Open Dialogues

OPEN DIALOGUES

AT ART AND CULTURE CENTER/HOLLYWOOD

By Jeff Rusnak

Photo Courtesy of Art and Culture Center/Hollywood

Fade-in to a medium close-up of Julie Marie Wade, lit in a saturated blackand-white frame reminiscent of a 1940s Hollywood studio drama. “I’d like to have a great story about how I knew exactly who I was for a long time,” Wade begins in her caressing poet’s voice, “that I had this sort of gradual unfolding into myself. But, I think the story turns out to be great in a different way.” is completing her course work to become a

So begins the 20-minute documentary film Open Dialogues: Stories From the LGBTQ Community, with Wade the first of seven Broward County residents who share the triumphs and tribulations of their coming-out stories under the direction of award-winning South Florida filmmaker Freddy Rodriguez.

COVID-19 interrupted the original exhibition dates, though Open Dialogues the exhibition and film returned in August 2020 and is on view through October 25, 2020, at the Center, 1650 Harrison Street in Hollywood, FL. It was an Official Selection of the 2020 OUTshine evolution as a relative LGBTQ+ safe haven.

LGBTQ+ Film Festival and will be screened in November 2020 during the 35th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLiFF).

The Center and Rodriguez identified a diverse cast that participated in more than five hours of interviews. The insights and experiences of all seven participants were deeply personal while covering such universal themes as love and relationships, friends and family, threats Franchesca D’Amore, a transgender member of the Hollywood LGBTQ+ Council, shares overcoming three suicide attempts before coming to a place of self-acceptance.

Wade is an acclaimed author of 11 books who teaches creative writing at Florida International University. Dan Bassett is Assistant Principal of St. Mark’s Episcopal School and the artistic director of the South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble. A native of Jamaica, Christine Walters is Co-Chair of the South Florida Bisexual+ Network and veterinarian specializing in exotic animals. Puerto Rico native Omar Morales was a news correspondent for Telemundo and currently works at SunServe in Wilton Manors.

Two long-time Broward residents, Michael Goodman and Gary Keating, provide a generational perspective about Broward’s of violence, and religion and spirituality.

Goodman is the owner/founder of GPR/ Goodman Public Relations who also performs nationally under the stage name Michael Dean as Cher. Keating is the Director of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus, which he founded in 1986.

“Open Dialogues is one of those rare projects that truly connect,” Rodriguez says. “It has impacted me, impacted the folks we interviewed, and it impacts our audience in a deep and meaningful way. What more could you ask for from a film?”

Learn more about the Art and Culture Center/Hollywood and the short film Open Dialogues at www.ArtAndCultureCenter.org/Open-Dialogues.