Description
Riverviews Artspace and the Lynchburg Diversity Center received $4,000 for an eight-part film and discussion series to raise awareness and facilitate dialogue about the LGBTQ community. The series began on February 21 and continued through the year on a monthly basis, with a break during the summer. The Diversity Center was founded in 2015 to empower, educate, support and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in Lynchburg and surrounding areas. This series marks the first time the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities awarded a grant to a project dealing with LGBTQ issues. The films were shown at the Rosel H. Schewel Theater at Riverviews Artspace with the public film and dialogue series hosted by Andi Miller, Executive Director, Lynchburg Diversity Center.
The first film, “The Celluloid Closet” (1995) was screened on February 21, 2017 (based on a book of the same name) followed by a discussion led by Miller.
The second film, "Tongues Untied" (1989) is about black gay culture with director Marlon Riggs’ own experiences as a gay man coping with the deaths of many of his friends to AIDS, It was screened on March 21, 2017. "Big Eden" and "A Small Miracle" were also shown.
