Peter Jackson, director of 2005’s “King Kong” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, once said, “The most honest form of filmmaking is to make a film for yourself.” The organizers of the Boston LGBT Film Festival have been heeding that advice for 31 years now, compiling short and feature-length films that showcase stories for an LGBT audience.
“I think there’s something really interesting and magical about sitting in a room full of gay people watching a gay film,” said James Nadeau, executive director of the Boston LGBT Film Festival. “I remember seeing ‘Hedwig [and the Angry Inch]’ for the first time in a theater in Berlin, in a room full of gay people, and it’s an odd experience because you realize that you’re not the only one getting the joke.”
Nadeau has been with the festival since 2000, when he was still an undergraduate, and now as executive director finds himself responsible for picking most of its feature films.
This year’s festival kicks off on Thursday at the Museum of Fine Arts and wraps up April 12 at Emerson College. The festival will also play across two other screens at the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Brattle Theater in Cambridge.
The Boston LGBT Film Festival sells tickets to each film individually. Those interested may also purchase memberships, and members are given passes to a set number of screenings throughout the week alongside other benefits, such as early admission. The festival used to operate on a conventional pass system, but Nadeau said the membership approach allows people to contribute directly to an organization they wish to support.
“It’s more of a sense of belonging. If you buy a pass, it’s almost more like it’s an obligation, but if you’re a member, you’re actually donating to support the organization,” Nadeau said. “Whether you use them or not, you’re still helping us out.”
For a third year, the festival is using an app to supplement the experience for festivalgoers. Nadeau said because the festival doesn’t give out physical programs, the app acts in a similar way: users can see trailers for the films, in addition to viewing a screening schedule and the cast and plot details for each film. Tickets can also be purchased through the app.
As far as content goes, Nadeau said this year’s programming continues to strengthen the festival’s volume of trans films and filmmakers, who have been gaining steady momentum in recent years as more and more visible projects such as Amazon’s “Transparent” have broadcast trans voices. Nadeau and his colleagues are particularly excited to be showing “Xenia” this year, a seriocomic Greek film about brothers — one gay, one straight — searching for their absent father.
Mixed in with more experimental, independent fare like “Xenia” are two major 2014 releases that dealt rather unflinchingly with gay issues — Morten Tyldum’s “The Imitation Game” and Matthew Warchus’s “Pride.” Both will be playing for free at Emerson, one of the venues that distributors chose to pre-screen the films before their releases late last year.
“What makes planning the festival so exciting for me is the storytelling,” said Shawn Cotter, the festival’s operations manager and shorts programmer. “I love hearing and sharing stories that are unexpected, make us laugh, turn us on and speak to the diversity and strength of characters in all facets of the LGBT community.”
Several BU students said they look favorably upon the festival, even if they don’t plan to attend themselves.
Julianne Leber, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said festivals like the LGBT Film Festival are important because they can humanize LGBT people in the eyes of those who are otherwise quick to discriminate. “I feel like it could be very eye opening and informative,” she said.
That’s something, it seems, everyone can get behind.
“I’m not a big one for film festivals in general, but I think it’s important that everyone is able to express what they believe in and not be pushed down for it,” said Clare Chiodini, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. “When they can do so creatively, it adds to the fun for everybody.”
The Boston LGBT Film Festival runs from Thursday to April 12. Tickets and more information can be found at bostonlgbtfilmfest.net.
