The University of Oregon Queer Film Festival is off to another good start. The event, put on by the University Cultural Forum, began last Friday night and will continue throughout the month of May.
“The event went quite well last night and everyone I talked to seemed to enjoy the film showed, even though it was quite intense in its themes,” said Jazz McGinnis. McGinnis helped put on the event through the Cultural Forum.
The event takes place at the Bijou Art Cinemas late nights on Fridays in May, along with one Saturday matinee performance.

The film festival is in its 16th year at the University. “Over the years, we have brought queer films from all across the LGBTQ spectrum in an effort to fill the gap that mainstream movies create,” McGinnis said. Mainstream films generally do not represent LGBTQ audiences, so the film festival aims to address that.
The films shown in this year’s festival were all winners in 2007 LGBTQ film festivals, either by grand juries or audiences, nationwide.
“The Bubble” was shown on Friday night, but there are five others left to be shown. This Friday, May 9, will be “Shelter.” It centers on a young man, Zach, who gives up on his dream of art school in order to provide for his family. When his best friend’s brother Shaun returns to town, Zach becomes increasingly attracted to Shaun, setting off a chain of events that force Zach to choose between continuing to put others first or fighting for what he wants for himself.
The next film, which is the matinee on Saturday, will be “The Birthday.” This film is about Iran’s surprisingly liberal policies regarding transsexuality. Because the Koran doesn’t say anything about transsexuality, unlike homosexuality, it is not forbidden.
“Itty Bitty Titty Committee” is the next film on the list, showing on May 23. This film is about a depressed young woman who joins a radical punk-feminist group whose mission is to eradicate phallo-centric and misogynic imagery. The young woman falls in love with the leader of the group, but things take a turn for the worse when the group finds out its actions have been ignored or erased by the public.
The last film to be shown is co-sponsored by the University LGBTQA. “Nina’s Heavenly Delights,” which will be shown on May 30, is a spicy romantic comedy, about a closeted Indo-Scottish woman who returns to her hometown after the death of her father to run his restaurant. Along the way she ends up falling in love with an old school friend she recruits to help her revitalize the restaurant.
The Friday night showings are all at 11:30 p.m., and are free.
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