"Another Gay Movie" Ushers In 12th Philadelphia Gay Fest

A scene from Todd Stephens' "Another Gay Movie," which opens the 12th Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Thursday. Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Film Society.

Todd Stephens' "Another Gay Movie" will open the 12th Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Thursday night. The event, one of the largest gay fests on the east coast, continues through July 25 and will screen five world, one North American, three U.S. and six east coast debuts. The comedy is about four gay high school graduates who make a pact to lose their virginity before heading to college.

As previously announced, actors Sandra Bernhard and Darryl Stephens are among this year's honorees being feted by the festival this year. Bernhard, whose credits include Showtime's "The L Word," will receive the event's artistic achievement award, while Stephens will be recognized with a Rising Star nod. Stephens stars in "Another Gay Movie," and another PIGLFF title, "Boy Culture" by Q. Allan Brocka, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in May.

Sundance jury and audience award-winner "Quinceanera" by Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer is in this year's lineup, making its Philadelphia premiere. The film is the story of a diverse group of people living in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park against the backdrop of gentrification. Fellow Sundance '06 features, "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros" centers on a flamboyant teen that falls for a policeman who is investigating his criminal family living in Manila, while Malcolm Ingram's "small town gay bar" revolves around gay establishments in the southern U.S. and their importance in civil rights for queer people and examines one particular community with a particularly bleak reputation.

Berlinale '06 offering "Eleven Men Out" by Robert Douglas in among the international line up in PIGLFF this year. The Icelandic feature is the story of a football (soccer) team whose star player causes waves when he comes out of the closet. Canada's "C.R.A.Z.Y." by Jean-Marc Vallee depicts an ordinary family and its travails over a period of years. The family won the best Canadian feature prize at last year's Toronto International Film Festival as well as the audience prize at AFI Fest in Los Angeles in November.

PIGLFF is a program of the Philadelphia Film Society, which produces the annual Philadelphia Film Festival, which took place March 30 - April 11.

[For more information and a full line up, visit the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival's website.]