"Viva Pedro!", A Tribute to Pedro Almodóvar,  presented by Emerging Cinemas.

All about my Mother

This second film in a series of 8 within Viva Pedro!, a Tribute to Pedro Almodovar presented by Emerging Cinemas.  Penelope Cruz stars as a single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his 17th birthday as he runs to seek an actress's autograph. She goes to Barcelona to find the lad's father, a transvestite named Lola who does not know he has a child. First she finds her friend, Agrado, also a transvestite; through him she meets Rosa, a young nun bound for El Salvador, and by happenstance, becomes the personal assistant of Huma Rojo, the actress her son admired. She helps Huma manage Nina, the co-star and Huma's lover, and she becomes Rosa's caretaker during a dicey pregnancy. With echoes of Lorca, "All About Eve," and "Streetcar Named Desire," the mothers (and fathers and actors) live out grief, love, and friendship. 2000 Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Film.  Cannes Film Festival Award Winner - Best Director. 

At Cinema Paradiso 7pm  

CINEMA PARADISO VIVA PEDRO FAST PASS:  See all 8 films featured in Viva Pedro plus Almodovar’s highly touted new film VOLVER on Opening Night of the  21^st Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.    

Tickets also sold separately for each film in VIVA Pedro:  $8 general admission, $7 seniors/students, $5 FLIFF Members.  

The Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (MDGLCC) will feature syndicated columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Leonard Pitts, Jr. at its monthly luncheon on Wednesday, September 13^th.  Sponsored by chamber member Davis, Hellman & Suarez, the event takes place at the Radisson Miami Hotel and includes a pre-luncheon Expo for organizations and companies to present information and materials to the attendees. Twice each week, millions of readers around the country seek out the insightful, sometimes controversial, words of Mr. Pitts, who has proven to be an unwavering champion of fairness and equality.  The response to his column on the September 11th attacks, “We’ll Go Forward From This Moment,” an angry and defiant open letter to the terrorists, circulated the globe via the Internet and generated upwards of 30,000 emails.  It was also quoted by Congressman Richard Gephardt as part of the Democratic Party’s weekly radio address.

For years, Pitts has spoken out against discrimination, with several columns devoted to anti-gay bias and bigotry, from the religious right to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.  In a 2001 column about the military’s policy, Pitts stated, “It's not an issue of publicizing private things, but rather one of being - if you'll pardon the expression - straight with the people around you…If being forced to hide who you are is a humiliating thing, I think it ultimately says more about a society than about the people who move through it like shadows, seen but not really seen…There is, you have to admit, something silly and self-deluding in the idea that you can cordon off a hidden culture, that you can keep them over there separate from us over here. How many gay preachers, police, ballplayers, admirals and generals have to come forward before we get it?”

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger (left) presents Leonard Pitts Jr. with the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary.

Among the many honors bestowed upon Pitts, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2004 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1992.  GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination) presented him with a 2002 Media Award as Outstanding Newspaper Columnist.

With a roster of more than 400 members, MDGLCC is the largest not-for-profit corporation in the Dade county for gay/lesbian and “gay-friendly” businesses. With membership on the rise, the Chamber's mission is to promote a unified and thriving, gay and gay-friendly, business and professional community throughout Miami-Dade County.  Their goals are to promote networking within the existing gay and gay-friendly business and professional community, to promote business opportunities for Chamber members, to promote Miami as a year-round, gay and gay-friendly tourist destination, to provide resources for their members and to provide outreach from our community to other organizations.  Tickets are priced at $35.00 for MDGLCC members and $45.00 for prospective members or at the door.  Reservations are required.   The expo begins at 10:30 AM, followed by the luncheon at noon, with all taking place at the Radisson Miami Hotel, 1601 Biscayne Boulevard.  For further information or to purchase tickets, please call (305) 573-4000.  Details on the MDGLCC are available on the website at www.gogaymiami.com .

Metro Pictures: Part 2 

You may be wondering if this show has to deal with the Metro Golden Mayer Production Company…no.  Metro Pictures “refers to snapshots of the city” and that the works “define, interpret and/or reject the city.”  This show is wide open to interpretation and includes stuff like a set of musical vests that “only when two participants wear them…do the sculptures emit sound.”  The exhibit is on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art until September 17^th.  The Museum is located at 770 NE 125^th Street in North Miami.  You can either call 305*893-6211 or visit them on the web at www.mocanomi.org for further information.