A film festival with color

Bloomington was recently named the “Fourth Gayest City in America,” by The Advocate, a national gay and lesbian news magazine.

And this past weekend, the city lived up to the ranking when it played host to the seventh-annual Pride Film Festival.

The four-day festival featured movie screenings at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, all centered around the exploration and celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer and transgender life in rural communities.

Although the festival highlighted over 20 films, other events were added to the line-up for the weekend, including the Bleeding Heartland Roller Girls, a performance by the Quarryland Men’s Chorus and the Saturday Night Party, which followed the final movie of the festival.

This weekend also served as the IU Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Alumni Association homecoming weekend. The organization coordinated various events in conjunction with the festival.

On Saturday, alumni and PRIDE volunteers cooked and served meals for both the Community Kitchen of Monroe County and Nutrition Links Service and worked with the Bloomington in Bloom initiative to pick up trash around the city.

The association also hosted a silent auction and dinner Saturday at Grazie! Italian Eatery and a brunch Sunday at the Indiana Memorial Union Tudor Room.

For more photos, visit www.idsnews.com/focus

–Margaret Ely