A Parting
reunion

It was a Parting Glances reunion Monday night in Los Angeles, when the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation screened a restored print of the gay classic to a packed house.

Cast members Steve Buscemi, Kathy Kinney, John Bolger, and Richard Ganoung were all in attendance at the screening, which was part of Outfest, the Los Angeles gay and lesbian film festival. Following the movie, the actors answered audience questions on the making of the 1986 dramedy.

The film was returned to its original luster thanks to the Legacy Project, which works to preserve LGBT celluloid classics for future generations.

Parting Glances, a witty two-day romp through the lives of Manhattan hipsters living and loving in the midst of the AIDS crisis, was written and directed by Bill Sherwood, who himself died of AIDS complications in 1990.

The mood at Outfest was more celebratory than somber. Buscemi, who portrayed an HIV-positive rock musician in the film, was amazed at the screening's turnout at the Directors Guild of America's theater on Sunset Boulevard.

"I can't tell you what it means to see this film and to have this place so filled," Buscemi told the audience. "It's just so moving to me."

According to Ganoung, who played sensitive protagonist Michael, the restored Parting Glances will also be screened October 29 at New York City's Lincoln Center. (The Advocate)