Your Daily SIFF: Talking to the boys from 8:The Mormon Proposition; Gay-La tonight and much more!

AND, here’s some photos of stuff from days past including some shots from last Thursday’s very fun after party for Undertow at Pony (and later, at Low-Fi)

Ed Norton on the Carpet. Photo by Casey Broadwater.

Photo OF Michael Strangeways at the Undertow after party at Pony last Thursday. Photo by Shauna Hargrove…proof she is an excellent photographer…

Photo OF Shauna Hargrove at the Undertow party at Pony by Michael Strangeways…physical proof of MY photographic skills…and the lack thereof…

Les and Gaetano at Low Fi, the afterparty, afterparty from Undertow…everyone involved in this photo is a little worse for wear; it’s about 1:15am at this point…Another bad photo by Michael Strangeways with apologies to Les and Gaetano. Sadly, I didn’t get a photo of the drunk film producer who felt me up in the cab on the way to Lo-Fi…then again, he was trying to feel up EVERYONE much to the chagrin of some of our straight comrades in arms…

Tyler Barrick and Spencer Jones

I had a great opportunity yesterday afternoon to sit down with the very cute “stars” of the documentary, 8: The Mormon Proposition at the W Hotel and have a little chat about the film and the effect it’s had on their lives. Spencer Jones and Tyler Barrick are the public face for the film, a couple who after a 6 year long relationship decided to take advantage of the decision by the California Supreme Court to allow gay marriage, to make their love official and they married in a tearful ceremony at San Francisco City Hall on June 17, 2008. Their heartfelt ceremony was captured on video and was featured on newscasts across the country and became a huge hit on YouTube. But, their marriage rights were stripped away in the November 2008 elections when California’s Proposition 8 was passed which banned same-sex marriage. Already at work on a documentary on the high suicide rates of gay Mormon teens, filmmakers Reed Cowan and Steven Greenstreet uncovered strong evidence that the Mormon Church was instrumental in the passing of Prop 8 with a clandestine and intricately organized and financed campaign that rallied millions of their congregation as well as millions of dollars. The high profile attention paid to Spencer and Tyler, as well as the fact that both men come from deeply Mormon families, made them the perfect choice to be the “face” of this documentary. They, and Tyler’s mom Linda Stay, offer compelling and emotional testimony on what it’s like to be gay and Mormon and denied rights by not only your church and your state, but by your own family.

My tape recorder was not working and I’m terrible at taking notes, so I can’t give you a verbatim account of our conversation, but we had a great time talking about their experiences with the film, both making it as well as marketing it, which has taken them all over the country. I asked Tyler where his mom was, since she is also featured in the film, and has acquired her own coterie of fans, and he admitted that EVERYONE asks them, “Where’s your mom? We Love Her!” and revealed she was in Los Angeles doing press for the film. I asked if she was going to go all Dina Lohan on them and try to turn them into Lindsay, and they both laughed and I suggested they are the new “Gay Mormon Superstars” and need to promote themselves as such, though both men, and Linda Stay have resigned from the LDS Church. The couple seemed to be happy to promote the film, and spread its message, but I could sense they would be happy to get back to “real” life, (and they’ve been together for 8 years and seemed very much in love; these two really ARE the poster children for gay marriage…they radiate marital bliss!) They continue their press tour next week with the opening of the film in select markets across the country, and a big gala in San Francisco, but the film will not have a huge run in dozens of theaters. It’ll play in art house theaters in some major cities, but the film comes out on DVD on July 13 and On Demand will start on June 18. Neither Spencer or Tyler had heard if the film had a tv date set but had heard rumors that negotiations were in progress for an eventual television screening. I urge you to check the film out; it’s emotionally powerful and a strong indictment against the Mormon Church and all non-profit, non-taxed religious organizations that skirt the law by funding political campaigns. It’s done playing at SIFF and there doesn’t seem to be another screening scheduled in the Seattle area, but I’m sure the film will eventually come back to town, and it is a definite rent/purchase when it comes out on DVD. It’s a must see.

Yes, no offense to the actual film which I haven’t seen, but, I’m as tired of plugging the Gay-La, Violet Tendencies, which happens tonight at 7pm at the Egyptian with the after party at Re-bar, as you are reading about it, but it’s the last shout out, and it will be fun…

If you’re not a big, gay movie fan but love old, silent films with music written and performed by an iconic musician who happens to be gay, then a better bet for you tonight might be the screening of the 1916 silent adventure film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, based on the Jules Verne classic, that features an original score written and performed by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields with help from organist David Hegarty and Daniel Handler (aka, Lemony Snicket) on the accordion. It goes down tonight, at 7:30 pm at the beautiful Paramount Theatre on their huge screen and it’s a must see/hear event for fans of silent film and fans of Mr Merritt.

That has to be it for now, but I’ll be back with details from the Gay-La after party and more stuff to see on the final weekend of SIFF, including the local premiere of the controversial, Ticked Off Trannies With Knives!

-Michael Strangeways