All my gay/bi friends are talented, intelligent, and interested in myriad things that enrich their lives and mine for knowing them. I’m not friends with any of these homos who think that being gay should be their only personality trait. This trend is so nauseating and it’s actually ruining the experience of going to gay spaces irl. I can’t even remember the last time I enjoyed a gay bar, or Pride, or a drag show, or any of that. It’s nothing against the talented performers who are supposed to be the focal point of those events; it’s the damn crowds!!!

Gen Z gays are the most awful, self-absorbed, ungracious, ignorant audience members I’ve ever seen in my life. The way they interrupt the performers with their own drunken, shitty jokes?? The way they sneer at DIY costumes or try to “read” each other with snobby, mean-spirited attempts at wit? The entourage of clueless, insufferable straight women they bring with them???? Holy fuck, it boils my blood.

Trendy gays and their “queer” friends have irreparably altered what the gay scene looks and feels like. It’s not a welcoming, expressive space anymore. It’s a bitchy, poser-y nightmare that worships wealth and status above creativity or difference. I want no part of it anymore.

BART CHAT 10/1/18 Hi all, October is here, which means that it’s getting a bit cooler, Big Tex is making his appearance and DocuFest begins next week.  Last week, I mentioned that our opening night program is a screening of The Great Buster a new documentary about Buster Keaton by Peter Bogdonavich.  This is on WEDNESDAY, October 10th at 7:30 PM at The Texas Theater in Oak Cliff. There is more information on this in last week’s chat. On Thursday night, DocuFest moves to the Angelika. Our 7:00 PM film is Atomic Café, the 1988 classic film that started a new way of looking at documentary, using archival film to totally tell the story. In this case, it tells the story of how we were both oversold and undersold on the threat of the atomic bomb.  One of the three filmmakers, Jayne Loader, will be in attendance to discuss the film. Some of you may remember when she lived here in the 80’s, so come and welcome her back home. At 9:00 PM, we are showing Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story.   Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story is the official documentary about a maverick, Manchester comedian Frank Sidebottom, and the life and art of his hidden creator, Chris Sievey. Frank Sidebottom, remembered fondly as the man with the papier-mâché head, was the court jester of the Manchester music and comedy scene for over 25 years, but only a privileged few knew the man inside. Being Frank tells a twisted tale of split personalities - a suburban superhero with a fanatical desire to preserve the myth he created, and eventually, his having to battle against being consumed by his alter ego. The film is innovative in its visual approach, as are many of the DocuFest films are this year.   On Friday we have a series of free legal workshops at the Angelika. Dallas Bar Entertainment, Art & Sports Law" Boot Camp" legal panels. (Free but you need to sign up) 2-3 pm:  Fair Use -- what can you legally borrow and use in your documentary? 3-4 pm:  Editing  -- How do you find the story in your footage and edit ethically? 4-5 pm:  Distribution -- how and where can you get your documentary distributed and what do the deals look like? Panelists include: Kurt Engfehr:  Editor and Producer of more than 20 well-known documentaries with wide distribution.  Work includes Editor of Fahrenheit 911, Bowling for Columbine and Trumbo; and producer of Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and the upcoming American Dream: The Movie. John Humphrey:  Second Vice President of I Am Second and producer of the upcoming Loud, Krazy Love documentary regarding Brian Welch from the band Korn, which uses a combination of traditional distribution and DIY techniques. Melissa Haizlip:  filmmaker of the documentary Mr Soul! Doug Butler and Sally Helppie:  Lawyers who produce films and who are each in the middle of editing their own documentaries. L.A.-based entertainment attorney Greg Victoroff and Austin/New York entertainment attorney Deena Kalai.   Friday night, we have a special screening of Steve Mims new film about the senate race called Run Like the Devil at 7:00 PM.  Steve will be here and we hope this gets you worked up for the upcoming midterms. This screening will probably sell out, so get your tickets now.  After that, we are showing something that is very special to me. Mr. Soul is a film about a TV show hosted by Ellis Haizlip, a gay, black man who told it like it was. It was kind of like a black Tonight Show, with an edge from 1968 -1973. Some of the excerpts from the show that make it into the film include Muhammad Ali’s brash truth-telling, Al Green’s musical sermons, Alvin Ailey dancers’ elegant flourishes, James Baldwin’s literary mastermind, Stevie Wonder, Farrakhan, Harry Belafonte, Toni Morrison, Donny Hathaway, Nikki Giovanni, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Maya Angelou. The filmmaker, Melissa Haizlip, will be in attendance. Do not miss this!!! I will share the Saturday and Sunday films in next week’s Bart Chat. We have many filmmakers coming to the fest this year, so come and stay the weekend with us. What is going on this week? It’s October which means that the Angelika’s Hitchtober is off and running. This Thursday, October 4th, they are showing Rear Window which is a really great film. The Texas Theater is showing a film from one of my favorite documentary filmmakers, Robert Greene called Bisbee ’17. A lost story about a small town, it is a wonderful mix of narrative and documentary storytelling. It screens Friday and Saturday night—I will be there on Saturday for the Q&A with Robert Greene. They are also showing Steel Magnolias on Friday. On Tuesday night the Cedars Alamo screens Videodrone, David Croneberg’s classic film about media (with a nod to Marshall Mcluhen) that stars Debra Harry. On Sunday they are showing the original Dracula. For those producers out there, on Tuesday night there is a great program from The Dallas Producers Association called The Future of Story Telling And that is all.  Have a great week and see you at DocuFest Bart Weiss,