QDoc: Portland's Queer Documentary Film Festival

QDoc: Portland's Queer Documentary Film Festival
June 3-6, 2010

“It was likely the first time I experienced such a heightened communal emotional connection with other sexual minorities — perhaps in my life.”
- Stephen Marc Beaudoin, JustOut

Portland, OR – Featuring drag performers, yodeling lesbians, Le Tigre, William Burroughs, and more, QDoc: The Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival returns June 3-6, 2010 for it’s fourth year at the Clinton Street Theater (2522 SE Clinton St., Portland, OR 97202). The Festival, timed to kick off the LGBT Pride Month in Portland, is a fun, inspiring, and community-building event that includes visiting filmmakers from around the world. QDoc is the only festival in the United States, and only the second in the world, devoted exclusively to documentaries with queer content. The full program of parties, visiting filmmakers, and films will be available online at www.queerdocfest.org on May 10, 2010.

The Festival opens Thursday night, with visiting director Michelle Lawler and transgender drag queen/documentary subject Vicki Marlane in person to introduce their film “Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight”, a compelling profile in courage about the San Francisco drag legend, who is still going strong well into her 70s. After the screening, the audience is invited to the Opening Night Party, hosted by Clinton neighborhood favorites, Broder and The Savoy Tavern & Bistro.

A weekend of offerings include “Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement”, a tender double portrait of two elderly women whose shared life unfolds against a backdrop of radical cultural change. A selection of films that examine LGBT politics include: “8: The Mormon Proposition" an exposé on the Mormon Church's involvement in the passage of California's Proposition 8 that premiered earlier this year at Sundance (director Reed Cowen will be in attendance); “Other Nature”, a film about transgender identity, same-sex marriage, and equal rights in Nepal; and “Out in the Silence”, a moving commentary on America’s culture war in rural and small towns.
A sampling of films highlighting entertainment culture include: the world premiere of “Le Tigre: On Tour”, a trip with the feminist electroclash band trio Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman, and JD Samson of Le Tigre, known for their dance mixes and LGBT activism; “A Drag King Extravaganza” a look inside the history, art and politics of the world’s largest gatherings of drag kings; “Unsung: Sylvester”, a portrait of the American disco and funk singer, often heralded as the "Queen of Disco";; and “William S. Burroughs: A Man Within”, about the Beat author and American icon.
Closing up the four day festival is the award winning documentary directed by Leanne Pooley, “The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls”, about twin yodeling lesbian sisters, Jools and Lynda Topp, one of New Zealand’s most cherished and charmingly irrepressible performing duos. The Topp Twins will be in attendance.
QDoc is being presented in cooperation with the Q-Center, whose mission is to increase the visibility of, and foster connection within, metropolitan Portland’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning (LGBTQ) community. The center aims to build public awareness and support, and celebrates LGBTQ diversity through art, culture, and programming. QDoc is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art.