Sundance Gay Film Dispatch 1: Reichen, The Queer Lounge, Eating Out 3, and more

Riechen Lehmkuhl at the Queer Lounge 

After a mellow opening Thursday night at the Sundance Film Festival – with opening film In Bruges – and rowdy shindig at concurrent festival Slamdance, things have sparked to life here in Park City, Utah. Celebs are appearing, much to the delight of paparazzi stalking Main Street – I walked alongside Alan Rickman, who attracted a handful of shutterbugs. Allegedly, Ang Lee was spotted drinking a Gatorade in Albertsons' supermarket. Colin Farell is all over the place. And I ran into High School Musical 2 co-star Kaycee Stroh in the Reaction swag lounge admiring Unstoppable brand "F*ck You" hats. Not that she can wear them just yet. "When I'm no longer with Disney, totally!"

Ah, swag, another "S" word that entails part of the Sundance hubbub. Being that today wasn't a heavy movie day for me – the queer films start bowing on Saturday (including Amy Redford's The Guitar, Isaac Julien's Derek, and Bruce LaBruce's Otto, or Up With Dead People) – I spent time investigating the numerous Main Street swag enclaves.

At the Revaleskin Rejuvenation Lounge I was treated to an EarTherapy consultation, during which my ears were inspected and massaged; Her Native Roots survival kits; cool organic Eco Gear, and of course Revaleskin products, which utilize uber-antioxidant-loaded coffee bean berries. At The Reaction Hospitality Lounge & In Touch Café at STEREO had some primo stuff including Triple Five Soul jackets and new Kenneth Cole scents (sales of which benefit Hope USA and Habitat for Humanity).

Meanwhile, The Queer Lounge opened its doors. And the evening ended with the Outfest Filmmaker Party at the Heineken Lounge, where Eating Out producer Michael J. Shoel told me an Eating Out 3 is in the works, to be co-written by Q. Allan Brocka and EO2 director Philip Bartell … Yes, things have just started and it only gets gayer from here!

Saturday morning kicked off with the press and industry screening of Amy Redford’s The Guitar, in which out actress Saffron Burroughs portrays a milquetoast New Yorker who, after discovering she has terminal cancer, goes credit card happy and has hot lesbian (and bisexual three-way!) sex. I found it entertaining, which seems to be the minority opinion asofar. “I thought it was dishonest,” scoffed a colleague. Well, sure. It’s fiction.

And off to the Queer Lounge for the PlanetOut Short Film Awards shindig. In fact there was a lot of lounging going on over the weekend. The Donnas performed a juicy set on Saturday night as part of the party for Isaac Julien’s Derek, a fantastic documentary/retrospective of the late Derek Jarman’s queer landmark work.

Savage Grace director Tom Kalin

It was back to the QL Sunday for the GLAAD Media Award nominations party, where Laurel Holloman (The L Word), Rex Lee (Entourage), Todd Herzog (Survivor: China), Reichen Lehmkuhl (The Amazing Race), Jason Stuart (Coffee Date), and Maurice Jamal (director of Dirty Laundry) appeared. Amongst the nominees: The Bubble, Stardust, and While New Thing in the Outstanding Film categories; here!’s The DL Chronicles and Logo’s Daphne in Outstanding TV Movie or Mini-series; The Boys, Midnighter, and American Virgin in the Outstanding Comic Book.

At the GLAAD event I ran into Lehmkuhl. When I mentioned I had interviewed his ex, Lance Bass, about Bass’ Out of Sync book recently, Lehmkuhl replied, “You should interview me – I have LOTS to say about him. It’s only fair!”

On the way into the Kenneth Cole Reaction House and InTouch Café for more goodies, I ran into Perez Hilton. Craziest thing he’s seen at Sundance so far? “The blackout!” Indeed, there was an hour-long blackout on Main Street on Friday night. And apparently someone fell off a balcony.

Although the swag and its givers can be quite attractive, the real attention and kudos should go to the companies that actually sponsor the Sundance film festival itself and acknowledge the filmmakers. A few talents refused swag, including Tilda Swinton. “They tried, but I refused,” she told me after Derek’s premiere.

Next: the ladies and gentlemen and transgender folks who brunch!