Arts Scene For Queens
Author Robin Tyler once wrote, "If Michelangelo had been straight, the Sistine Chapel would have been wallpapered."
By Ben Hogwood

Art and the gay community have long had close ties and the situation in Queens isn't any different, with a number of artists committed to their work.

A fine example of this is Bayside-bred Lovari, full name Anthony Lovari, who has combined his roles as singer, actor, performer and activist into one.

CINEMAROSA’s held its fourth annual film festival May 18 serving the LGBT community of Queens and beyond with monthly free screenings of independent films by local, national and international filmmakers. The party was a complete success with more than 100 attendees.

The artist is probably known best for his music. In 2006, his song "All I want Is You" became an FM crossover hit, going to No. 1 on Hot 96 FM in Portland, Ore. Unlike many artists, Lovari likes to focus on the positive in his music rather than the negative.

"With a lot of entertainment, if you pay attention to the music, they are promoting a lot of negative things," he said, citing examples of performers such as 50 Cent including words like "faggot" and "homo" in their lyrics.

"People wonder, 'Why are they playing this on the radio?' We're buying it and not paying attention to what is being said in these songs," he said.

Instead, Lovari writes music that will empower, rather than denigrate.

"It's all about empowering people, making people think, making them re-evaluate," he said.

While Lovari has a huge gay following, he doesn't consider himself to be a gay artist catering to one community. And he doesn't even restrict himself to one art form. He is also a SAG actor with roles in Sidney Pollack's "The Interpreter" and television shows such as "Six Degrees" and "Law and Order: Trial by Jury." He also wrote and directed "Shore Thing," a movie about a number of shark attacks in New York waters.

Lovari is also active in volunteerism and is currently co-chairing a bike ride for peace.

The documentary “Fabulous” was screened at CINEMAROSA this year.

"Basically, I feel everyone in the public eye has a responsibility to give back our time and work and educate in some way, shape or form," he said.

Hector Canonge is also a Queens filmmaker and found a different way to benefit the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Canonge is the founder and director of Cinemarosa, Queens only "queer film" program as he likes to say. The program is based at the Queens Museum of Art and Canonge presents films from local, national and international filmmakers in a variety of genres directed toward an LGBT audience. The films are shown from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. every third Sunday of the month. The directors of the films are invited to the screening and participate in a question and answer period with the audience.

Canonge said he got the idea for the program in 2004, shortly after he had returned to Queens from Princeton, N.J., to do a documentary on a theatre group that rehearsed in Woodside. While there, he noticed the growing number of LGBT immigrants in the bars and clubs but few activities in the area for them. He thought starting a film program would enable people to socialize in a different setting.

"We started very small," he said. "Basically, I was hanging the widest sheets I could get, borrowing the chairs and the projector and just doing it very home-based."

The program began in a Woodside community center and it was a struggle to get people in at first, but through word of mouth and outreach efforts, the program grew. In 2005, the program moved to the Queens Museum of Art.

Canonge is currently working on his own project, to debut June 5, about senior citizens in the LGBT community called "Senior Pride." He is also launching a zine featuring the writings of seniors in the community.

"Our society is so youth oriented, how great you look physically and how young you are. It's even more so in the gay community."

The documentary “Senior Pride” directed by Hector Canonge is an account of LGBT seniors who were interviewed during several Gay Pride parades in the city. The piece offers an intimate portrait of gay and lesbian seniors who speak about their experiences, lives and voice their opinions about youth, the Gay liberation movement and being old.

He said straight people normally have children so they still have a sense of family as they age, but in the LGBT community, that often isn't there.

"As long as you have a beautiful body, you can dance, you're in. The moment you age it becomes much harder," he said.

Another filmmaker making waves in the LGBT community is Astoria resident Brendan Fay, producer of "Saint of 9/11." The film documents the life of Father Mychal Judge, Chaplain of the Fire Department of New York who died during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. However, Fay has received notoriety lately not for a film he made, but a film made of him. In March, the president of Poland used a clip of Fay's marriage to partner Tom Moulton during a national speech against homosexual marriage.

Fay has since filed a complaint against President Lech Kaczynski for using those images.