A Fusion of Queer Filmmakers
by Shauna Swartz, November 30, 2006

“We've gotten to a point with queer filmmakers where some people are saying some of the festivals don't matter, but this matters,” says Mary Guzman, a filmmaker whose work will screen Dec. 1–3 at Fusion: The Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival. “But it matters that you have this festival that looks for things that wouldn't be shown in other places, things that wouldn't be honored, or maybe would be one of a million films at a broader festival. This is honoring this particular community. It's beautiful.”

Fusion, the only festival of its kind, will make its fourth annual appearance this Friday with its largest showing to date. Audiences have doubled since the festival's inaugural year in 2003, according to Kirsten Schaffer, senior director for the festival, which is produced by Outfest. This year Fusion will include three days of films, panel discussions, performance art and workshops. And, of course, there will be after-parties.

The social component is an integral aspect of the festival. “It's a chance for communities that feel marginalized to be front and center in a festival, and for all these communities to come together and support each other, see each other's work and build bridges in our communities,” says Kimberly Yutani, Fusion programmer and associate director of programming for Outfest. “The ultimate goal of Fusion is to bring everyone together in an exciting environment. It's about the event itself.”

Many of the filmmakers — roughly 31 out of 40 — will be in attendance and available for informal discussions after their films are screened. And most programs will be followed by question-and-answer sessions.

“To have a festival highlighting people of color's work when the subject matter is queer is great,” says director Tamika Miller, who is based in Los Angeles and was born in Miami. “I was there the first year, and I've seen how it has grown beyond the quest to just find films that spoke to the festival's mission. Now there are more higher-caliber films.”

Miller's Sarang Song, which will screen at Fusion, has played in more than 30 festivals and has aired on Showtime and Logo. It's a love story between two women set in early 1970s Los Angeles amidst the student protest movement, and it is loosely based on the life of Angela Davis.

Jumpin' the Broom: The New Covenant is another Fusion film that has aired on Logo and Showtime. Filmmaker Debra Wilson also directed Butch Mystique, and she co-produces the Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival.

“Jumping the broom is something slaves did in order to solidify their marriages, since it was illegal for them to marry,” Wilson explains. “So they would jump the broom as a symbolic way of putting a covenant on their commitment to each other. People still do it today at African-American weddings.”

The film features four queer couples talking about the issue of gay marriage and its social impact, and includes footage of people jumping the broom. Wilson will also be part of a panel on activism and queer communities of color that will take a practical approach to mobilizing around issues important to these communities.

“We're not really talking about minorities anymore,” says Viva Ruiz, whose film Monja Satanica (Satanic Nun) will be featured at Fusion. “I mean, how many Latinos are in L.A. and New York? You can't call that a niche.”

Ruiz, who has 13 years of Catholic school under her belt, says her film is about “a bad girl who wants to be good, so she goes to convent but finds they're totally debauched and into bondage. It's like an S/M lesbian convent. It's more kink than anything else.” In addition to Fusion, the Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza in Los Angeles will screen Monja Satanica on Dec. 9.

“It's so important for people to be able to find characters and stories that they identify with, and it's so important to solicit work from these communities,” she says. Ruiz is known for work that accents the high melodrama of telenovelas with polyamorous and BDSM components. The first episode of her Rosa Negra series was a 5-minute short for made for HBO's Real Sex.

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