By Liz Dawson

When Lezbeout asked me to do a review of the Provincetown Film Festival I jumped at the chance ( as any red blooded Lesbian would).  I had heard so much about Provincetown, but had never been.  I eagerly looked forward to seeing some very well made Gay & Lesbian movies.

Provincetown was a fabulous back drop for the Film Festival. From multi-colored flags hanging above the small main street to the beautiful ocean views.  The small Cape town lives up to it's gay friendly reputation!  Yes, the people on the streets were very mixed (gay & straight) but the lesbian & gay couples looked to me to be very comfortable expressing their sexuality. 

I quickly realized the organizers of the Film Festival know what they were doing!  Everything was very organized, which made it easy for a film festival first timer.  There was a schedule of where and when everything was going on that made it easy to plan your day.  The movies were running from 10am to 12am (quite a few hours past my bed time).  In one day a person, if they were a speed walker, could see at least 5 movies. The one and only thing I found to be a drag was the distance from one theatre to the other.  I have not walked as or as fast as I did that weekend.  Yes, the theatres were all on the main street, but it was a very long street! 

I luckily met a couple of  women that had been to the F.F several times and they steered me to some must see/do activities.  Besides the nonstop movies there were meet and greets, cocktail parties, and Q&A sessions with directors and producers for the TRUE movies buffs. 

There was a mix of all types of movies, but I was there to see lesbian movies so that is what I did. Some must see movies:

#1. Hands down "Tipping The Velvet" was the best movie I saw during the F.F. Typically the book is better then the movie but not in this case!  I enjoyed moments of the movie that I found dragged in the book. 

#2. Has to be "Prey For Rock And Roll" with Gina Gershon. This movie had was about an aging female rockier in a band waiting for their big break.  This movie had everything you would expect a band to deal with sex, drugs, and death.

#3. "Lesbian Shorts"  was a mix of a few different movies but the big hits were "D.E.B.S" and "The 10 Rules".  I even hear they are making a full length film out of "D.E.B.S" so you should be able to see that in theatres soon.

#4.  One documentary slips into my top list  "No Secrets Anymore:The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon" .  This movie is about a couple who truly made a difference in  lesbian civil rights.  The film's style wasn't as dry as some documentaries.