Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein is a humorous portrait of one of the most important philosophers of this century. It chronicles not only the Iife but the ideas of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Born in Vienna in 1889, Ludwig W. is to me even more 'sympathetic" since I learned not only of his 'gayness" (in fact he had a pretty miserable life!), but of his passion for 'westerns" -which I almost share. It's not quite a "passion", but then my name's not Wittgenstein. The film shows his life from child-hood to his bedroom shared with gay lovers as he created his world famous theories of thought and language.

Audiences enjoyed the audacious lesbian drama Claire of the Moon, directed by Nicole Conn. The 81m has been variously assessed as a "lesbian love-story with a happy ending" (Chicago film festival) and "trashy script Br excessive tension, but it's great" (London film festival).

The powerful and exciting Being at Home with Claude, directed by Jean Beaudin, with its shocking, violent and undeniably erotic opening scene. The story concerns a male prostitute and his desperate love for and later brutal murder of his lover, Claude was also screened. Programmes of short films and videos linked around a common theme· brought out the multifaceted nature of gay/lesbian films and included 'exciting network from British artists" such as Allon Murray (Kissy Suzuki Surk) and Billie Eltringham (Lune), as well as the latest works by better known people such as Tom Kalin and Sadie Benning.

The political and social side of lesbian and gay life also found their place in programmes which dealt with homophobia, hate crimes and AIDS, gay parenting, adoption and coming out Retrospectives on Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Arzner brought out the oft denied part played by lesbians and gays in the history of the cinema.

Arpler was the most prominent woman director in Hollywood during its heyday, although officially closeted her lesbianism was no secret. The 81ms she directed include Christopher Strong (1933, a film starring Katherine Hepburne supposedly based on the life of woman flyer Amy Johnson) and Craig's Wife (1936. with Rosalind Russell) and Dance Girl Dance (1940) with Lucille Ball Br Maureen O'Hara.

.For the first time British audiences were able to enjoy 'live" US music critic Barry Walters' entertaining presentation "The fabulous world of queer pop video" and to welcome US festival organiser Jenni Olson with a selection called 'Camp for boys and girls'. Other visitors included Wieland Speck. Frank Krom and the comedian/actor Scott Capurro, Claire of the Moon.

The growing importance and reputation of the London film festival is indicated by the participation of more visiting festival programmers and journalists from Europe and the US. Also of interest is a notable increase in the films bought by distributors in Britain. Films such as Being at Home with Claude, Out on a Limb, Bob King's The Disney Years and Dangerous to know, were bought for release in cinemas or theatres. The British commercial 'Culture Channel" - Channel 4 - bought the rights to Aerlyn Weissman and Lynne Femie's documentary Forbidden Love. The films I am my own woman (Praunheim about Charlotte v. Mahlsdorf) and Nitrate Kisses by the internationally renowned experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer, who flew to London to present her film brought the festival to an end.

A feature that perhaps could be taken up by the panorama section of the Berlin Festival is that after the festival closed a selection of the films tour the country being shown in many of the major cities

Colin de la Motte-Sherman