Prop. 8: Sundance still under fire
Like a dog that won't let go of a bone, AmericaBlog's John Aravosis' campaign to boycott the Sundance Film Festival - as part of a larger boycott against all things Utah, after LDS Church members supported the anti-gay ballot measure Prop. 8 - shows no signs of slowing.
"Your Sundance registration money is quite literally helping to subsidize a donation to Yes on 8," Aravosis wrote in a post Saturday, following the tenuous links from Cinemark CEO Alan Stock's $9,999 donation to the Yes on 8 campaign to Sundance - via the festival's use of Park City's four-screen Holiday Village Cinemas, which are owned by Cinemark.
Never mind that Aravosis has his Sundance information rather skewed - he declares "the Holiday theaters are THE central location for anything and everything Sundance," which isn't the case at all.
The Holiday Village is the only permanent movie theater Sundance uses in Park City - the others are concert or lecture venues or, in the case of the Park City Racquet Club, a converted basketball court.
But the Holiday Village screening rooms are tiny - only about 150 seats each - compared to the cavernous 1,270-seat Eccles Theatre (where the major premieres are) or the 600-seat Racquet Club (where the U.S. Dramatic competition films screen) or the 468-seat Library Center Theatre.
The Holiday Village is home to more than 150 screenings during the festival's 10-day run, and cancelling those now (less than two months before the festival) would leave many filmmakers without a chance to show their films. The Holiday Village is also one of only two venues for press screenings, and without it critics would be scrambling to get into regular screenings - a further strain on a ticketing system that deals with enough sold-out screenings as it is.
Arguing that Sundance - an institution that has reached out to gay and lesbian filmmakers, workshopping such movies as "Boys Don't Cry" and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" - is being anti-gay because it can't stop on a dime and give in to Aravosis' demands is foolish.
Here's a more positive idea to show your anger at Cinemark for its CEO's donation: A group is urging moviegoers to avoid seeing "Milk," Gus Van Sant's excellent biography of gay politician Harvey Milk, at any Cinemark theater. "Don't let Harvey Milk's legacy finance your oppression!," the protest's web site says.
Eugene Hernandez, editor of IndieWire, takes a thoughtful look at the intersection of independent film and the same-sex marriage issue - which has been all the talk in Hollywood this last week, both with the Sundance controversy and the news that the director of the L.A. Independent Film Festival (who is Mormon) gave a donation to the Yes on 8 campaign.
"Your Sundance registration money is quite literally helping to subsidize a donation to Yes on 8," Aravosis wrote in a post Saturday, following the tenuous links from Cinemark CEO Alan Stock's $9,999 donation to the Yes on 8 campaign to Sundance - via the festival's use of Park City's four-screen Holiday Village Cinemas, which are owned by Cinemark.
Never mind that Aravosis has his Sundance information rather skewed - he declares "the Holiday theaters are THE central location for anything and everything Sundance," which isn't the case at all.
The Holiday Village is the only permanent movie theater Sundance uses in Park City - the others are concert or lecture venues or, in the case of the Park City Racquet Club, a converted basketball court.
But the Holiday Village screening rooms are tiny - only about 150 seats each - compared to the cavernous 1,270-seat Eccles Theatre (where the major premieres are) or the 600-seat Racquet Club (where the U.S. Dramatic competition films screen) or the 468-seat Library Center Theatre.
The Holiday Village is home to more than 150 screenings during the festival's 10-day run, and cancelling those now (less than two months before the festival) would leave many filmmakers without a chance to show their films. The Holiday Village is also one of only two venues for press screenings, and without it critics would be scrambling to get into regular screenings - a further strain on a ticketing system that deals with enough sold-out screenings as it is.
Arguing that Sundance - an institution that has reached out to gay and lesbian filmmakers, workshopping such movies as "Boys Don't Cry" and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" - is being anti-gay because it can't stop on a dime and give in to Aravosis' demands is foolish.
Here's a more positive idea to show your anger at Cinemark for its CEO's donation: A group is urging moviegoers to avoid seeing "Milk," Gus Van Sant's excellent biography of gay politician Harvey Milk, at any Cinemark theater. "Don't let Harvey Milk's legacy finance your oppression!," the protest's web site says.
Eugene Hernandez, editor of IndieWire, takes a thoughtful look at the intersection of independent film and the same-sex marriage issue - which has been all the talk in Hollywood this last week, both with the Sundance controversy and the news that the director of the L.A. Independent Film Festival (who is Mormon) gave a donation to the Yes on 8 campaign.
posted by Sean P. Means @ 9:16 AM |
2 Comments:
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Holding any event in Utah finances the racist, sexist, heterosexist, and anti atheist crusades of the Mormon Hate Church.
No self respecting queer will set foot in Utah or spend any money on Utah businesses. It would be like Jews giving money to Hitler in 1931.
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