The Out Takes 2002 Lesbian and Gay Film Festival starts in Auckland this evening with an opening-night extravaganza and a film which has drawn comparisons to the longtime cult favourite The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch started life as an off-Broadway hit show for its writer, director and star John Cameron Mitchell, playing an East German transsexual rock'n'roller displaced to the United States.
The stage version had travelled widely before Mitchell adapted it for the screen, the film winning him the best director and audience awards at last year's Sundance Film Festival.
Among the other films in the festival is the local low-budget, video-shot feature All About Reinalda.
Described as "New Zealand's first full-length queer feature since 1979" and a "camp homage to [Joan] Crawford and [Bette] Davis", its publicity also boasts "a cast of thousands, the first movie ever shot in the Speaker's Chair at Parliament and on the Good Morning Show set."
As well as director-actor Richard Lambert - who plays the "homophobic French lesbian pop star" of the title - the film's cast includes MP Georgina Beyer and actress Elizabeth McRae.
The festival's programme includes 20 features and documentaries, which will be screening at Sky City Theatre (tonight's venue) and Village Queen St until June 3. The festival is also screening at Wellington's Paramount from next Thursday before heading to South Island main centres.
Hedwig heads festival lineup
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