Similarly, though with very different means,  Charley Lang’s and Eric Schiff’s BATTLE FOR THE TIARA documents the titular, epic, LA-based AIDS benefit, a drag revue whose behind-the-scenes mini-dramas and deliriously high spirits valiantly confront and quell the somberness and mythic enormity of AIDS. In these clips, we get to know the history of the pageant, from its humble beginnings to the height of its success as a fundraiser and one of the hottest tickets in town – as well as the courage and fortitude of its founder and others who have contributed to its success.
Finally, It is creativity such as this, defiant and yet affirmative, that Angelenos would do well to support in redefining the battle against the disease that has itself redefined the social and spiritual landscape of the city. It is already old-hat to observe that the crisis is not over: not everyone benefits equally from the almost miraculous new therapies, nor is everyone adequately exposed to messages about prevention and protection. It is time to acknowledge as well that those communities facing the most dire incursions of AIDS (including the very young and people of color) also, typically, have the least access to sanctioned media resources (film school, the Hollywood establishment) and ready audiences. The city of the future has much to gain by embracing the promise of its intricate cultural pattern. Happily, as the works in this collection demonstrate, the artists yet to be heard from join a cultural legacy of LA-based media production offering works of profundity, great beauty, and deep humanity. |
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Shannon Kelley is Associate Director of the Documentary Film Program of the Sundance Institute, where he served previously as Associate Short Film Programmer and Senior Programming Consultant to the Documentary Film Program of the Sundance Film Festival. He is the former Director of Programming of Outfest, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and of the Morelia International Film Festival in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. |
| He has been a film festival juror at NewFest (New York), the Worldwide Shorts Film Festival (Toronto), the Huesca Film Festival (Spain) and Vidarte (Mexico City) among others, and has been a panelist at festivals including South By Southwest, Silverdocs, LA Shorts Festival, The San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. He has presented curations of short film at festivals and programs including MIX/NY, The International Short Film Festival of Mexico City, and Cornell Cinema. He has served as a freelance advisor to independent filmmakers, and to organizations including Cinematexas (Austin), the Tallgrass Film Festival (Wichita), the Artivist Film Festival, and the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival. His film criticism appears nationally in The Advocate. He resides in Los Angeles. | |
