Portland Lesbian and Gay Film Festival starts Friday

Pride may be the gayest time of year but Portland gets another shot at a week of all queer all the time (well, that might be all year truthfully) when the Portland Lesbian and Gay Film Festival rolls into town at the summer’s end.

This year’s fest seems a bit short and sparse but there’s sure to be some gems stuffed in there. I’ll be previewing each night and offering reviews when possible.

Friday begins at 7:30pm with Patrik, age 1.5, a story of a perfectly white picket fence couple who want to adopt a baby, only to get a teenager instead. It’s followed by the excellently free opening night gala at Crush (1400 SE Morrison). The perfect combo of space for conversation, dancing and gawking, Crush usually has some damn decent eats as well. It’s a good place to bring a diverse LGBT party.

Other highlights include:

A sing-a-long Hedwig and the Angry Inch. John Cameron Mitchell‘s foray into tackling trans issues on screen is not new, but if will always be fun, and you know you always sing in your head anyway. Now you can actually belt it out with other tuneless queers and not feel bad. Saturday Oct 3rd.

Pornography, which screens both Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th is described as a David Lynchian-esque thriller about a vanished adult film actor and how two different men both search to uncover the nightmarish truth. Also director David Kittredge and editor Mike Justice will be in attendance. Your Saturday will be a full one.

An Englishman in New York stars John Hurt Britain’s real queen, Quentin Crisp, as he descends upon New York City. He looks so earily similar to Crisp I thought it starred himself at first.

I am also quite intrigued by the incredibly gritty looking Shank, about British gang members.

TICKET AND PASSES
General Admission – $9 per ticket.
Full Festival Pass – $90. Gains holder admission to all film programs and events.

Platinum Festival Pass – $140. Gains holder admission to all film programs and events. Platinum pass holders enter the theater at any time! No waiting in line. A seat is reserved for you until 10 minutes before each showtime.

Advance sales – Tickets for all programs and passes are available in advance at PDX Ticket Network at 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. at the Hollywood Theatre beginning September 8. Or on-line at www.plgff.org

Voucher packets – $60. Packet of 8 vouchers good for any film program except for the Opening Night feature. Not valid for parties or special events.

Cinema 21 Box Office – Tickets for all programs at Cinema 21 will be available at the Cinema 21 box office at 616 NW 21st. Ave. on the day of each show. The box office will open one hour before each day’s first program and remain open until fifteen minutes after the last program of the day has begun.