Publication date: 06/13/2002

Ms. Things and queens
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Of The Examiner Staff

The Examiner recently received a letter complaining that, although many gay and lesbian artists worked behind the scenes on "Attack of the Clones," not one is evident anywhere in the story.

That may be so, but over the next 18 days, San Francisco gets its revenge on the Jedi, as the 26th annual San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival takes over the Castro Theatre, the Herbst Theatre and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater with 289 features, shorts and documentaries from 33 countries.

In addition, filmmaker Isaac Julien receives this year's Frameline award, and the festival will screen a generous sampling of his works, including "Looking for Langston" (1988), "Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask" (1996) with "The Darker Side of Black" (1993), and "Young Soul Rebels" (1991). Mr. Julien will appear in person at a program called "In Conversation with Isaac Julien" that also includes screening of three shorts and a sneak preview of his newest documentary.

That's a lot to digest, so I'll simply start by describing a few of the nuggets I managed to catch.

Claire
Not that I've seen every film in the festival, but to my eyes Milford Thomas' new silent film, "Claire," is absolutely the pick of the pack. Shot on an antique hand-crank camera and based on an old Japanese fairy tale, "Claire" has magic and wonder to spare. Thomas updated the story to include an old gay couple who discover a beautiful "moon princess" in an ear of corn (it was a bamboo stalk in the original story). Like Murnau's "The Last Laugh," the film gets by with very few intertitles -- except in an extraordinary sequence when the girl reads a poem -- so audience members won't have to read much. "Claire" runs 57 minutes and will be accompanied by a live score. Screens 6:30 p.m. Wednesday June 26 at the Herbst Theater.