Quincy LeNear & Deondray Gossett - " The DL Chronicles"

Oakland CA - Lovers of film and filmmakers from all over the country will converge on the East Bay for the 5th Annual Oakland International Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender (LGBT) Film Festival August 16-19, 2007. 

Oakland is home to the largest population of African and African-American LGBT people in Northern California . In fact, according to a 2000 survey by the International Federation of Black Prides, in terms of the number of black LGBT people in cities, Oakland ranks seventh behind New York City ; Atlanta ; Washington D.C. ; Los Angeles ; Detroit and Chicago. 

The festival takes place at Oakland ’s landmark Parkway Theater, located at 1834 Park Blvd, August 16-19.

Dwight O' Neal "Chistopher Street - The Series"

Our team is very excited about our 5th Anniversary festival. So many people doubted that this festival would have even lasted one year let alone five.. said festival producer Joe Hawkins.

The festival's theme for 2007 is .Encore . Celebrating the classics.. The organizers have included in their anniversary festival for opening night an encore screening of the musical classic film .The Wiz.. .Although The Wiz is not a .gay. film, it is a film that many black LGBT people relate to with its theme of self love and acceptance and finding home in one's self. Our screening of .The Wiz. will be a sing-a-long presentation with live performances during certain songs. We plan to have fun!. said Hawkins. 

The festival will pay posthumous tribute to film maker Marlon Riggs by screening some of his groundbreaking films." We have never presented any of Marlon's works in our film festival until now. We really wanted to wait until a special time like our anniversary to showcase his films. He is a man who lived, worked and made his films right here in Oakland and in the Bay Area and really captured what it was like for many Black men during the early 90.s, who were dealing with the challenges of being black and gay and fighting to survive the AIDS epidemic, which eventually took his life." Hawkins said.

This year's film festival will also benefit from the sponsorship support of the City of Oakland, Frameline Distribution (producers of the SF Int'l LGBT Film Festival) and Here TV. "Frameline’s sponsorship of the 5th Anniversary of the Oakland Int’l Black LGBT Film Festival is in keeping with our mission to strengthen the diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and further its visibility by supporting and promoting a broad array of cultural representations and artistic expression in film", said Frameline Board President, Linda Harrison. The film festival will also include gay cable network Here TV's two newly developed episodes of the "DL Chronicles". "Here Network is thrilled to team with innovative talents at 2 Cents Productions, Quincy LeNear & Deondray Gossett, to bring The DL Chronicles to audiences worldwide.. said Mark Reinhart, Executive Vice President of Distribution and Acquisitions. There will also be two new entries by Oakland filmmakers. Gender bending flowers play the roles of humans in this most unusual animated short "Flower Fokes", a wildly hilarious creation of first time filmmaker Belinda ’Beli’ Sullivan. It’s nothing like we’ve ever seen before, and Flower Fokes will surely have audiences roaring with laughter. Filmmaker Ronald Fulcher. film about a gay man's journey from addiction to recovery and finally to commitment to his life partner in his first documentary film "The Ceremony".

Stanley Bennett Clay - "Ritual"

L.A. Based Filmmaker Stanley Bennett Clay will receive the festival's "Lifetime Achievement Award". Stanley Bennett Clay has received three NAACP Theatre Awards for writing, directing, and co-producing the critically acclaimed play Ritual, as well as a Pan African Film Festival Jury Award for the film adaptation. Mr. Clay's film "Ritual" will be screened during the festival, The author of Diva, In Search of Pretty Young Black Men, and his latest book "Looker," we are proud to honor Mr. Clay with our Lifetime Achievement Award. Amber Sharp will receive the award for Best Director for her series "Don’t Go" and the groundbreaking documentary about the black "gay" man who organized the historic march on Washington D.C. where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his historic "I Have A Dream" speech, "Brother Outsider" will be receive the award for Best Documentary.

"We hope that people who want to learn about the uniqueness of Black LGBT people will come out (no pun intended) and be educated about the challenges and triumphs that we experience as American citizens and as citizens of the world".

www.clubrimshot.com

Theater & Ticket Outlet: Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd Oakland

(510) 814-2400

August 16-19, 2007

Joe Hawkins

Phone: (510) 839-2788

Email: filmfest@clubrimshot.com

Website: www.clubrimshot.com