was a collection of 14 short films. They came from all over the globe and were shown in English, Italian, French, German and Korean. Some were silent. I couldn’t understand the dialogue in all of the films, but it was amazing that in every one, I managed to follow the plot. Some were funny, more were dark. Each had a unique style of animation. What I found most interesting, however, was the sense of national identity in each piece. A different sort of pride. \nOn the walk back from the theater, my friend commented on the shapes of the noses in both of the animations by French filmmakers. Though the artistic styles were completely different, the characters in both sported the typical long, pointed French nose. In the short, “Pib and Pog,” the characters were done in a claymation style (like that used in “Wallace and Gromit”) and had dry senses of humor created by a Brit, of course. The one Italian film took place in Sicily and had a distinct “Godfather” feel. It was as if each filmmaker was lightly perpetuating his own cultural stereotypes. \nWhat I love most about an independent film is that it tends to be more like a work of art. You can sense the presence of the filmmaker in the work. At PRIDE, you may feel more sharply the pain of a transgender individual struggling to fit in with the rest of society, because it is shown through his or her eyes. At the Future Film Festival, I was able to see just how much of a person’s identity is poured into each piece – to the extent of the artist’s national origins. \nI hope that you choose to go to the PRIDE festival this weekend. It is a wonderful experience for gay and straight students alike, and an opportunity to truly see an idea or issue as someone else sees it.