Pinoy film premieres in LA's OutFest and New York film fest

"ROME and Juliet," a Filipino film starring Andrea del Rosario, Rafael Rosell a nd Mylene Dizon, will have its US bicoastal premiere this month. The movie will be shown first in the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which is popularly known as OutFest, on Saturday, July 21, 12 noon at the Rege nt Showcase on 614 N. La Brea Avenue (e-mail boxoffice@outfest.org). Then the film gets its East Coast premiere at the New York International Indepe ndent Film and Video Festival on Tuesday, July 24, 10 p.m. at the Village East Cinema 7 on 2nd at 12th Street. The lesbian drama tells the story of Juliet (Andrea del Rosario), a conservativ e preschool teacher, who is engaged to be married to a young politician (Rafael Rosell). But when Juliet hires Rome (Mylene Dizon) as her wedding planner, an unexpected bond develops between the two women. The resulting dilemma provides the film's emotional crux. "Rome and Juliet" also stars Tessie Tomas, Glydel Mercado, Liza Dino, Miko Pala nca, Lui Villaruz, Joshua Deocareza, CJ Mercado, Crispin Pineda and Francis Mak il Ignacio. It will be interesting to see how a Pinoy lesbian drama is received at these US festivals. The film is directed by Connie S.A. Macatuno with Ronal d Arguelles as executive producer.