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Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (November 19, 2010): “Mississippi Damned” comes to DVD, Jane Lynch is not joining “The Muppets”

Verbotene Liebe. The German soap is employing two characters for a new lesbian relationship. Actors Jasmin Lord and Romina Becks seem up for the “challenge” of kissing another woman, so we have high hopes.

Hide/Seek. The Smithsonian’s exhibit features several images of LGBT icons and iconic art. So now you can view Annie Leibovitz‘s images of Ellen in a coconut bra in the flesh.

Cher. The legendary performer has made a point of discussing Chaz’s gender identity and transformation in several Burlesque interviews. Above all, she’s been honest about the process of acceptance, and nothing shows more than her love for her son.

Sapphire. The bisexual author will publish a sequel to her best-seller Push. Here’s hoping it’s not as depressing, but just as queer, as the first. Also, the return of Paula Patton Ms. Rain would be much appreciated.

Heather Peace. The lesbian actress said she has high hopes for a second season of Lip Service, and has enjoyed the success of season 1, especially since she now has an even bigger fanbase showing up at her concerts in the UK.

Gurl.com.The website for teenage girls has hired Tegan and Sara to answer questions on sexuality. We wonder who has the job of sorting through the questions into piles labeled “Appropriate” and “Way Too Personal” and “I Am Not Asking Them That.”

The Kids Are All Right. Whether you liked the film or not, you can be happy the writers changed the ending from its original, in which Mark Ruffalo’s character joined the happy family. See? It could have been worse.

Boardwalk Empire. Angela is intent on maintaining her relationship with Mary, despite their husbands trying to get in the way. How annoying!

Chavela Vargas. The out lesbian Latin musician is 91 and still making music. She talked with NPR this week about how she’s had to fight for a lot of things in her life, but never once considered being in the closet. She’s also in the movie Frida, so she’s been this close to Salma Hayek.

Sarah Lloyd. The Crittenden County School Board in Arkansas is allowing the 17-year old lesbian to have her graduation picture taken while she’s wearing a tuxedo. Lloyd was initially told by her principal that she could not wear a tux in the photo and would instead be required to wear the “drape” that haunts so many of our senior portraits. LezGetReal.com quotes Lloyd as stating, “I feel if I was wearing the drape I’d be someone that I wasn’t and I am really not down for all that. I wanted to show the school am not out to please them and I am who I am. They just need to accept it.” The School Board’s vote in favor or a tux-clad Lloyd was unanimous, and we’re sure that she’ll look positively dashing.

The Muppets. Jane Lynch recently told reporters that, despite rumors to the contrary, she’s not attached to the film. Lynch said, “They haven’t asked me. I would do it if they asked me.” OK, we’re asking. Kermit, can you please make this happen?

Cindy McCain. The senator’s wife reneged on her support of repealing DADT via Tweet. Thanks for nothing, Mama McCain.

Grey’s Anatomy. While Arizona is out of town, it seems Callie isn’t going to be moping as much as she might be making out. See what happens when you have a baby, Jessica Capshaw?

Rachel Maddow. Relax, we’re not really angry with RMad. We’re just a little hurt that she will never run for office. (Rachel Maddow 2012.)

America’s Next Top Model. Lesbian contestant Kayla was kicked off this week in a two-girl elimination in the final four. She was robbed and, to make matters worse, she was sent home with bright red hair.

Frontierville vs real life. It looks like that Facebook application is good for something: CEO Mark Pincus said there have been more than 650,000 same-sex marriages in the second life game. Then you realize this is more than you can have IRL and it becomes a sad statistic.

Allwetter Zoo in Muenster. Zookeepers are attempting to separate a pair of gay vultures that have been together for 14 years and force them to breed because the Zoo is in need of some babies. Well, guys, you can lead a horse to water …

The U.S. Marine Corps. The annual Chelsea Piers “Toys for Tots” charity party was forced to change its name this week “after a stern reprimand” from the Marines Corps. The Marines don’t want their own “Toys for Tots” charity to be confused with the gay one. What will now be known as “Holiday Gifts for Children and Seniors” was launched 25 years ago as a holiday service opportunity for the gay community. Yes, Scrooge is alive and well and all decked out in a Blue Dress uniform.

Homophobic high schools. Two out Oklahoma students are not being allowed to re-enroll and graduate because their principal doesn’t agree with their “lifestyle choices.” We, on the other hand, fully support the lifestyle choice that includes graduating from high school. Their lesbianism is neither a “lifestyle” nor a “choice” so chew on that, Principal Gina Hill.

Willow Palin. Sarah’s 16-year-old daughter used the F word (the one that rhymes with maggot) and other offensive grammar to defend her mom’s new TLC show on Facebook. Later, her older sister, Bristol, apologized, but has yet to say she’s sorry for the ridiculously bad performing she’s done on Dancing With the Stars.

THIS JUST IN: OUT FILMMAKER TINA MABRY TALKS ABOUT THE MISSISSIPPI DAMNED DVD, HER SOUTHERN CIRCUIT TOUR AND COUNTY LINE

It’s been awhile since we checked in with Tina Mabry, who wrote the script for Itty Bitty Titty Committee and wrote and directed the acclaimed indie drama Mississippi Damned. Last summer she told us all about the making of her film about a poor African-American family living in 1980s Mississippi, which won 15 awards at festivals all over the country, including Jury Award for Best Feature Film at the 2009 Chicago Film Festival, Grand Jury Award for Best Feature Film at the 2009 American Black Film Festival, and Grand Jury Award for Outstanding U.S. Dramatic Feature at the 2009 Outfest Film Festival.

In case you haven’t seen it, you can watch the trailer here. And below is an exclusive clip from the film for AfterEllen.com, featuring lesbian character Leigh (Chasity Kershal Hammitte) and her high school sweetheart, Paula (Jasmine Burke):

This week, we caught up with the out filmmaker to discuss the release of the film on DVD on December 3 (though you can buy it now at a special pre-sale price at the MD store), her Southern Circuit Tour with MD and her next feature, County Line.

AfterEllen.com: Mississippi Damned is finally making it to DVD! What was that process like?

Tina Mabry:We’ve worked hard over the past year, not only promoting the film on the festival circuit, but also on securing a fair and equitable distribution deal. This has proven to be difficult in the current film climate and ultimately we decided to self-distribute the DVD.

After hearing so many audience members ask, “When can I get the DVD?” it’s nice to finally have a release date to give them. More importantly, we’re happy we’re able to give them some excellent special features. On the DVD we’re including the short film I directed that was voted the #1 film on the season finale of LOGO’s The Click List 2, Brooklyn’s Bridge to Jordan. The DVD also has a Behind the Scenes featurette of Mississippi Damned, deleted scenes, the trailer, and several interviews including one on Brunch with Bridget.

AE: You just came back from a Southern Circuit Tour with the film. How did it go?

TM: The film screened in 12 cities in only 20 days, an intense schedule! However, the warm reception the film received made the trip extremely worthwhile. Although the film is set in the South and made by Southern filmmakers, prior to the tour the film had only shown in two Southern cities. At every stop along the way I was met with the question, “Why isn’t this in theaters?” I had to do a lot of explaining to non-industry audience members on the struggles of independent filmmakers. Many expressed a need for this type of film to be distributed on a wide scale.

I vividly remember one young man who attended the screening in Baton Rouge, LA whose life was parallel with the film’s main character. Like the character, he was a musician who gave up going to NYU so he could stay home and help his struggling family. He joked and asked if we were related because the film could have easily been about his family. Three days later he showed up at the New Orleans screening. He was so moved that he needed to see the film again and this time he brought several members of his family with him.

At times during the process of making the film and helping it find a home in the world, it has been frustrating and stressful. But then someone like this guy comes along and it motivates me to keep pushing on. It’s gratifying for any filmmaker to know that their film evokes emotions that impact a person on a visceral level. Thankfully, Mississippi Damned stays with people and impacts their lives beyond the time they spent watching it.

AE: You also recently completed the prestigious Film Independent’s Screenwriters Lab with your new script, County Line. Was your experience in the Lab what you expected it would be?

TM: Film Independent always has great talent development labs, so I knew it was going to be good. It turned out being phenomenal, surpassing my expectations. I really learned how to get to the root of the problem in a script and how to interpret the notes you receive on a script. As our instructor put it, “Look past the symptoms of what’s not working and uncover the disease.”

I suppose I’ve always taken the notes, addressing only the problem that a particular note raises, and in the end wound up getting a similar note on my rewrite because I put a graft over the problem without digging in and reading the subtext of the notes. I’m a lot better at that now because of the lab and I’m also better at giving notes, which I believe improves you as a writer.

My writing partner (Morgan Stiff — who is also my life partner) and I knew we had some issues in County Line, but we really couldn’t put our finger on it. After participating in the lab, we found the disease and we’re currently curing it. This has catapulted the script from being a good script to a great script, which is the type of script an independent filmmaker needs to attract talent and investors.

Even though the lab ended, thankfully the relationships we cultivated with the other lab fellows didn’t. I believe we all became invested in each other’s projects. There was no hint of competition just a strong desire to help the writer get their script to a level where it can get produced.

We also had great writers come to the lab to speak with us. My favorite had to be Erin Cressida Wilson (the writer of Secretary) who had great insights on the life of a writer and making it in the industry.

AE: In a previous interview with AfterEllen.com, you told us a bit about County Line. How has the project progressed since we last spoke to you?

TM: For one, it’s progressed because we now fully know what the story is going to be about. During our last interview we were in the process of writing it and trying to figure out which direction we wanted to take it. Now we know it’s about a small working class Southern town that discovers its unseen community of sex and drugs laid bare to the world when its beloved sheriff tries to rid himself of a secret drug alliance with a family friend while investigating the deaths of his sordid female informants. When this charismatic sheriff’s gullible teenage son becomes addicted to the drugs he’s allowed to infiltrate his county, he must reconstruct his sense of right and wrong, and face his own demons in order to save his son from personal destruction.

While the script at first can be seen as a crime drama, it’s still a character driven film where we deal with real people, in real places, dealing with issues we all have to go through; issues we may never discuss with anyone. That’s the kind of films Morgan, Lee Stiff (producer), and I strive to make. We don’t have a production start date for County Line as of yet, but I would love for us to go into production no later than 2012.

AE: Who would be in your dream cast for County Line?

TM: I try to never think about a dream cast for a film because I don’t want to be disappointed. However, it’s hard not to! We would love for Don Cheadle to play the sheriff. He’s got the temperament, the look, and the talent to tackle the complexity of the character. For the sheriff’s son, we’d like to bring in Malcolm David Kelley from Mississippi Damned to play the part.

AE: What’s next for you, Morgan and Morgan’s Mark?

TM: There’s a great project coming up for Morgan’s Mark, but at the moment I’m not at liberty to say what it is; we’d love to talk about it when it goes public. I always hate it when we can’t share good news. For now, County Line is at the forefront and we’d like nothing more than to start pre-production.

Mississippi Damned will be released on DVD on December 3. You can buy it now at the MD store for the special pre-sale price of $14.95 + shipping and handling. For more details, check out the official website and the MD Facebook page.

– by Karman Kregloe

The latest PSA from the folks at GiveADamn.org is devoted to raising awareness about GLBT homelessness and features Susan Sarandon, Cyndi Lauper, Rebecca Romjin and Eden Riegel.

In case you missed our coverage of Jane Lynch being honored by LA Gay and Lesbian Center last weekend, you can watch this video of her accepting the Rand Schrader Distinguished Achievement Award.

AE reader Audra tipped us off to the news that Plan V, the Argentinean webseries has started back up again.(You can catch up on season 2 via their website.)

Out filmmaker Anna Margarita Albelo‘s “docu-comedy” and first feature film Hooters will screen at the the Paris Gay and Lesbian Film Festival tonight at 8:45pm. After the screening, Albelo will do a Q and A session along with VS Brodie, and Lisa Gornick.

Actress Daniela Sea is working for Eve Ensler‘s V-Day project and posing for the Nau clothing line.

There’s still time for you to enter Logo’s PSA Contest!

According to Lea Michele (Rachel) Glee‘s December 7 Christmas episode centers on Brittany (Heather Morris) – who still believes in Santa Claus.

South African writer Michelle Macfarlane‘s new novel The Au Pair is based on the true story of an older woman falling for a young lesbian. She brought her partner to the the launch party, where she chatted with fans and took questions about the book.

Out Iron Chef Cat Cora shared some Thanksgiving recipes with us this week in our new food column “Good Taste,” by Candace Walsh. Cora also made an appearance this week on Good Day, LA to promote Eating Smart With Sally. She co-wrote the book with actress (and the face of Boniva) Sally Field in order to help women learn how create a diet for better bone health. (This is our favorite Boniva commercial.)

Did you see Kathy Griffin‘s creepy turn as Justin Bieber in The Justin Bieber Story?

We want your nominations for our annual The AfterEllen.com 2010 Visibility Awards!

GLAAD is celebrating its 25th Anniversary on December 3 in Los Angeles, with scheduled appearances by Amber Heard, Chaz Bono, Kathy Najimy, and Holly Robinson Peete. Tickets to the event are available here.

Portia DeGeneres is being accused of sexism in Australia for allegedly refusing interviews with male journalists.

The Burlesque soundtrack has premiered via a stream on AOL! You can listen to the entire album here, and the soundtrack will be released on Monday, November 22. Speaking of Burlesque, did you catch our interviews with stars Cher and Christina Aguilera this week?

Nicole Conn (Little Man, Elena Undone) and Marina Ricke Bader have launched a kickstarter.com campaign to fund Conn’s next film, A Perfect Ending. They’re past the halfway mark of their $50,000 goal, and there’s still time to contribute if you’re a fan.

Another indie film looking for backing (as well as crew and musicians) is Love is All You Need, a “conceptual film that reverses what is known as ‘straight’ and ‘gay'” from director K. Rocco Shields.

In observance of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we’ll be shutting down a little early next Wednesday and taking off next Thursday and Friday. This means no B.L.W.E. next week, but we’ll be back to business as usual the following Monday, November 29.

That’s it for this week! Got the inside scoop on a hot new lesbian/bi actor/musician/TV show/film? Tell us at [email protected]. Check back next Friday for another edition of Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.

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