Oh NO!
The ladies have left the building… The aGLIFF building. Programming Director Lisa Kasalek and Festival Director Ajae Clearway have both moved on to greener pastures, this even after they were recently named Gay Place Crush of the Week!?! Kasalek left to pursue personal projects and Clearway is now a staff member at the prestigious 1080.
This is worrying, the fact that I’m a nervous nelly notwithstanding.
Under Kasalek and Clearway aGLIFF chose to explore a more expansive and meaningful festival program. This past year’s aGLIFF gave viewers films in which the gay characters loved, suffered, and made morally ambiguous decisions like the rest of us. There were also transgender oriented films (the number of transgendered films will only grow in years to come). I know that sex sells, and that it’s easier to market Naked Boys Singing to a randy group of gay men.
But let’s hope that their departure doesn’t signal a reactionary step backwards for aGLIFF. At this point in the festival’s life, everything is on the line. Building an audience for a film festival chock full of internationally acclaimed films doesn’t happen over the course of a year, or even a few years, it happens gradually.
Dear aGLIFF: Don’t hedge your bets with gay fluff, continue to build the internationally acclaimed LGBTQ film festival Austin deserves!
This article appears in October 10 • 2008.