If you ask FilmOut San Diego programmer Michael McQuiggan why he works full time to keep a gay and lesbian film festival flourishing in San Diego, his answer is simple – “We are determined to keep an LGBT film festival thriving here in order to support to our gay brothers and sisters who do this for a living. If we don’t, there will be no more gay films, and we will be forced to resort to mainstream television in order to see [gay experiences] reflected onscreen,” McQuiggan explains.

Krista Page, executive director of FilmOut, agrees wholeheartedly. “We choose to support these stories because they are our story,” Page told the Gay & Lesbian Times over a light bite at South Park Bar and Grill. “That’s my life these filmmakers are interpreting onscreen, and to me, that’s very, very important.”

Page and McQuiggan make up the core “dynamic duo” behind the FilmOut festival, which takes place April 28 through May 1 at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. The mission of FilmOut San Diego is “to enlighten, educate, and entertain the communities of San Diego County through the exhibition of gay and lesbian-themed films. FilmOut San Diego seeks to recognize, promote, celebrate and support the important diverse artistic contributions gay and lesbian filmmakers make to our community.” This year, the festival aims to fulfill its mission by providing attendees with four days of diverse, educational – and let’s not forget sexy – films, all aimed at making you think, cry, and laugh, while supporting the ever-growing field of queer arts and entertainment.

Neither Page nor McQuiggan are new to the world of gay and lesbian film festivals. Both volunteered for OutFest San Diego, an offshoot of OutFest Los Angeles, an organization which held six annual GLBT film festivals in San Diego, from 1998 through 2003. When OutFest Los Angeles decided to discontinue its festival in San Diego in 2003, Page and McQuiggan vowed to keep the tradition alive, and FilmOut was born. Although no large-scale film festival was held in 2004, OutFest did sponsor three queer films at the 2004 San Diego Film Festival, as well as a December screening of the controversial HIV film The Gift. This 2005 FilmOut festival will mark the first time that an independent, queer film festival will take place in San Diego, without the help of an umbrella organization, an accomplishment that is not lost on Page, McQuiggan, or the numerous volunteers who will make it all possible.

“This will be my eighth festival,” McQuiggan explains with excitement. “I am definitely a film buff. I initially started as a volunteer for OutFest in L.A., and worked three festivals up there. Then when we were cut free from OutFest, Krista and I decided to continue it down here. I’ve been working on this full time since the end of August, and I love it!”

McQuiggan also believes that there is a substantial need in San Diego for specifically GLBT film festivals.

“I think there is a craving for it,” he explains. “When [queer] movies play here, they usually only play at Landmark, and only play for a week, so most people have to wait for DVD [to see those films]. FilmOut gives people the opportunity to these films as they are meant to be seen – on the big screen.”

Take one glance at the FilmOut 2005 lineup and you’ll quickly notice that it boasts perhaps the most diverse and entertaining lineup that San Diego has seen yet.

“I truly believe that there is something for every single person at this festival, and that is ultimately our goal,” says Page. “To bring the community together and provide an all-inclusive chance to take part in something cultural. This is not a bar/club or ‘cruisy’ event; it’s an event at which there is room for all, and everyone should feel comfortable. Guys should feel welcome to check out the women’s films, and vice versa.”

As FilmOut programmer, McQuiggan was the one who hand-picked the films included in this year’s lineup.

“I actually screened about 140 films from all over the world,” he explains. “What I did was I researched all the [other] festivals and focused on what films won audience awards or first-time awards, and I went for them first. If a film was out on DVD already but had never had a premier in San Diego, I was open to that as well, because I believe people should have the opportunity to see a film in the theater.”

This year FilmOut will screen films representing seven countries and a number of topics ranging from fun, campy romantic comedies to pressing, current documentaries on gay issues, such as Carmen Goodyear and Laurie York’s same-sex marriage film, Freedom to Marry.

Of course, both Page and McQuiggan have their individual favorites or “buzz films” for the festival.

“I’m really excited about Betsy Kalin’s Hearts Cracked Open: Tantra for Women Who LoveWomen, because it is so different and so well made,” notes Page, who has made sure that this year’s women’s lineup is anything but shy when it comes to spotlighting women’s sexuality. Hearts is being screened along with Annie Sprinkle’s Amazing World of Orgasm, the latter of which is said to contain a six-minute-long orgasm guaranteed to leave any viewer swooning in his or her seat.

Both Page and McQuiggan are thrilled to be hosting Hellbent, the world’s first mainstream gay slasher film, written and directed in classic horror fashion by Paul Etheredge-Ouzts, who gives queer movie audiences what we’ve been missing: blood, gore, and edge-of-your-seat excitement, plus a cast of handsome, buffed actors playing both the good guys and the bad.

As for McQuiggan’s favorites, he is pleased to be screening two buzz-worthy films, Dean Howell’s Nine Lives and Casper Andreas’ Slutty Summer, before they premier at OutFest L.A. For those who need a little extra incentive to attend, cast members from both of the films will be at the screenings to add to the excitement.

And McQuiggan adds that local filmmakers have not been overlooked in this year’s festival, noting two local projects in the lineup: Helen Lesnick’s sexy erotica piece Inescapable, screening with Giovanna Chesler’s short film hand-some.

The closing night’s film, In Good Conscience, Sister Jeannine Gramick’s Journey of Faith, should also hold some local relevance, with the recent church scandal over funeral services for local activist and business owner John McCusker. This remarkable film centers on Sister Jeannine Gramick, an American nun who founded a compassionate ministry for gay and lesbian Catholics, but was later ordered by the Vatican to stop her activities. In Good Conscience is a fascinating story about one woman’s quest to change the Catholic Church’s views on homosexuality.

Tickets for FilmOut San Diego are exclusively available at Obelisk Bookstore, located in the heart of Hillcrest at 1029 University Ave. Plenty of ticket options are available, whether you’re someone who wants to check out 10 films or two. For film-savvy couples, the $190 Couple’s Pass includes two passes for all festival programs, with priority seating, including on opening night. Singles can purchase the same all-access pass for $100.

For those who can’t attend the entire festival, there are $16 Girls and Boys Packs (each provide attendees with entrance into two screenings), and the $25 Opening Night package, which includes a screening of Tennyson Bardwell’s Dorian Blues and Thomas Gustafson’s Fairies, as well as entrance into the opening night party at Top of the Park. Single-screening tickets can be purchased in advance at Obelisk Bookstore for $9, or on the day of the show at the theater box office for $10.

Attendees of this year’s FilmOut festival will be pleased to hear that Krista Page, Michael McQuiggan and the league of ever-dedicated volunteers who make this event possible have plans to keep the festival alive for many more years to come. They also hope that, like any powerful event, FilmOut will continue to evolve, change and grow in momentum with each successful festival.

“Eventually, I’d like to see us expand to being the FilmOut international film festival,” says McQuiggan, who is not backing down any time soon. “I’d like to see the festival be at least a week long, because there were some films that I had to turn down this year that I would not have turned down, had we had more time. I’d also like to have three separate boy/girl shorts programs, focused on different themes; and of course, more documentaries.”

With these ideas and more, it seems clear that the folks at FilmOut are as dedicated as ever to their mission of providing our community with what each one of us needs – the ability to see our lives, our loves, our struggles and our celebrations represented on the big screen.

Leave it to McQuiggan to put it simply: “We all deserve to be educated, entertained and enlightened.”