What:			Sexto Sentido at the Fourth Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
When:			Sunday, May 5, 3pm Friday, April 26, through Sunday, May 5, 2002
Where:			Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach Opening and Closing Night screenings:       Gusman Center For The Performing Arts,       174 E. Flagler St., downtown Miami
Tickets:			$11 general; special prices for special events
	Tickets for all screenings & events go on sale April 1 via: Festival Office:     Telephone: 305.534.9924 (credit card only)     FAX: completed order form to 305-535-2377 (credit card only)     Mail: completed order form to Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Attn: Ticket Sales     1521 Alton Rd., #147, Miami Beach, FL 33139     (check, money order or credit card) must be received by April 19th     on-line: www.mglff.com (credit card only) Gusman Center box office Tickets are available here only for Opening & Closing Night tickets, in person at the box office,174 E. Flagler St., beginning April 1, from 12-2:30pm and 3-5:30pm Mondays-Fridays (cash, Visa & Mastercard). Colony Theatre box office: 1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach, beginning April 1st, (cash only) from noon-5pm Tues.- Sat.. The Colony does not sell opening and closing night tickets. TicketMaster: 305.358.5885, 954.523.3309 or www.ticketmaster.com (credit card only); or in person at TicketMaster outlets. Rush Sales: A limited number of tickets will be available for films sold out in advance. Special Rush Line will form beginning one hour prior to screening at Festival Ticket/Will-Call Table. Rush tickets sold for $11 on first-come, first-served, cash-only basis; no complimentary or discounted rush ticket sales.
For information: 305 534 9924 or www.mglff.com.

If Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler, and the rest of the cast on the iconic American sit com Friends were 10 years younger, had a social conscience, tackled tough issues, lived in a poor Central American country and spoke in Spanish, the result would likely be Sexto Sentido.

Self-dubbed a "social soap opera" by its makers, Sexto Sentido targets Nicaraguans ages 13-24 with a universal youth rallying cry: Take control of your life. This means breaking taboos, questioning stereotypes, communicating, seeking support networks and problem solving individually and collectively - all of which the show does and encourages its viewers to do by addressing such complex issues as sexual orientation, rape, abortion and domestic violence in the context of a predominantly Catholic country that is the second poorest in the hemisphere, according to Amy Bank, the show's co-creator and story and script editor.

One episode - plus excerpts of several other episodes of Nicaragua's own local No. 1 hit dramatic TV series, which debuted on the country's most-watched commercial station in February 2001 - will have its North American premiere on Sunday, May 5, at 3pm at the Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Rd., in Miami Beach as part of the Fourth Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, which runs from April 26-May 5, 2002.The episodes will be accompanied by Novela, Novela, a 30-minute documentary about the making of Sexto Sentido: and how such a groundbreaking series made it to the air in a country with an almost non-existent TV industry. The market in Nicaragua is so miniscule that no commercial producer would ever consider attempting a program like Sexto Sentido. The documentary also focuses how the program has evolved, and how Nicaraguan audiences have responded to its often controversial content.

"For most Nicaraguans, television is their main window to the world," Bank explained. "This is especially true for poor, young people with limited mobility and access to other types of information. Sexto Sentido is the only Nicaraguan-produced series of this type on the air, not only making it, for many adolescents, the sole source of information about these themes from a Nicaraguan point of view, but also promoting a sense of identification with the characters and their situations."

Bank joins Nicaraguan Virginia Lacayo, the show's 28-year-old co-executive producer, in creating a weekly, half-hour-long Latin soap that "follows the daily lives of a group of teens and young adults as they confront complex situations in a realistic, entertaining and touching manner," said Lacayo, who will attend Sexto Sentido's screening at the Festival and discuss her work with the audience. The two women are co-directors of Puntos de Encuentro, a feminist, non-profit organization based in Nicaragua that works for people-centered sustainable development based on the principles of diversity with equal rights and opportunities. They structured their series with, as Bank puts it, "long, narrative arcs to allow complex and multi-dimensional themes to be explored over time, without having to 'use up' any one theme in a single episode."

Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival director Robert Rosenberg comments, "we are thrilled to be presenting our first Nicaraguan program at the Festival and to Miami, given that the Nicaraguan immigrant community is the largest in the US. We continue to be the leading gay and lesbian film event in the United States for films from Spain and Latin America, and by U.S. Hispanic directors."

Other Spanish language & Latin-themed at this year's Festival includes the opening night feature, the North American premiere of Spain's Sagitario (Friday, April 26, 7:30pm), a film about a group of 30 & 40-somethings, gay and straight, looking for love and happiness amidst the comic urban madness of contemporary Madrid. It features a slew of veteran Spanish actors whose credits include between them Carne trémula (Live Flesh), La ley del deseo (Law of Desire) and Martín Hache; Julieta Serrano, a long-time Almodóvar favorite; and Mirtha Ibarra, the internationally acclaimed star of Cuban cinema, whose credits include Fresa y chocolate (Strawberry and Chocolate) and Guantanemera.

Additional Latin films include the North American premiere of Spain's I Love You Baby (Monday, April 29, 9:30pm), starring Jorge Sanz (Belle Epoque) and Veroníca Forqué, another Almodóvar regular; Argentina's Vagón fumador (Smokers Only) (Sunday, April 28, 10pm), the story of a male hustler who picks up men at ATM machines in Buenos Aires, and the woman who becomes obsessed with him; the U.S. premiere of Food of Love (Wednesday, May 1, 9pm), based on the novel The Page Turner by award-winning writer David Leavitt, the first English-language feature from Spain's Ventura Pons; and the North American premiere of Sexto Sentido (Sixth Sense) (Sunday, May 5, 3pm), the first telenovela or soap opera ever produced in Nicaragua that deals with a range of controversial topics such as homophobia, violence against women and AIDS; the South Florida premiere of De Colores (Wednesday, May 1, 7pm, in English and Spanish with subtitles), a U.S.-made documentary about the lives of lesbian and gay Hispanics; and the North American premiere of Historia de amor en baño público (Love Story in a Public Toilet) (Saturday, May 4, 5pm), a short from Argentina. Director Vicente Molina Foix and actor Eusebio Poncela (Sagitario), Ventura Pons (Food of Love), Virginia Lacayo and Liz Miller (Sexto Sentido) and Pablo Oliverio (Historia) will be attending the Festival.

While the series has a distinctive Nicaraguan flavor, Lacayo explained that it has the look and feel of the popular Brazilian and Colombian soap operas, leading many to praise Sexto Sentido for its high production value. The show is No. 1 in its time slot, with 70 percent of the entire potential TV viewing audience watching. Eighty percent of Nicaraguan 13 to 17 year olds tune in regularly, and many say the show has made them think or reflect on one or more issues dealt with in the series, according to Bank.

"The show is Dawson's Creek meets Friends meets Brazilian soap opera," Bank said. Lacayo added, "The last thing we want is for people to think of it as an 'educational program,' although of course the whole point is to get a point across. But we want to do this in a light, youth-appealing way as part of an overall strategy to promote young people's rights. And we decided to tackle 'controversial' issues such as homosexuality, domestic violence, substance abuse and abortion in a way that would promote dialogue rather than increase polarization."

Of the film's treatment of homosexuality, Lacayo explained that while there are gay characters in some Latin TV series and soap operas, "generally they're very stereotyped characters who play a comic relief role. And since none of those other shows is made in Nicaragua, it doesn't really hit home for Nicaraguan audiences. Having a main character who's gay [Angel], and later a lesbian character [Vicky], in Sexto Sentido has several different levels of impact: for gay men and lesbians, it's been totally reaffirming just to see themselves on the screen, even if they aren't out yet; and for straight audiences, it helps demystify gay life and gay people.

"We don't expect to reverse deep-seated homophobia in one TV season, nor do we expect everyone to love and accept gay characters," Lacayo continued, "but we know for a fact that even the most homophobic folks in our audience don't turn off their TV or change the channel just because there's a gay or lesbian character.

"Even if they don't like Angel or Vicky, they keep watching the show, and we're convinced that little by little, if they still don't like them or accept them, they will at least come to accept that gay people exist, that they have a right to live and be in the world, and they will probably be just a little less scared and weirded out if in their daily life they come into contact with someone who they then find out is gay."

Novela, Novela, the documentary about the making of Sexto Sentido that will be screened at the Festival with the episode and excerpts from the show, looks at how homophobia, gay identity and violence against women are addressed and explores the impact the program has had on audiences, as well as the young actors and screenwriters involved in the production, according to director Liz Miller. The video explores the complex decisions regarding the representation of Angel, the gay character, and how the development of the gay characters evolved from an ongoing exchange between viewers and the producers.

Footage includes Ibo, who plays Angel, describing what it was like to represent the first gay character in Nicaragua and the obstacles and challenges he has faced. In addition, by following the story of domestic violence, viewers get to see how the Sexto Sentido is connecting to the one of the largest grassroots movements in the country, the women's network against violence. Ana Sofia, who plays Elena, describes in the documentary how her own battle against domestic violence has affected her role in the program.

"Sexto Sentido has achieved what 'reality television' or most soap operas can only imagine - depth and authenticity," Miller explained. "Through the documentary, the actors reveal themselves as passionate, down-to-earth young people who bring their own lives, inspirations and passions into play."

In fact, Miller added, unlike actors in the U.S., the lives of the actors in Sexto Sentido are not far off from the lives of the characters they represent in the program. What's more, Miller said, "with the budget of one episode of Friends, Sexto Sentido could produce 432 episodes over the next 18 years."

In addition to the array of Latin films, the Festival is even more global and wide-ranging in form and content than ever before. Other films include the North American premiere of Festival closing night film The Trip, a love story that looks back at the fabulous '70s from a gay perspective, touching on Anita Bryant and other historical events along the way, and starring Alexis Arquette and Jill St. John, among others; the East Coast premiere of Festival Centerpiece The Cockettes, a fresh-from-Sundance feature documentary about the legendary gender-bending theater company, with interviews and performance footage from such icons as Divine, Sylvester, John Waters and Holly Woodlawn; the North American premiere of Sugar Sweet, from Japan, a wild and in-your-face comedy about a group of women who get together to make a lesbian adult film; the North American premiere of Guardian of the Frontier, the first female-helmed feature from Slovenia that tells the story of three college friends who embark on an innocent kayak trip that becomes an unsettling tale of sexual awakening; the East Coast premiere of the groundbreaking Hong Kong film Lan Yu, a gay male love affair set against the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square massacre - shot in part surreptitiously in mainland China; from Germany, the East Coast premiere of Journey to Kafiristan, a kind of lesbian The English Patient set in 1939 that follows two women adventurers on their way across Europe to Afghanistan; the North American premiere of Bob and Rose, the new British TV series from the creator of the original U.K Queer as Folk, with the programs' creator Russell T. Davies in attendance; the South Florida premiere of Metrosexuality, another groundbreaking television series from Great Britain; and the North American premiere and the clips-talk program, Bette Midler: Dirty Girl in a Bathhouse, a presentation highlighting the early years of Bette Midler's career along with her relationship to the gay community and her own Jewish identity.

But Rosenberg isn't sitting back and lighting his hand-rolled cigar (a local favorite once distributed for a Festival party with the MGLFF logo affixed) just yet. The award-winning filmmaker (Before Stonewall) known for his attention to detail has charged himself, the Festival's Board and the new year-round staff with deepening the Festival's quality and impact with a projected $600,000 budget. In the wake of last year's Festival, which was expanded from six to 10 days, this year's Festival, scheduled for April 26-May 5, 2002, will both open and close at the 1,700-seat, landmark, 1920s Gusman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami, a move only a few gay or film events have tried.

This year's MGLFF has teamed up with PlanetOut.com, a leader in gay Internet content, to present the PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards, sponsored by HBO. Participating filmmakers are eligible for competitive awards given in a number of categories, including Best Dramatic and Documentary Features, and Audience Favorite. Twenty-five finalists will be selected by a jury that includes an HBO executive to compete for online Audience Awards determined by visitors to www.planetout.com, the PlanetOut.com website, during the month of March. The prize-winning films will be screened at a special PlanetOut.com program and awards presentation at this year's Festival, where $7,500 in cash awards will be given out. Jenni Olson, PlanetOut.com's Director of Entertainment, commented that, "The Miami fest has quickly become one of the most prestigious stops on the gay film festival circuit, and this is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the best GLBT short films and to support the filmmakers themselves."

"Our festival is now the largest gay event in terms of audience size in all of South Florida, and already one of the most prominent film festivals of its kind in the United States," Rosenberg said. "We are poised this year to strengthen the entire Festival, including the quality of the films we present, the relevance of our programming, the caliber of our visiting filmmakers and the reach and depth of our audiences. We will continue to assist in the development of a local film community through panels, lectures with visiting filmmakers, distributors and actors, and screenings of independent work. Taken altogether, we offer a fun cultural event to our community, a meaningful venue for artists and a prototype for film festivals around the world. The buzz is there; we're going to deepen the groove."

History
The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival began a short three years ago after South Florida had well established itself as a gay-friendly place to live and visit. The Festival was the area's first regularly scheduled arts programming specifically geared toward showcasing works by gay and lesbian artists and catering to gay and gay-friendly audiences. After the first edition of the Festival drew more than 5,000 attendees and the following year's event attracted 7,000 attendees, Rosenberg and the Festival Board decided to expand the Festival from 6 to 10 days in order to accommodate both growing audiences and the increasing amount of solid material the Festival had been receiving from filmmakers from across the globe. Last year's Third Annual Festival sold more than 11,000 tickets and featured more than 70 feature and short works from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Spain, Thailand and the U.S.

Sponsors
The Presenting Sponsor of this year's Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival is Southern Wine and Spirits of South Florida.

Other sponsors include Abbey Hotel, Absolut, Advanced Radio Systems/ Motorola, The Advocate, American Express, Burstein Family Foundation, Cabana Boy Run, Corazon Tequila, Dade Human Rights Foundation, Party 93.1 WPYM-FM, Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA), Express Gay News, Ferraro Family Foundation, Florida Department of State and Cultural Affairs Council, Genre Magazine, HBO (Presenting Sponsor Of The Planetout.Com Short Movie Awards), Hotel Nash, Indian Creek Hotel, Laurent Perrier Champagne, Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council, Miami Beach Visitor & Convention Authority, The Miami Herald, Miami New Times, Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Department, Miamigo Magazine, Passport Magazine, Planetout Partners, Planetout.Com, Regal Cinemas, Robert Mondavi Wines, Rubell Hotels, Savoy Hotel, Tangueray, TWN, and Voss Water (sponsor list as of March 19, 2002).

The Festival's Honorary Board supports the organization financially and with their expertise. Members include Executive Producers Harvey Burstein, Stephen Herbits; Kent Karlock, Raben & Feldman, Rene T. Rodriguez, Lee Brian Schrager, Jacques Soukup & Aaman Crane; and Bruce Weber & Nan Bush.

Directors include Jerry Chasen and Mark Kirby, Desmond Child, Scott Dansky & John Dawson, Dwina Gibb, Rick Hanley & Paul Kahn, Marc Levin, Sheldon & Myrna Palley, Mayda Perez & Simone Mayer, Alan Randolph, Robert Schafer, Michael Toomey & Dr. Patrick Ward.

Ticket Information
General tickets to the Fourth Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival cost $11; there are special prices for special events. Tickets for all screenings and events go on sale beginning April 1, 2002, via:

Tickets: $11 general; special prices for special events

Tickets for all screenings & events go on sale April 1 via:
Festival Office:
    Telephone: 305.534.9924 (credit card only)
    FAX: completed order form to 305-535-2377 (credit card only)
    Mail: completed order form to Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Attn: Ticket Sales, 1521 Alton Rd., #147, Miami Beach, FL 33139 (check, money order or credit card); must be received by April 19th
    on-line: www.mglff.com (credit card only)

Gusman Center box office Tickets are available here only for Opening & Closing Night tickets, in person at the box office,174 E. Flagler St., beginning April 1, from 12-2:30pm and 3-5:30pm Mondays-Fridays (cash, Visa & Mastercard).

Colony Theatre box office: 1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach, beginning April 1st, (cash only) from noon-5pm Tues.- Sat.. The Colony does not sell opening and closing night tickets.

TicketMaster: 305.358.5885, 954.523.3309 or ticket master.com (credit card only); or in person at TicketMaster outlets.

Rush Sales: Limited number of tickets will be available for films sold out in advance. Special Rush Line will form beginning one hour prior to screening at Festival Ticket/Will-Call Table. Rush tickets sold for $11 on first-come, first-served, cash-only basis; no complimentary or discounted rush ticket sales.

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