With its humble grassroots origins, the Fears for Queers film festival has pulled off some impressive events the past couple of years. But this year is looking tough for organizers Shawn Ewert and Andrew Rose as content for this year’s FFQ is looking rather scarce. And they only have 17 days before the festival is scheduled to go on — or not. Rose posted this today on Facebook.
Lutz on the set of 'Bite Marks'
After director Mark Bessenger posted on Facebook that Benjamin Lutz was almost a victim of the recent arson attacks in Los Angeles, I contacted the former Plano resident and SMU alum to see just what happened. He responded with the good news that he’s OK, but described how it went down.
“Yes, my parking garage was one of the ones hit by the arsonist,” he said. “It was on New Year’s Eve and I was at my apartment getting ready for a dinner party. I heard people yelling ‘fire,’ and sure enough the car next to mine was set on fire. I was lucky enough to move my car in time and the fire didn’t spread to my apartment. Sadly, three other cars and the side of the building didn’t make it. It was a weird holiday and I couldn’t get back in my apartment for a long while. I did not lose my car, but some of my friends mistook the info as my car being blown up.”
Lutz starred in the 2011 indie horror flick Bite Marks which we featured in our coverage of the Fears for Queers film festival and its recent DVD release. The perp was arrested on Monday and will appear in court today.
Scary stuff.
UPDATE: Soon after posting this, I learned that former Dallas Voice writer Alonso Duralde and his partner Dave White were directly affected by the arsonist as their two cars were firebombed at their West Hollywood complex. A fund has been set up to help cover repairs and replacement of their vehicles (one was not insured). To contribute, click here.
We don’t Halloween is ever over for the guys at DOA Blood Bath Entertainment. As if to perpetuate the freaks and frights of last week, they feature two days worth of independent horror films in its Blood Bath 3 film festival. Local queer filmmaker Shawn Ewert even has an entry with his short Parallel Lines, but that’s no suprise. It’s Ewert and Andrew Rose of DOA who also put on Fears for Queers in the summer.
DEETS: Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. Through Sunday. $. DOABloodbath.com
You can read all about the upcoming Fears for Queers GLBT Horror Film Fest in this week’s issue, but festival co-founder Shawn Ewert wanted to invite a couple of Dallas Voice readers to check out the day’s events on the house. He’s given us two pairs of tickets to the kinda all-day festival on Saturday.
The films screen from 2 –7 p.m. at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff.
Wanna check it out? Email us here with “Scare my pants off” in the subject line to win a pair.
UPDATE: Congrats to Pam and Kenneth. They were randomly selected to win a pair each for tomorrow’s fest.
DOA Bloodbath and out filmmaker Shawn Ewert‘s Right Left Turn Productions have announced the films for this year’s Fears For Queers 2. Last year, Fears for Queers was held at the Studio Movie Grill in Addison, but this year, the one-day LGBT horror fest takes place June 25 at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff. And now we know what movies will be screening.
But first, if you’re not familiar with Fears for Queers, the fest says its mission is to “showcase a selection of independent feature and short horror films that have been written and/or directed by LBGT filmmakers and/or of gay interest.” Bloodbath has also produced other fests highlighting horror filmmakers that may not get attention elsewhere, including Pretty Scary, a festival featuring all-female directors, and Texas Blood Bath.
The films for this year’s Fears for Queers 2 are …
In today’s issue, one of our Best Bets for the upcoming week is the Fears for Queers GLBT Horror Film Festival on Saturday. The all-day event offers a mix of frights, thrillers and camp with two feature films and eight shorts. The event will benefit Youth First Texas and at a cheap $15 for the all-day festivities, that’s not a bad deal.
Ten movies and even some free nosh? That’s cheaper than “Toy Story 3″ and a medium Mr. Pibb.
After the jump, check out some trailers from films playing at Fears for Queers.
As controversy continues over Israel Luna’s new movie, “Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives,” I was fascinated to find out that another gay filmmaker is playing an instrumental role in launching a new film festival this summer in Dallas.
The fest is called “Fears for Queers,” and it is an LGBT-themed horror film festival.
Straight man Andrew Rose and gay independent filmmaker Shawn Ewert — “the folks who brought you the Texas Bloodbath Film Festival,” according to Fangoria.com — are now looking for LGBT horror films to be part of Fears for Queers, which starts June 19 at Studio Movie Grill in Addison. The deadline for submitting films for the fest is May 1. (Hmmm. I don’t think that gives me enough time to write a script, film a movie and edit it.)
I love B-movie “creature features” and ghosty movies and all those giant mutant man-eating gopher movies you see on the SyFy channel on weekends. But slasher/horror flicks have never really been my cup of tea.
But considering that Rose and Ewert intend to use this fest to raise money and awareness for Youth First Texas, I think I will go and watch some blood and gore come June 19.
Go to Fangoria.com to read their story about Fears for Queers, and then go to DOABloodbath.com or RightLeftTurnProductions.com to find out more about how to submit your movie (full-length or short) and other info.
