Philly isn’t an easy town to keep a film festival running in — let alone for 16 years. But even though QFest is going strong, festival artistic director Raymond Murray is making sure there’s a little something for everyone at the city’s celebration of gay and lesbian films.
“Change was kind of the general theme for this year,” says Murray. “We wanted to reinvigorate it.” Some of those changes involve a record 10 world premieres; a focus on Latin American productions; and a selection of Beat-era films, including “Howl,” starring James Franco as Allen Ginsberg.
As for the selection process, a good story goes a long way at QFest. “So many of these films are independent, so they don’t have the shine of a Hollywood film. But if you can believe in and get to know the characters, that makes up for a lot of the technical things,” says Murray. “We take gambles when we can. A lot of the films are a little lighter, like romantic comedies, and outrageous stuff, like ‘Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives.’”
