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Film fest wraps up with the tender 'Edie & Thea'

Published online on Sunday, Sep. 20, 2009

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No question about it: If you're looking for the most emotional crowd at a movie screening today in Fresno, it will be the one turning out for "Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement."

The film won't be for everybody. This acclaimed documentary, which closes the 20th annual Reel Pride gay and lesbian film festival, would likely not be enthusiastically embraced by some segments of an electorate divided over gay marriage. But for the enthusiastic crowds turning out for the last offering in this year's installment of Fresno's largest film festival, it's sure to be a powerful experience, especially with the director and cast members in attendance.

I caught up via e-mail with the film's directors, Greta Olafsdottir and Susan Muska, to ask about the film, which screens at 8 p.m. at the Tower Theatre.

Question: How do you describe "Edie & Thea"?

Answer: First and foremost, it's a love story about two beautiful women of privilege, memorializing their lifelong romance and set against a backdrop of cultural change.

How did you meet Edie and Thea?

We met Edie and Thea through Brendan Fay, a friend of ours who runs Civil Marriage Trail, an organization that brings gay and lesbian couples to Canada so that they can be legally married. We met E&T in May of 2007, just before they went to Toronto to be married. At that time, the closest U.S. location for legal same-sex marriage for New Yorkers was California. Now of course that has changed.

How long did it take to put it together?

It has taken just over two years to make the documentary.

How many festivals has it played? What's the reaction been?

We just started the festival circuit in late June, opening at Frameline33 in San Francisco and then Outfest in L.A. We've got a lineup of about 25 festivals this fall, both LGBT and "mainstream" ones such as the Hamptons International Film Festival.

The response has been overwhelming: at Frameline we had a standing ovation at both screenings, over six minutes each time, and at Outfest the film won the audience award for Outstanding Documentary Feature.

Edie has received letters from viewers, and we've had lots of mail from folks who have seen the film and loved it, and those who want to see it and want to know when it will be in their area or on DVD. Edie has been interviewed on radio talk shows in Germany and in Ireland.

What's your take on the gay-lesbian film festival circuit these days? Is it weaker or stronger than five years ago?

We can go back further than that. We were on the LGBT film festival circuit in 1998-99 with our first documentary, "The Brandon Teena Story." The festival circuit has changed in that it has gotten bigger -- there are a lot more film festivals, LGBT and in general -- but the passion and frisson that characterizes the audiences at LGBT festivals was hot and present 10 years ago, and remains so today.

What's nice to see is that there are smaller festivals serving underserved audiences, such as the BOLD film festival in Vancouver, and Pike's Peak Lavender Film Festival, because, as we all know, many of the films you'll see at film festivals in general will never get a wider distribution than festival screenings.

Have you ever shown a film in Fresno before?

No, we haven't, but we are looking forward to it!

What do you hope audiences take away from your film?

We hope that audiences leave the theater inspired by Edie & Thea's passionate zest for love and life, and that the film also arouses in folks a sense of outrage over the fact that all couples in the United States are not granted equal rights to love and marry under the law as it stands.