aGLIFF 2010 Daily Dispatch: Day One, or Hermine WHO?!

What a night, huh? Having a tropical storm camp out over Austin didn't stop the festivities at aGLIFF's Opening Night. While a few empty seats were spotted in the front row, and not a few drenched people including yours truly, the opening-night film was a rousing success.

Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls was the crowd pleaser it was expected to be. This historical retrospective wrapped up in a performance/tribute had something for everyone; music, activism, comedy and a whole lot of heart.  But what impressed me is yet again, aGLIFF programs director Jake Gonzales pulled off a technological magic trick. The Topp Twins themselves couldn't be there in person but were ready and willing to do a web chat with the audience. The Alamo staff was up for the challenge but kept insisting they couldn't promise it would work, and unfortunately a web chat was not possible.

Dunno if that pesky Hermine was part of the problem but that didn't stop Jake.  He was using Skype on his iPhone to talk to the twins while setting it up, so simply held his iPhone to the microphone and the Q&A was on. Turns out the Topp Twins played the Cactus Cafe some years ago. And they're working on another U.S. tour. At the end of the Q&A they sang us a short song in Maori while the thunder boomed overhead for us.

Then it was off to Annie's on Congress for the opening-night party. I didn't get around to food, and I ended up talking with Austin Film Festival staffers David Gil and Sam Lopez, as well as aGLIFF Documentary Competition Jury member Jean Lauer -- who's also the program director for Cine Las Americas.  Jean, David and Sam are pictured above. 

So what's on the agenda for tonight? I'm planning to see El Último Verando de la Boyita (The Last Summer of the Boyita) and The Four Faced Liar. But I'm jealous of those who will be seeing the colorfully titled Viola di mare (The Purple Sea) and specifically Violet Tendencies, as it stars Mindy Cohn (Natalie from The Facts of Life) as "'the oldest living fag hag who is looking for true love in New York."  The fact that the director of Violet Tendencies directed last year's closing-night film The Big Gay Musical helps, too. 

See you there? I'll be around, this time with a better camera than my Blackberry so I'll have more pictures.

aGLIFF runs September 7 through 12 at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. For more information, go to the aGLIFF website, Twitter page or Facebook page (which has many trailers linked to it).