At last, the word is out.
After the groundbreaking “Out of the Closet, Into the
Vaults” symposium last April, the UCLA Film and Television
Archive and Outfest have announced the restoration of two of the
most influential and important films in lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender film history.
The preservation of the 1986 drama “Parting Glances”
and the 1977 documentary “Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our
Lives” is the first of many efforts to protect LGBT motion
pictures through the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film
Preservation.
The Legacy Project began last year as a way for Outfest, one of
the leading showcases for LGBT film, to ensure that the large
collection of moving images they had amassed and exhibited over the
years would be restored and preserved for future generations.
“The idea is longevity and making sure that our ideas are
not just present today but in the future as well,” project
manager May Haduong said. “It’s so easy to think in the
present that you forget that the past, present and future are all
related.”
Due to the minimal financial backing and commercial support
behind most LGBT films, it is up to organizations like the UCLA
Film and Television Archive and Outfest to save them from
extinction.
“The collection is important because it is in such
desperate need for restoration,” said Rob Stone, the
archive’s associate curator for collections.
“We’re talking about films really into the social
movement that were really underground because of the social
climate.”
According to Stone, the archive chose its first two projects
because they are both in need of preservation, but relatively
well-known.
“Parting Glances” involves a gay man in Greenwich
Village dealing with his partner’s upcoming departure to
Africa and his friend’s ongoing struggle with AIDS.
“Word is Out” was the first full-length LGBT
documentary, delving into the day-to-day experiences of gay men and
women of the ’70s.
“Both of these films are cultural memories of the LGBT
experience and are also amazing films,” Stone said.
Though the preservation process is still in its beginning
stages, organizers are already looking forward to showcasing the
reworked pieces on the big screen.
“We anticipate being able to show these films at future
Outfest events and to show one or both at the Outfest 25th
anniversary (next year),” Haduong said.
Beside its restoration mission, the Legacy Project has amassed
over 3,500 LGBT films through the Archive Research and Study Center
which will be accessible to students, researchers and scholars.
“Most of the films now available for study in the Legacy
Collection were submitted for consideration and/or screened at
Outfest’s LGBT film festival, including independent, activist
and experimental works, which otherwise may be very difficult to
access after their initial festival runs,” said ARSC
coordinator Mark Quigley.
“This is our next step to ensure the longevity of our
images. This is the perfect place to go,” Haduong added.
Located in Powell 46, the ARSC offers these 3,500 titles for
free and public on-campus access, in addition to over 10 years of
Outfest festival catalogs. And to encourage the use of these new
materials, Quigley and the ARSC have produced an illustrated
collection study guide and plan to team up with UCLA’s LGBT
Campus Resource Center this fall to preview highlights from the
Outfest collection and to show students how they can access such
titles on campus.
“The cultural significance of the Outfest Legacy
Collection can’t be overstated, and we strongly encourage
students to utilize this important resource,” Quigley said.
“The importance of the collection doesn’t exist without
participation.”