Pass the birthday cake: OUTFEST San Diego is turning six. For four days this month — Thursday, Sept. 25, through Sunday, Sept. 28 — our fair city’s gay and lesbian film festival will showcase an outstanding array of gay and lesbian features, shorts and documentaries, all to be screened at Landmark’s Ken Cinema and Hillcrest Cinemas. From the hilarious “tour-de-farce” Girls Will Be Girls (described in the program notes as “Valley of the Dolls meets All About Eve”) that kicks off the festival, to Julie Johnson, the much-anticipated lesbian love story co-starring Lili Taylor and Courtney Love (see sidebar) that closes it, OUTFEST 2003 has something for every cinematic taste. Thom Fitzgerald’s The Event (Saturday, Sept. 27), graced by a lovely performance by Oscar-winner Olympia Dukakis, reminds us that the AIDS crisis is far from over. Six female firefighters in San Francisco talk candidly about gender bias in Some Real Heat (Saturday, Sept. 27), while gay and straight Chicagoans share a house for a week in The Experiment: Gay and Straight (Sunday, Sept. 28). Comedies include Mambo Italiano (Saturday, Sept. 27),Canadian director Emile Gaudreault’s gay twist on My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and the memorably titled Nine Dead Gay Guys (Friday, Sept. 26), a tale littered with “hijinx and corpses” in the underworld of gay London. Big-screen musical lovers will have a rare opportunity to revisit William Wyler’s gloriously restored Funny Girl, featuring Barbra Streisand in her powerhouse Oscar-winning turn as Fanny Brice (Saturday, Sept. 27).

Returning to OUTFEST this year are Festival Director Joe Ferrelli and Co-Director Krista Page (as they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). It’s clear, even in the most cursory of conversations with Ferrelli and Page, that both individuals are dedicated to seeing OUTFEST San Diego flourish. As Page puts it so well, “We hope that by the end of this year’s festival there will be no member of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community who does not know what OUTFEST San Diego is, and what we’re about.”

Gay and Lesbian Times: Did you learn any valuable lessons from OUTFEST 2002 that have made doing your job this year easier?

Ferrelli: Yes; I learned that in order for things to run more smoothly, it’s important to get an earlier start in the year!

Page: Actually, having experienced the 2002 festival has made everything easier. We also began work much earlier this year, which has enabled us to garner a more stable sponsorship base, as well as increase community awareness of the festival.

GLT: Joe, why are there so many bad/disappointing gay and lesbian movies being made? Are we expecting too much from our community’s filmmakers?

Ferrelli: I think that there are a lot of bad/disappointing movies period. It isn’t just limited to queer cinema. It’s like any of the arts — there are lots of individual works made, but very few touch us in a special way, or stand the test of time.

GLT: Which films from this year’s festival look particularly promising?

Ferrelli: Girls Will Be Girls, Between Two Women, Goldfish Memory and Julie Johnson [see sidebar] are all quite promising. I have a particular soft spot for Julie Johnson, as it has received little play outside of the festival circuit because of distribution problems. When I see some of the garbage that does get distributed, it makes me wonder why a film like this has so much trouble.

Page: We really have an amazing line-up this year: 20 programs of 40 films and videos! 2003 has been an outstanding year for LGBT-themed film and video, and we’re fortunate to be presenting the very best programs available to the audiences of San Diego.

GLT: Tell us about this year’s parties.

Page: The filmmakers who participate in our programs are the next generation of artists who will reflect, interpret and represent the LGBT experience. One of our goals was to create a high-quality cultural forum for these artists to tell our stories. Each of the festival parties will be a time to meet these talented individuals and ask them questions.

Everyone who attends the screening of Girls Will Be Girls is invited to attend the Opening Night party. Friday evening the community is invited to stop by The Wine Lover for a Pre-Screening Happy Hour. After the screenings on Friday night, there will be a party at Seven [bar/restaurant in Hillcrest].

Saturday night an OUTFEST San Diego/Power Up party will be held at the Abbey Café. Power Up is an incredible Los Angeles-based organization for women filmmakers. They are very excited to be able to co-sponsor this event in San Diego. The Closing Night party on Sunday evening will be held at Bourbon Street.

GLT: Are you still hoping to make OUTFEST a year-round event? Where are you with that plan, and in these depressed economic times, is it a feasible goal?

Ferrelli: We’ve been having screenings every few months to see if there’s a local audience big enough to support a continuing series of films and videos. We’re still in the process of trying to decide if it is viable or not.

GLT: What gives you the most satisfaction as co-directors of OUTFEST?

Ferrelli: The greatest satisfaction comes from being responsible for introducing new works to San Diego audiences. This year quite a few directors and other talent will be joining us for the festival. It’s thrilling to meet some of these artists in person and talk to them about their influences and the influence they in turn will have on audiences.

Page: I believe my work is part of an ongoing effort to build a vibrant, affirming, and sustainable LGBT community in San Diego County.

Kyle Counts is film critic for the Gay and Lesbian Times.