Friday, November 22, 2024
The Weekly: Get top MTSU stories in your inbox by subscribing to The Weekly, a Sidelines newsletter delivered each Wednesday.

Fifth annual Middle Tennessee LGBT+ Film Festival breaks down barriers

Date:

Share post:

Photo and Story by Emily Blalock / Contributing Writer

The fifth Middle Tennessee LGBT+ Film Festival, sponsored by MT Lambda and the MTSU LGBT+ College Conference, was held in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building Thursday night.

Guests were encouraged to arrive at 6 p.m. for a reception, and the films began at 6:30 p.m.

The festival director and programmer, Allie Sultan, chose the films for the festival from a range of global submissions.

She explained the submission process, as well as how the films are selected.

“We watch every film, and we rate them according to a criteria of different factors, like story and performances and cinematography. Then the best films will get selected, and I talk to each filmmaker over email and get their screener copies and information and just kind of tell them how much we appreciate their films and I invite them to come,” she said.

The films chosen for this year’s festival were all shorts less than 20 minutes long and included “Is Your Teen Homosexual?” by Tamara Scherbak; “The Pick Up” by Giovanna Chesler; “Infinite While it Lasts” by Akira Kamiki; “Bending the Line” by Ruth Goldman; “There You Are” by Lisa Donato; “Of Origins, Part 1: Hannah” by Irit Reinheimer; “River” by Sam Crainish; and “Heads Up” by Alex McFry.

These films addressed a variety of different issues, including facing stereotypes, accepting identities, asexuality and the stigma that surrounds Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV.

Sultan explained what makes this festival so important for the community.

“This film festival is the only LGBT film festival in all of Middle Tennessee, which is crazy to me. Like Nashville’s a big town, and we don’t have one,” she said. “There’s nowhere where LGBT people can go to a theater and watch a festival full of films of all different types, you know, short films to kind of reflect their experience.”

Laklyn May, an MTSU sophomore who double majors in journalism and global studies, said she enjoyed the film festival overall and wants to attend more LGBT+ College Conference events.

“I think it’s great that our campus does this and sheds light on this topic, because it’s very important to raise awareness,” she explained.

Sultan also described what she wants to see for the future of her film festival.

“I want to move it to Nashville and expand it, maybe showing films at the Belcourt and doing like whole weekends, get some corporate sponsors, and show features as well as shorts,” she said. “In my screening I always show different perspectives in one, so you’re going to see the cumulative presentation of an entire community, and not just one type of identity.”

The LGBT+ College Conference concluded Saturday evening.

To contact News Editor Angele Latham, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.

For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, or follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines or on Twitter at @Sidelines_News

Sidelines
Sidelineshttps://mtsusidelines.com
MTSU's digital daily news source

Related articles

MTSU, medical school accepted six students into fast-tracked program

Feature photo from Sidelines Archive by Hannah Carley Story by Hannah Carley MTSU selected six medical students for this year’s...

Are You A Match: Kyelen Arora and Cade Ortego and the Moodswings join Match Records roster

Feature photo by Jaedyn Barnaby Story by Kerstie Wolaver A rainy Tuesday night couldn’t stop a swarming crowd from gathering...

MTSU club hockey earns No. 5 spot in latest rankings

Feature Photo by Caitlyn Hajek Story by Ephraim Rodenbach MTSU club hockey made history this past week by earning its highest ranking in team history. After a series sweep of in-state rival Vanderbilt that included an 8-0 shutout, the Blue Raiders climbed to the No. 5 spot in Division II club hockey rankings.

Mr. Dynamite: The Legacy of James Brown brings the funk to MTSU’s Center for Popular Music

Feature photo by Caitlyn Hajek Story by Shauna Reynolds He was talented. He was complicated. He was influential. But most memorably,...