Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (June 15, 2007)

It's time for another Sarah-less edition of Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. Karman and Malinda have already run this gauntlet, so it's my turn this week. Not that anything we do is ever really Sarah-less, because that would just be reckless. And before you ask, yes, my avatar is the Mahna Mahna dude from The Muppet Show. This is all I can give you while I'm still doing my time in the Statler & Waldorf witness protection program. Those guys can really mess you up.

AND I KEPT GETTING IN THE LONGEST CONCESSION LINE, TOO
New York's gay and lesbian film festival, NewFest, came to a close this past Sunday. I caught a few of the films, but I'm sorry to say that I missed the winner of the Audience Award for Best Feature, Out at the Wedding, directed by Lee Friedlander (Girl Play).

Even worse, I didn't just "miss" it — I intentionally skipped it, mostly because it brought to mind the abysmal April's Shower. But now that I've read a little more about the film (and especially now that I know Jill Bennett and Julie Goldman are in it), I'll be sure to add it to my Netflix queue. Out at the Wedding is a screwball comedy in which the main character's secret romance with a biracial man somehow becomes a rumor (and then a ruse) that she's a lesbian. That's one way to get your family to accept your boyfriend: Spook them with some fake gaiety before you reveal the guy!

Here's a still from the film — the woman gazing longingly from the other side of the fence reminds me of myself at about age 14, lusting after the local softball players (only I was probably wearing an itchy band uniform):

And how great is this picture of Cathy DeBuono? She plays the girlfriend-for-hire in the faux-mo shenanigans. She can also be seen in Logo's upcoming half-hour comedy Exes and Oh's, debuting this fall and also directed by Friedlander — see Sarah's March 16 column for more on that. (Fun fact: According to IMDb, DeBuono was Terry Farrell's photo double on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Yeah, if I squint and imagine her with spots, she does look a little like Jadzia Dax.)

You can catch Out at the Wedding at Frameline in San Francisco on June 22 and at Outfest in Los Angeles on July 21. And here's a trailer:

In an effort to ensure that you don't suffer this same terrible fate and miss a potential audience award–winner at an LGBT festival near you, Malinda has put together this handy Guide to LGBT Film Festivals. Where were you in my hour of need, Malinda?!

Despite that mishap, I had a great time at NewFest. Read on for more of my cinematic adventures.