In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Rick McCarthy, President of the Board of Directors of the Provincetown Film Society about the Provincetown International Film Festival that runs June 14th to June 18th in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Celebrating its 19th year, Sofia Coppola will receive the Filmmaker on the Edge Award coming off her recent Cannes win for Best Director. Coppola will be in attendance to accept the award in conversation with resident artist John Waters on Saturday June 17th at Provincetown's historic Town Hall and Chloë Sevigny will receive the Excellence in Acting Award in a conversation with Eugene Hernandez, deputy director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center & co-publisher of Film Comment. The festival will open on Wednesday June 14th with “Mr. Roosevelt” written, directed and starring Noël Wells (Netflix's "Master of None") and festival's Closing Night Film will be “Ingrid Goes West” starring Aubrey Plaza who will receive the festival's inaugural Next Wave Award which recognizes those who take artistic risks and have a passionate commitment to independent film. Additionally the festival announced a special presentation with Julie Klausner and Scott King the creators of Hulu's hit original series "Difficult People" and a special screening of a new documentary from acclaimed filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested with Junger in attendance as well as daily breakfast panels and more. We talked to Rick about PIFF’s theme this year “Lights, Camera & Taking Action” and his spin on our LGBTQ issues.
When asked how he sees our LGBTQ community moving forward in a Trump administration McCarthy stated, “You know you hear people say ‘I’m moving to Canada’. I am not moving anywhere. This is my country. This person who is here is not going to get in my way. I am not having to accommodate these psychopaths. We gain momentum and we have to take steps backward. I have to say and I would agree that this one I have never seen before, this backlash is totally scary. I just don’t want people to get discouraged. I want you to believe when you’re above looking down, we are moving and I don’t think we can go back to the way we were and just support each other and resist and look at all the resistance. I’ve never seen such activism. Just stay active, get involved and we just have to fight back. It’s our country too.”
Before McCarthy became President of the Board of the Provincetown Film Society Rick was President of GLAD where he helped spearhead marriage equality and many other civil rights struggles in Massachusetts and nationally. In 2008 Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick appointed him to the Governor’s Diversity Advisory Council where he served as Vice Chair. His day job is in banking where he currently serves as Regional Sales Manager at U.S. Bank. The Provincetown Film Society, Inc. (PFS) is a non-profit year-round organization and home of the Provincetown International Film Festival. PFS is dedicated to showcasing new achievements in independent film and honoring the work of acclaimed and emerging directors, producers and actors. This is the tenth year we’ll be covering the film festival for OUTTAKE VOICES™.
For Info & Tix: ptownfilmfest.org
1 comment:
I'm so impressed to learn that 60% of the films being shown are directed by women. BRAVO! Great to hear Rick's enthusiasm.
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