Audience Participation

Last night I was fortunate enough to have been invited to the opening of the LGBT Film Festival as part of the BFI. It was at the Odeon West End (literally across from the larger Odeon where he new Robert Patterson film was premiering). I went along without any preconceptions and was delighted to find out that bookending the festival was to be either a gay male or a lesbian themed film. It was a full house and a real divide of men and women so the jury was out over what it could be. Soon enough the lights went down and a small woman made a speech which seemed to last for the duration of the festival, inviting every single individual involved in the festival and then the film itself.

Well, firstly I must say, it’s been a long time since i’ve seen that number of people lined up on a stage since Pricilla the musical (strange seeing as this was a film festival), however it was really nice to see the people behind the camera being celebrated as much as the obvious talent (although they had their place next to the crew on this stage).

The film was introduced as ‘The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister’, which was apparently the product of painstaking research into a recently discovered diary of a wealthy land owner who lived over one hundred and fifty years ago. It was a fascinating piece and (contrary to people’s opinions afterwards) I really liked the script. It was a witty, warm, genuine and deep look at lesbianism of the time.

I could go into an in depth analysis of the film but apparently it will be on BBC 2 later this year so I advise you all to watch it if you can. What I want to talk about is the genuine excitement, fun and interaction an audience had with the work when they watched it together on a large screen.

Any film or piece of TV work has so much effort, love and energy pumped into it that it almost feels sad to know that it is shown, watched and forgotten within its duration (usually by a few people in front of a TV with who knows what happening around it). It’s so refreshing to see something like that in a dark, airy auditorium with a collection of like minded people who are there to genuinely enjoy the work, not flick channels or use the work as a means to pass the time over a TV dinner.

At various points throughout the film people whooped, people laughed, people applauded and it seemed people genuinely connected to the work far more than I’ve seen at any cinematic film or TV program I’ve known. It was truly brilliant and felt so unbelievably just how a film should be viewed. With love, with compassion and with genuine enthusiasm.

Regardless of the theme of the film, I think what can be taken away from last night’s experience is that with the right audience behind the right show, you can take so much more away from it. I am not a lesbian, I didn’t live one hundred and fifty years ago and I am not a woman, but I really connected with what it was to be all three. If I’d watched this at home, chances are those points would have made me ponder ‘I wonder what’s on Comedy Central’.