MASSACHUSETTS FILM FESTIVAL PREMIERE OF “THE GAY MARRIAGE THING” DIRECTED BY MA RESIDENT STEPHANIE HIGGINS
BOSTON, MA – Several weeks after the Massachusetts legislature voted down a hotly debated marriage amendment, the highly anticipated debut documentary from award-winning filmmaker, Stephanie Higgins, screens in October at the 2005 New England Film and Video Festival. “The Gay Marriage Thing,” which was completed in late March, presents the politics, the piety, and the people embroiled in and affected by the debate over same-sex marriage. The New England Film and Video Festival marks the documentary’s Massachusetts film festival premiere. Director Stephanie Higgins and Executive Producer Lorre Fritchy will be in attendance for Q’A following the screening.
“It is encouraging there are so many documentaries being done about this subject, but this is the one the people of Massachusetts can all watch together,” explains Higgins, “it focuses not just on facts, but on faces. The film is interested in every day people, cutting through the debating and posturing to find honesty.”
Gayle and Lorre, 30-something college sweethearts who marked their 15th anniversary a year after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled a ban on same- sex marriage unconstitutional, are at the heart of this documentary scrapbook. From the protests outside the Massachusetts State House, to the churches of the Rev. Rich Wiesenbach and Carlton Smith, to the historic chambers echoing with State Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein’s perspective, a wide range of voices swirl around Gayle and Lorre as they approach May 17, 2004, the first date same-sex couples could file for marriage licenses in Massachusetts.
“People from all walks of life connect deeply with this film,” says Higgins, “and with a possible ballot initiative for 2008, it is an important time for citizens to be connected.”
THE GAY MARRIAGE THING DIRECTOR STEPHANIE HIGGINS AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER LORRE FRITCHY WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE Sunday, October 9 at 1:30 PM Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St, Brookline, MA, Box Office: 617-734 -2501 New England Film and Video Festival website: www.befva.org/nefvf.html Adults $10.00, Students $8.00, on sale at the Coolidge Corner Theatre box office
For more information, contact the director, Stephanie Higgins, SassyMedia, PO Box 132, Belmont MA 02478, 617-821-5590, [email protected], or visit www.thegaymarriagething.com.
