Friday, June 4, 1999

Article entitled
Opposite of Gloom: Time to be Gaily Gay
(New Festival Wrap-up)

If asked to describe the mood of the 11th annual New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival based only on its opening and closing features, this year's events might be characterized as Giddy Gay Lite. (Both films) partake of the same heady spirit that has characterized recent semi-mainstream films...

But between these bookends the festival has its share of serious and cerebral work. One of the most original features, Scott King's Treasure Island is a mock 1940s spy drama in which two American code breakers construct a false identity and devise military information to be planted on a dead soldier's body. The stylish back-and-white film turns into an eerie ghost story exploring oppressive racial and sexual stereotypes in wartime America with deadpan humor.

- Stephen Holden