Among autumn’s seasonal community diversions was once the Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video Festival. Over its three-decade-long history, it provided the community with an international cultural experience, bringing a broad spectrum of relevant films to an appreciative audience. It was one of our annual rituals, a gathering as eagerly anticipated as Christmas with each film like a present waiting to be opened. It managed to congeal our LGBTQQIP2SAA alphabet soup into one glacial mass.
Preceded by a reception at the charming lower East Side residence of festival supporter Jack Smith (and, in more recent years, at the elegant Villa Terrace), the opening screening, often with the filmmaker making a guest appearance, at the glittering Oriental Theatre, was our red-carpet extravaganza. Attendees represented a who’s who of Cream City queerness, from leadership and literati to radical fems, transgender folks, random homo-hoi polloi and allies.
A week-and-a-half of communal viewing followed. Screened at the UW-Milwaukee Union Cinema, dozens of carefully selected films and videos covered the length and breadth of genre and thematic spectra. There were the ever-popular nights of women’s, men’s and trans shorts. Whether intended or inadvertently, diverse audiences shared a common experience that, over the decades, created both individual and community development. Organizations had their outreach and information tables in the corridor near the cinema entrance. Pre-screening presentations, talkbacks and panel discussions facilitated by community partners offered audiences deeper insights and connectivity into the varied aspects of the LGBTQ world.
Then came the competition, the original Milwaukee International Film Festival (MIFF), and that changed everything. Originating in 2003 as an 11-day event, it took place before the LGBT Film/Video Festival. At first, it was simply another festival with its own following. Eventually, MIFF’s growth began to impact the LGBT Film/Video Festival. Perhaps in part to accommodate the reality that after MIFF, filmgoers experienced cinema burnout, the LGBT festival shifted its format to a gala opening followed by monthly screenings. That didn’t go over well with supporters, so it returned to the original 11-day event.
Meanwhile, last year, the now 15-day Milwaukee Film added a GenreQueer category. In fact, our community organizations, the ones that would have otherwise funded the LGBT Film/Video Festival, sponsored the Milwaukee Film’s LGBTQ films. That same year, there was no LGBT Film/Video Festival opening night event, and the format returned again to monthly showings.
There are various schools of thought within the LGBTQ political philosophy. One strives for assimilation and full integration. Another, to which I subscribe, remains skeptical of compromising identity for the sake of acceptance. It’s easy enough to point to history and find ample arguments for the latter. Blending in rarely means equality.
Like any corporate takeover, Milwaukee Film’s de facto absorption of our beloved institution might seem efficient and a natural next chapter of the grander scheme of things, but I’m saddened by the dilution of our essential community essence.
The LGBT Film/Video Festival may never return to its glory days, but it behooves us to continue our support. I’m planning on going to its upcoming film, End of the Century, on Thursday, Sept. 19, and next month’s pair by lesbian director Barbara Hammer. See you there!
