| Closing
Night Party | Puccini’s Masked Ball al
fresco
Hmmm... What
for a theme after a closing movie like Puccini
for Beginners? Time
for a diagram: A circle representing the set of all Puccini,
another representing the set of all Sweet Sixteen parties.
Where they overlap: a
masked ball!
Hundreds of revelers
made the short U Street walk from the
Lincoln Theatre to The
Ellington apartments and took elevators
to the rooftop for an outdoor celebration of the 16th
Reel Affirmations International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
Moet & Chandon champagne was lifted in a celebratory
toast (thanks, Diageo!), and
toasty propane heaters kept the fall chill at bay (thanks, Brent
Smith and Robert Safro,
the party organizers).
One In Ten Executive Director Margaret
Murray announced the winners
of the audience polling (here are
the results), and everyone
was taken with how many films had rated so highly — and
had moved their audiences with compelling stories of glbt
lives.
“The best festival in several years,” one long-time
patron announced. Warm feelings like those overpowered the
falling temperatures, as friends reviewed their favorite films
long past midnight.
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