Fourth Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Accepting Submissions for April 26-May 5, 2002 Event
South Beach location and Latin flavor

The Fourth Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, scheduled for April 25-May 5, 2002, is currently accepting film and video submissions. The Festival, having grown exponentially in its first few years, is already recognized for its location in the internationally famous South Beach district, its Latin flavor and the outstanding quality of its cinematic line-up.

The Festival is looking for work of all genres, lengths and formats, including dramatic, documentary and experimental works, by, about and of interest to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community. The deadline for submissions is December 14, 2001, with a $25 entry fee. Late submissions will be accepted until January 11, 2002, with a $35 entry fee. The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival gives out juried cash awards in a number of categories.

Because of the Festival's global focus, international submissions are strongly encouraged, but must be available with English subtitles. The Festival places special emphasis on works by U.S. Hispanic, Latin American and Spanish filmmakers. Alternative and new media, such as video installations, media-based performance and CD-ROMs, are also being sought. In general, the Festival only accepts works that will be at least South Florida premieres.

"Our festival is now the largest gay event in all of South Florida, and already one of the most prominent film festivals of its kind in the United States," says Robert Rosenberg, Festival Director. "We are poised this year to deepen and expand the quality of the films we present, the caliber of our visiting filmmaker guests and the size of our audiences."

Last year's attendance reached 11,000 in ticket sales, selling out all major screenings, with over 35 attending industry guests. The Festival continued in its international vein, showing films from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Spain, Thailand and the U.S. Of the Festival's 24 feature films, there were four U.S. premieres, three East Coast premieres and 15 South Florida premieres, and of the 41 shorts and documentaries, there were three world premieres, eight U.S. premieres, five East Coast premieres and 24 South Florida premieres.

Films screened in previous years have included the U.S. premiere of Plata quemada (Burnt Money) from award-winning Argentine master Marcelo Piñeyro, the U.S. premiere of Iron Ladies, from Thailand; the East Coast premiere of Scout's Honor, an award-winning documentary; the East Coast premiere of The Closet, starring French actor Gerard Depardieu; the East Coast premiere of Stranger Inside, from director Cheryl Dunye; the South Florida premiere of Susan Seidelman's (Desperately Seeking Susan) Gaudi Afternoon; the U.S. premiere of the Queer as Folk sequel from the U.K.; and a sneak preview screening of the award-winning documentary Paragraph 175. Attending industry guests have included Sharon Gless, Alexis Arquette, B. Ruby Rich, Cheryl Dunye, Juan Luis Iborra, Barbara Hammer, Marcus Hu, Rob Epstein, Félix Sabroso, Jim Fall, Rose Troche, Mitchell Anderson, Rain Phoenix and María Conchita Alonso.

Rosenberg, a long-time arts programmer and filmmaker whose own credits include the Emmy Award-winning classic gay documentary Before Stonewall, heads up a program committee of lesbian and gay filmmakers and media professionals who make all final selections for this year's Festival. In addition to submissions, the programmers solicit specific works at their discretion.

An official submission form and detailed guidelines are available at www.mglff.com or by contacting the Festival at 1521 Alton Road, #147, Miami Beach, FL, 33139, by phone at 305.534.9924, by fax at 305 535.2377, or by e-mail at festprogram@the-beach.net.

Major sponsors of the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival this year include (to date) Southern Wine & Spirits; Mondavi Wines; Design Center of the Americas; At Your Door Printing; Regal Cinemas; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs; Burstein Family Foundation; Dade Human Rights Foundation; Division of Cultural Affairs/Florida Department of State; Visitors and Convention Association of Miami Beach; Rene T. Rodriguez and Kent Karlock; photographer Bruce Weber and visual artist Nan Weber; Raben and Feldman Associates; and Desmond Child/Deston Songs.

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