Contacts:
Kelly Graml
UCLA Film & Television Archive
310.206.8588 / kgraml@ucla.edu
Steven Zeller
Outfest
323.860.0270 / stevenzeller@gsemg.com
UCLA and Outfest Announce "Parting Glances" and "Word is Out" as the First Two Films to be Restored in the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation Partnership
(Note to editors: digital images available upon request)
LOS ANGELES, CA – The UCLA Film & Television Archive and Outfest, a leading showcase for diverse, international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) film and video, partnered in 2005 to create the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation. The only program of its kind in the world, the Legacy Project has already established the world's largest publicly accessible collection of LGBT films. UCLA and Outfest now announce the first two feature films slated to be restored as part of this landmark collaboration: "Parting Glances" (1986) starring Steve Buscemi and the groundbreaking "Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives" (1978).
While mainstream films are both collected by nonprofit archives and cared for by the commercial film industry itself, independent films are largely overlooked. LGBT independent films—including significant titles from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s—are in particular peril because of a perceived lack of commercial value by the industry and/or the filmmakers' inability to maintain their work themselves.
Because the components of many notable LGBT titles are degraded, altered or missing, the Legacy Project is working to raise funds to restore these films to their initial release forms. The preservation of "Parting Glances" and "Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives" is an important first step in ensuring the survival of important and endangered LGBT works.
"What if we were unable to share these life-altering images with future generations?" noted Outfest Executive Director Stephen Gutwillig. "These moving images represent a profoundly important record of our struggles and joys—a record of where we come from as LGBT people. We cannot and must not be complicit in the erasure of our lives and our history."
"Motion pictures document individuals and society in all their complexities," said Robert Rosen, Dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. "Future generations will be grateful to us for safeguarding the past and will come to know us through the films we are passing on through the Outfest Legacy Project," he added.
"Parting Glances" (1986, Dir. Bill Sherwood)
A frank portrait of a Greenwich Village gay man dealing with both his partner's imminent departure and his friend's struggle with AIDS, "Parting Glances" was groundbreaking in its realistic and sympathetic treatment of the disease. "Parting Glances" also features the first starring roles of Steve Buscemi and Kathy Kinney ("The Drew Carey Show") and is the only film director Bill Sherwood made before AIDS claimed his life.
"Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives" (1978, Dir. The Mariposa Film Group)
The stereotype-crushing "Word is Out" presents interviews with people from around the U.S. discussing their diverse experiences as gay men and women. Considered the first feature-length documentary about LGBT identity made by gay filmmakers, this film had a huge impact on gays and lesbians when it was released almost 30 years ago.
The Outfest Legacy Project is supported by The David Bohnett Foundation; the Hollywood Foreign Press Association; Roland Emmerich; Jason Murakawa and Dean Hansell; and John and Michael August.
Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation
A landmark collaboration between Outfest and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation was launched in 2005 and is the only program in the world devoted to addressing the crisis in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) film preservation. The Legacy Project has already established the largest publicly accessible collection of LGBT films in the world; collected dozens of film prints; and created tools to educate filmmakers and the public on film preservation and storage. Project goals also include striking new prints for widespread public exhibition; restoring damaged films to their initial release forms; and expanding access of LGBT films and videos to researchers and the public.
Outfest
Outfest protects our past, showcases our present and nurtures our future by fostering artistic expression of gender, sexuality and LGBTQ culture and its transformative social impact on the world. Since it's founding in 1982, Outfest has presented more than 4,000 films to audiences of over half a million people. Its programs include The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival – the oldest and largest continuous film festival in Los Angeles (Outfest 2007: The 25th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival: July 12-23).
UCLA Film & Television Archive
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is internationally renowned for its pioneering efforts to preserve and showcase not only classic but also current and innovative film and television. Additionally, the Archive is a unique resource for media study, with one of the largest collections of media materials in the United States and the largest of any university in the world.
