July 7-13, 2005

cover story

Bottoms Up

Taylor Mead, underground movie legend and Warhol superstar, christens the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

With its three venues confined to a few blocks of Broad Street, the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival may have reduced its footprint this year, but that doesn't make taking the first step any easier. It's hard to know where to start among the festival's more than 80 features, and even the upbeat atmosphere can't ease the sting of sitting through a stinker. So we've plowed through the tapes and done the sorting for you, reviewing three-quarters of the festival's offerings and separating the diamonds from the cubic zirconia. Thirty-four reviews run this week, with another two dozen-plus to follow in next week's issue.

What's more, we tracked down underground legend Taylor Mead, who might qualify as the first openly gay movie star, and sat down with two of the Philadelphia women behind Thirsty, the festival's only locally made feature film.

You've still got to walk the walk, but this issue should help put you on the right track.

—Sam Adams