The San Francisco Independent Film Festival Opening: Lose Your Clothes and Find Enlightenment

Programmer Anita Monga with "Wah Do Dem" co-creators Sam Fleischner and Ben Chace

The audience at the Roxie Theater was overwhelmed on Feb. 4 by “Wah Do Dem,” the stunning opening night film at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival. The movie, which means “what they do” in Jamaican patois, traces a vacuous hipster’s transformation into a real person as he loses most of his clothes and walks barefoot across Jamaica. The film was a big hit in Jamaica and won the Juror's Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival and awards at the London, New Zealand, and Vancouver festivals.

Brooklyn hipster Max, played by musician Sean Bones, is involved with Willow, played by singer Norah Jones who has sold 17 million
CDs. Bones is a composer and singer who resembles a brunette, rough-around-the edges Rick Schroeder. He is currently on an extensive tour with his band supporting his reggae-influenced pop album “Rings.”

The film is gay-tinged, and sexy Bones aroused gays in the audience. The festival has not had a full-tilt, blatantly gay film since “Gypsy Boys” (1999), which was filmed in the Castro. When the man-on-man kissing scene from “Gypsy Boys” was shown during the festival’s opening ceremony, there were a few knuckle-draggers yelling “What the fuck?!” as if to prove they were straight.

Bones was a better choice than the original casting choice of a Broadway actor. The part that Bones plays is a realistic ordeal that was potentially dangerous.

Max’s girlfriend Willow dumps him just before he was to go on a cruise he won in a contest. His friends can’t jeopardize their jobs, so Max goes solo on the voyage to Jamaica. The contrast between Max and the other passengers is glaringly obvious. He is sleek and in his early 20’s and they are 3-4 times larger and 3-4 times older. The directors give the audience carefully filmed views of most of Max, since he spends much of his time on the ship in his cabin in his underpants and later walking in just short shorts.

When Max leaves his cabin, he’s approached by a juggler who seems to want to get closer, and a single passenger, also a man in his 30s, who obviously wants to get a lot closer. There is measurable homoerotic tension that Max dispells by moving away.

The film is a cautionary tale for people who want to get the pulse of the people and get away from their fellow travelers while on vacation.
Just about the worst that befalls a tourist in Jamaica, or even in San Francisco, descends upon Max. In most locales there are seemingly friendly types who are really grifters who scheme to separate visitors from their property and their dignity.

Max loses all of his clothes except for his shorts and then realizes to his horror that he must travel with no money across hundreds of miles to reach the American embassy in Kingston after his ship sails without him. He's able to beg a jitney ride to the interior of the country, and then is ditched again.

In contrast to the thieves, the small mountain-top community where he's abandoned charmingly accepts Max through the universality of soccer and the tourist’s affability. He’s given a T-shirt and sneakers, fed, invited to their bar, and then coquettish young women dance intimately with the lost young American visitor.

The high point of the film occurs when Max meets up with an enigmatic mystic played by famed and venerable actor Carl Bradshaw of “The Harder They Come,” who guides the visitor through a banana forest to his home where he is mesmerized in a hallucinatory spell. Walking shirtless again, and carrying a torch, Max finds himself at a ravine where one of Jamaica’s most famous bands, The Congo, is rhythmically chanting and beating on drums.

Enlightenment for Max comes when he realizes that his narcissism and self-indulgence were placing barriers between himself and the people he cares about. At this point there is an impulse to not only marvel at the changes Max is undergoing, but also to get a CD of the film soundtrack, available soon at wahdodem.com/music.

A ride on the back of a scooter helps Max for some of his journey.
And a young man who keeps trying to rob him at knifepoint — which is ridiculous since he is obviously destitute — eventually guides him to the embassy in Kingston.

Many of the neighborhoods chosen for filming are dangerous, but directors Sam Fleischner and Ben Chace impressed the locals with their strong need to relate to lives of the people of the island, so they were not robbed. They were also modest at their screening Q&A, as if the performers, who were mostly non-actors, just presented their natural talents without direction. Highly-regarded festival programmer Anita Monga gave them sparkling compliments for their high-quality creation and their fans are eagerly awaiting their future productions.

The San Francisco Indiefest has been produced by intuitive event genius Jeff Ross since 2000, and since he is a fan of diverse films, bands, and wild parties, that is what is heaped onto the social schedules of the hordes of festival-goers. And the festival is a success year after year because of the promotional efforts of the Karen Larsen Associates PR company.

Condo People Attack: Charlie Horse's Last Shout

Pristine Condition with Bus Station John and Marke B.

An exceptionally bland condominium that was built next to The Cinch bar has caused the shutdown of the Charlie Horse club that was a huge hit for the half-gay and half-straight crowds that piled into the bar for the last five years. Outrageously costumed punkish drag queens circled anxious looking young studs on the sidewalk on Jan. 30, as droves of club denizens poured into the afternoon spectacle.

The unhappy condo people who are a part of the future "San Francondo" manifestation — which is really a form of suburbanization — started complaining about club revelers as soon as the sun went down to the point that the San Francisco Police Department were there too often. Charlie Horse’s hostess Anna Conda cleverly timed the last club event at Polk Street’s last gay bar for the afternoon, which made it more difficult to whine to the police.

The real loss is for the charity funds that cannot be raised, and Anna Conda announced that the club closing would benefit the Community Housing Partnership. Non-profits of all kinds received generous support from Charlie Horse and in the present economy it will be hard for the groups to make up the funding.

Some of the marathon acts on stage defied description. Pristine Condition, evidently named for a sweet and beloved Cockette, was anything but. Condition screamed all over the stage and sported faux bleeding eyes and a scary looking fake stomach wound, and then she jumped off the stage to join DJ Bus Station John and columnist Marke B. in the teeming throng. Trashy glamorous hostess Anna Conda patiently and carefully introduced act after act until the finale at 7 PM.

Hopefully another phenomenal gay club will emerge on Polk Street to become a popular center for partying and charity fundraising.

A Bright Future and a Banquet for GAPA

New GAPA officers Danny Lin, Alex Baty, Tommy Huie, and Trevor Nguyen.

The Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA) held an election meeting at the Asian Pacific Islander (API) Wellness Center on Polk Street on Jan. 30, 2010. The gay Asian activists who care enough about their community to volunteer hours weekly turned out for the high energy gathering, that was serious and also full of laughter. The serious part was maneuvering to support the API Wellness Center, which recently has had to cut services outside San Francisco because of budget problems. The laughter was for the knowing camaraderie among the active members, who joked with each other repeatedly.

GAPA is unique among queer people of color organizations, since it is a mostly social group that gets into gear politically during the election cycles and also members join subgroups such as the GAPA Chorus to sing. And there have been phenomenal dance and acting groups in GAPA’s past. Theater wizard Alan Quismorio presented "Collingwood Park 90210" which is still talked about, especially since the scenes of intense sheet smelling (for cheap cologne) and drinks thrown into audiences were seared into brain cells forever.

The newly elected officers are: co-chair Alex Baty, secretary Danny Lin, treasurer Tommy Huie, and member–at-large Trevor Nguyen. Baty is a GAPA Godzy award winner, which is a golden Godzilla trophy for members who excelled over the past year and who are also liked by other members. Baty also has a drag persona as the bewitching Estée Longah, and he maneuvered himself to a highly coveted placement on the AIDS Housing Alliance’s fundraising calendar cover.

The development of new members and the retention of signed-up members was a major topic of the gathering. Much of the rest of the meeting delved into plans for GAPA’s annual Lunar New Years Banquet at the Empress of China Restaurant on Feb 6. It is one of the most impressive restaurants in Northern California, and there will be a traditional ten-course feast, entertainment, and a silent auction of treasures. Banquet tickets are available at http://www.gapa.org/.

The Big 40 is Coming to San Francisco Pride

Imani Brown, Joshua Smith, Brendan Behan, Lisa Williams, Amy Anner, Jamie Fountain, Nikki Calma, Amy Andre, Troy Coleman, and Sydni Peeler.

The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee presented a Town Hall meeting on Jan. 27, 2010, at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. A room full of supporters, committee members, staff, volunteers, and lot of new faces heard speakers discuss the upcoming big year 40 of SF’s Pride events.

Board VP Nikki Calma, who is also known as Tita Aida — the Queen of the Shangri La Club and the API Wellness Center, served as MC. She spoke about the Stonewall Riot in Greenwich Village on June 27, 1969 — which marked the end of June as the annual weekend to celebrate Pride in San Francisco — with wry commentaries on the cultural fluxes of the succeeding eras. New executive director Amy Andre and board member Troy Coleman spoke about Pride’s anniversary and then deputy executive director Brendan Behan spoke eloquently for most of the rest of the meeting and he even encouraged a Q&A.

Behan placed an emphasis on the importance of volunteers, and he surprised the crowd with the fact that over 1,000 are needed to present the annual parade and celebration, and also for events through the year. And he spoke with palpable pleasure about the community partners that are the non-profit groups that sell beverages and work the entrance gates at Pride for contributions that have returned over $1.6 million for those groups.

One of the highpoints of the event was the news about a fabulous upcoming benefit kickoff for the Pride anniversary that will include dancing, entertainment, and an auction. And a special new Pride cocktail will be introduced in an ecstatic rite at the bar.

The yearly Pride Parade and Celebration are monumental events that draw a wildly diverse multitude of over a million people and tens of millions of dollars to San Francisco businesses. The Pride Committee deserves lavish credit for their time and efforts.

[Photo caption: 1/27/2010 — The Pride Town Hall Meeting at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. Discussions included the 40th anniversary of San Francisco LGBT Pride and volunteer recruitment and benefits. Staff Imani Brown, board member Joshua Smith, deputy executive director Brendan Behan, board secretary Lisa Williams, staff Amy Anner, board member Jamie Fountain, board VP Nikki Calma, executive director Amy Andre, and staff Troy Coleman and Sydni Peeler.

A Primal Benefit at the Powerhouse

Contestants Jeremy Sanders, J.R. Gabbard and Steve Rezentes

A crush of primal, handsome men with lots of exposed tattooed skin, bulging muscles, and panther-like stances and movements welcomed the kick off for the 2011 Bare Chest Calendar at the Powerhouse bar in San Francisco on Jan. 21, 2010. The high-tension contest was a benefit for the AIDS Emergency Fund (AEF) and the Positive Resource Center (PRC). The AEF provides financial assistance to people disabled by HIV/AIDS, and the PRC provides comprehensive benefit counseling to the same individuals.

Contestants Jeremy Sanders, J.R. Gabbard and Steve Rezentes

The Powerhouse is well known as a prime location for charity fundraisers, and stunning and generous manager Scott Peterson takes a strong interest to help out non-profits. Fantasy-men bartenders Jose Guevara, Michael Vega, and Carlton Paul worked shirtless, quickly, and with a smile. The stiff drinks provoked the guests to grab each other and kiss passionately, engaging in what would be seen as foreplay in some states.

PRC executive director Brett Andrews met and greeted in the throng, and the AEF’s Christian Dumais was on hand to supervise James Poole and other raffle volunteers. Representatives from sponsor Miller Beer and five alert judges were introduced and thanked by master MC Thom Grant. Photographers Bill Weaver and Rich Stadtmiller feverishly stalked the hunks, and the hunted included a shirtless "Pearls Over Shanghai" star Steven Satyricon, Grand Duke Oliver, and actor/composer Tom Orr.

Photographer Rich Stadtmiller and actor Steven Satyricon

The mass of cruisers jumped to attention and the loud, raucous conversations evaporated when the three desirable contestants were introduced. Redhead Jeremy Sanders, studly J.R. Gabbard, and earthy Steve Rezentes, who won the contest, presented themselves as guys who would make the maximum effort to sell the chest calendars and work events relentlessly to raise $100,000 this year with the other calendar men for the two beneficiaries. The contest is geared to be a leather event, and the symbol of the calendar men is a leather vest worn by the winners on parade floats, fair booths, and at bars fundraisers. And the vest is the essence of fetish date bait, and hot guys paw at them obsessively, hoping to get lucky.

A climax of the event was MC Grant announced that more than $1,300 had been raised at the teeming bacchanal, and there was a thunderous applause.

Contest winner Steve Rezentes

More photos can be seen at flickr.com/rinkfoto.

Physical and Mental Literary Exercises at the Library

Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Marvin K. White, and Jaime Cortez

Writer Marvin K. White hosted a writers’ workshop at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library on Jan. 20, 2010. Most of the audience had seen a flyer advertising an “LGBT African American Writers Series,” but everyone stayed to get involved with the hands-on event. Others saw the writing workshop on a “be my friend” website and had anticipated the honing of their skills. The goal of published writers White, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, and Jaime Cortez was to enhance guests’ literary abilities through physical and mental exercises.

Lucy Jane Bledsoe writes novels for adults and children. Her interests include Antarctic kayaking and backpacking in the Rockies. She has written four novels for adults and five for children, and has received multiple awards.

Jaime Cortez produces graphic novels about immigration, AIDS, and gun violence. He is well-known for his HIV/AIDS prevention outreach work. His novel is about a transgender Cuban immigrant in a new culture.

Marvin K. White is the author of two poetry collections. He is also a performer, playwright, and visual artist. He is a dedicated and loved community arts organizer.

Karen Sundheim, of the James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center, introduced host White, and he kicked off the event by stating that the evening was about the practice of writing. He said that guests should not despair if they felt the creative process was not flowing on the paper. He then led the guests through some exuberant standing aerobics exercises and asked them to write ideas inside and outside a circle on a piece of paper, all to clear their heads. A charged bonding ritual followed, as guests read what they had written. Bledsoe quipped that she called it speed writing.

Then White let it be known that he felt that the library was not seen as an LGBT space, and that the event was a claiming of queer space. Cortez had written “wounding, healing, and revelation” on a blackboard to explain his writing process.

Provocative author Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano, a personal guest of White, spoke about his book “Santo de la Pata Alzada: Poems from the Queer/Xicano/Positive Pen.” Audience members happily mingled and enjoyed the rush of literary creativity.

The event was sponsored by the James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center and the African American Center at the San Francisco Public Library.

Funny Mondays Comes Out for Haiti

Lisa Geduldig, Natasha Muse, Tony Koester, Yayne Abeda, Casy Ley and Marga Gomez

MC Tony Koester greeted a sold-out crowd that filled every seat in the club, with guests lined up against the back wall, at the Stand Up for Haiti: A Comedy Series for Haiti Earthquake Relief  held on Jan. 18, 2010, at the Deco Lounge in San Francisco. Monday is the usual night for Funny Mondays at the high sexual tension Tenderloin hang out, and Koester creatively advertised the evening comedy show for an earthquake relief event and packed in the donors.

Besides Koester’s brand of sharp humor, there were short sets by Marga Gomez, Yayne Abeda, Casey Ley, Natasha Muse, and Lisa Geduldig. Gomez drew astonished laughter when she said Barack Obama’s name and then assumed a prayerful position, as if he is a godlike deity.

Koester did a rant about straight guys who come into the gay community and take bartender jobs, and then are offended when a gay guy sees their sexy outfits and gets close. A prime example of a straight faux pas was when a non-gay performer at the benefit brought three non-paying “groupies” who made so much noise in the bar that they drowned out the beautifully miked sound by DJ Lambchop.

Over $100 was raised when waiter Eric took off his shirt, and some guys wanted to see sultry comic Casey Ley shirtless also.

It was announced at the finale that over $1,200 had been raised for the suffering Haitians. Jeff Cotter from the Rainbow World Fund was there to accept the much needed money. The fund works with CARE, which is on the ground in Haiti to provide help immediately. Rainbow World Fund is all about LGBT people responding to world need.

The next highly anticipated Stand Up for Haiti will be on Jan. 25, and will feature comics Mary Van Note, Chris Burns, Ronn Vigh, Veronica Porras, Sam Wilcke, Conrad Roth, Justin Simpson and Tony Koester.

Deco Lounge
510 Larkin St (@ Turk)
San Francisco

Donations to Rainbow World Fund can be made at rainbowfund.org.

[Photo caption: 1/18/2010 — Stand Up for Haiti: A Comedy Series for Haiti Earthquake Relief at the Deco Lounge in San Francisco. Comics Lisa Geduldig, Natasha Muse, MC Tony Koester, Yayne Abeda, Casy Ley, and Marga Gomez presented a fantastic show with outrageous humor for a packed room in the Tenderloin.