Dear Dawn,
I’m writing to express my concern about the Rich Raddon/Yes on 8 donation issue. As a FIND member and a filmmaker who has benefited from the amazing support of the LA Film Festival and FIND’s programs in general, I felt a mixture of shock, anger, disappointment and ultimately confusion by Rich’s actions and FIND’s initial response.
FIND’s statement that the organization does not police the individual opinions of any employee, member, or filmmaker is something I can get behind. But as the days pass, it is hard to ignore the speculation and fear over what his actions and FIND's statement mean for the future of FIND and the festival. You don’t have to be gay or lesbian to be disturbed by this painful turn of events and one of the reasons I am writing is because I don’t want this to be pigeonholed as a “gay filmmaker” issue. Anyone who has experienced minority status in this country can see that tolerance for diversity is not the same thing as advocating equality. People can pay lip service to diversity all they want -- and in Hollywood they often do -- but it is their actions that ultimately count.
I have been waiting for over a week to see how FIND will tackle this issue. And as I read about the controversy on blogs, in the LA Times, and even by right-wing conservative columnists (Michelle Malkin mentioned it in the National Review Online), the lack of movement from FIND and its silence becomes more deafening. I worry how this will play out for a festival I love – both as a filmmaker and as an audience member. I don’t have a film up for festival consideration this year but if I did, I would feel extremely conflicted about submitting it. I know that when I receive the mass emails from FIND these days, I look at the organization with a wariness that I did not have just two weeks ago. Same goes for the Spirit Awards. I am trying not to take one man's actions out on the entire organization, but I have to admit it is hard to separate when I have so little information to work with.
As a festival filmmaker and FIND member, I expect to hear from Rich and the FIND leadership about this matter in a forum where he can also hear from FIND filmmakers who have been affected by his actions. There is a lot of anger and confusion out there and transparent communication both ways seems to be the first step toward addressing it. These are my thoughts. What are yours?
Sincerely,
Grace Lee