By Erin Parks
With visions of a festival that will one day be on par with Cannes, this year’s organizers of Making Scenes want to draw a broader audience. But the traditional audience, Ottawa’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) community, are concerned a broader appeal will change the theme of the festival.
For the last eight years the Making Scenes Film and Video Festival has offered Ottawa film-goers a chance to see GLBT-themed films that they wouldn’t likely see elsewhere. The festival completed its eighth run Sept. 25, and is now well established within the GLBT community.
But festival programmer José Sánchez says he would love to see Making Scenes become as famous as the Cannes International Film Festival.
“My dream is that we have sold out, extended the festival to show films on three screens and go from noon to midnight … why not?” says Sánchez. “You don’t have to be queer, you just have to love films.”
Sánchez also points out that many of this year’s 130 short films and features dealt with themes of racism and immigration as well as GLBT issues.
Nirmala Basnayake was a member of this year’s screening committee, and curator of a group of films by Canadian artist Shani Mootoo. Basnayake says Mootoo’s work deals as much with humour and the idea of passing yourself off as something you’re not as it does with lesbian issues.
Basnayake shares Sánchez’s vision for the festival. She is the only straight member on the screening committee, and she says that is proof of the festival’s broader appeal.
“If you can have someone like me, who’s not involved in the gay community, be involved in this festival, it’s a wonderful thing,” she says.
But many festival-goers say the festival is about being queer, and a broader audience may alter that theme.
Ann Whitehurst, who has attended the festival for several years, says the very reason she attends the festival is to see GLBT films on the screen.
Claire Grady-Smith says that the festival promotes the spirit of unity within the community.
“We’re here, we’re watching movies together, and its a good way to put out a positive image of the gay community,” she says.
Grady-Smith says she is not opposed to the festival attracting a broader audience. But, she says, it should be seen as a chance to expose people to gay culture, rather than simply a chance to expand the festival.
Sánchez says that his dreams of expanding will not alter the spirit of the festival. All of the films that are screened will continue to have queer-related themes.
He also says that festival attendees need not worry that a bigger festival will mean less quality, alternative films.
“What I will never do is sacrifice the quality for the quantity,” he says.
As some festivals have grown, Sánchez explains, they have become increasingly mainstream or “Hollywood” oriented.
He says he wants to continue to screen the non-mainstream films that people can’t find at the local theatre or video store.
Sánchez says he plans to be around for at least one more year to take the festival one step closer to his dream.