Gaze (film festival)

Gaze (GAZE)
Location	Dublin, Ireland
Founded	1992
Number of films	67+
Official website

Gaze (typeset as GAZE and formerly known as the Dublin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival^[1]) is an annual film festival which takes place in Dublin, Ireland each bank holiday weekend in late July–early August. It began in 1992 and is now Ireland's largest LGBT film event.^[2] People attend from across the world, with at least 5,000 expected to attend the 2009 festival.^[3]

Premise

Gaze organisers seek cinema with LGBT content which members of the gay community may not have the opportunity to view anywhere else.^[3] However, it also includes films by gay artists which don't contain any gay themes and films which inspire gay artists.^[3]

History

The festival began life as the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in 1992 and was held in the Irish Film Centre, founded by Yvonne O'Reilly and Kevin Sexton.^[3][3]

Over 3,500 people attended in 2006, the last year before the rebranding as Gaze.^[1]

The Dublin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival was renamed Gaze in 2007.^[3] Over 4,000 people attended the 2007 festival, the fifteenth edition.^[1][4][5] The festival also obtained a new director—Michele Devlin, programmer of the Belfast Film Festival—in 2007.^[1] An updated version of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, with the story set in New York in the 1980s, was one of the festival's highlights.^[5]

The 2008 event, the sixteenth edition, lasted from 31 July until 4 August and included screenings at Project and the Winding Stair alongside its usual venue, the Irish Film Institute.^[4]

Gaze 2009, the seventeenth edition,^[2][3][6] took place over five days at the Light House Cinema in Smithfield from 30 July–3 August.^[2] Several premieres occurred during the festival. Grey Gardens, which stars Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange and depicts relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, received its European premiere at the event when it opened the festival on 30 July.^{[2][3][6][7][8]} Cult love story Raging Sun, Raging Sky by Juan Hernández, which won the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, made its debut in Britain and Ireland.^[3] Every Little Step, a popular feature of the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, also featured in 2009.^[2] Prodigal Sons by Kimberley Reed sees the director confront her past as a quarterback on the male football team.^[3] The Irish romantic comedy Fur Coat and No Knickers was introduced by cast members and Paul Ward the director on 1 August.^[6] It features the adventures of a young actor who is seduced by a director.^[6] Swedish film Patrik, Age 1.5 by Ella Lemhagen closed the 2009 festival; it focuses on a gay couple who accidentally adopt a homophobic teenager.^[3]

The 2009 festival's programme was separated into several strands called Gaze Visio, Queer Heroes, Queer Curios and Gaze Specials respectively.^[2] Queer Heroes featured new items by established gay icons such as Fig Trees by John Greyson, which was described as "an eclectic hymn to gay activism" by The Irish Times, It Came from Kuchar, a documentary on the Kuchar brothers by Jennifer M. Kroot and Rubbings from a Live Man, Florian Habicht's take on Warwick Broadhead of New Zealand.^[2][3] Gaze Visio featured new films whilst Queer Curios featured several short films, including one on Allyson Mitchell of Canada and several from Andy Blubaugh and Trevor Anderson.^[2][3] Over sixty-seven films, including premieres, documentaries and shorts featured at the 2009 event.^[2][6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Gazing rights". The Irish Times. 2007-07-27. http://www.irishtimes.com/theticket/articles/2007/0727/1185229911268.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "GAZE festival line-up is announced". RTÉ. 2009-07-25. http://www.rte.ie/arts/2009/0725/gazefilmfestival.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} "Do look now". The Irish Times. 2009-07-24. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2009/0724/1224251170454.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27. "A LOT HAS changed in the 17 years since the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival first sashayed into the Irish Film Centre. For a start, the festival, renamed Gaze three years ago, no longer has to worry about its core audience being carted off by Garda Plod. “When the festival was set up, homosexuality was still illegal,” says Jennifer Jennings, the event’s manager. “It may have been in the Irish Film Centre and it may have got great audiences, but to be homosexual was still a criminal act. Things have changed.” [...] “Our remit is quite clear,” Jennings says. “We seek out cinema that has lesbian and gay content – films that people from that community may not get to see on the big screen elsewhere. But, like a lot of gay festivals, Gaze has expanded to include work by gay artists that may not have a gay theme. We even go one stage further and seek to include films that have inspired gay artists. So, for example, Patricia Rozema will be introducing the original version of Grey Gardens .”" 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Love and other emotions". The Irish Times. 2008-07-25. http://www.irishtimes.com/theticket/articles/2008/0725/1216897657947.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "New Wilde film to premiere at festival". The Irish Times. 2007-07-29. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0729/breaking21.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Barrymore's Grey Gardens at Gaze". Press Association. 2009-07-26. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hjLG9yGxc5fiL7Sf3nQD6zKO1kow. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
7. ^ "Drew Barrymore's new film to premiere at Dublin festival". Irish Independent. 2009-07-27. http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/drew-barrymores-new-film-to-premiere-at-dublin-festival-1843205.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
8. ^ "Barrymore flick to premiere at Dublin festival". Irish Examiner. 2009-07-28. http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/barrymore-flick-to-premiere-at-dublin-festival-420281.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 

External links

LGBT portal

• Official site