What started as an excuse for staff members from Reeling, the gay and lesbian film festival, to socialize with each other, has turned into a highly anticipated twice-monthly event. ‘Dyke Delicious,’ which organizers tout as ‘evenings of lesbolicious cinematic excitement’ returns on Saturday, Jan. 8 for its second year of screenings. Filmmaker Sharon Zurek, who heads up the series, says that the since the group’s initial screening last April the evenings, which begin with a catered social hour, have evolved into a great way for women to meet each other aside from bars and see some great lesbian-centric short films, videos and features. ‘Really, there’s nothing more exciting than a full house of women on a Saturday night,’ she says with a laugh.
With that as a first priority, Zurek tries to put together programs that will attract a wide variety of women. ‘I talk to my friends about what to screen,’ she says, ‘I talk to other women in the film community to get their pulse on it and try not to think of any particular age group. Older women, younger women, women of color—I ask all of them.’ Zurek added that she is always looking for screening suggestions—and volunteers. ‘We have a handful of volunteers that help with programming or during the actual screenings and we definitely count on them to make this work.’ Also, she quickly emphasizes, men are more than welcome at the series. ‘We had several groups of men come to see films,’ Zurek says, adding, ‘In fact, we’re going to start a quarterly program of gay men’s films in April and we’re going to call that Gentlemen’s Quarterly.’
The all-volunteer program, which utilizes the Chicago Filmmakers space (‘They are very supportive,’ Zurek says), also involves many local community groups. The Lesbian Community Cancer Project (LCCP), for example, will sponsor a Valentine’s Day event in February. The series is scheduled to continue through March—and will extend beyond that depending on its attendance. ‘It’s become like a clubhouse,’ Zurek enthuses, ‘We have a new screening room—we’re dolled up now for our second kick off. You’ll see lots of beautiful pictures, beautiful women, and have a great time!’
The Dyke Delicious Series screens every other Saturday with three programs scheduled this winter: ‘Feisty Girls’ on Jan. 8, ‘A Night of Romance’ on Feb. 13 (Sunday screening in support of LCCP fundraising Saturday event), and Bad Girls are Back! on March 13. Tickets are $7 and are on sale at Chicago Filmmakers (5243 N. Clark St., 2nd Floor) starting at 5pm the evening of the showings. VIP passes are also available. 773-293-1447 (further info)
See www.dykediva.com or see www.chicagofilmmakers.org.