“Things spun wildly out of hand,” one attendee says. Calling their experience “traumatic and horrible. We were afraid for our lives.”
While the Brussels fest has built a reputation on boisterous screenings animated by ribald interaction – with a smart aleck vibe akin to “Mystery Science Theater 3000” and a loyal audience that leans male and geeky – a younger, queerer, more female-skewing crowd flocked to the Saturday premiere to see Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian ignite on the big screen, though the stars were not in attendance. Unfortunately, sparks flew in the 1,400-seat auditorium.
The screening’s irreverent commentary soon curdled into more disturbing extremes once the film’s same-sex romance took the forefront. Love scenes were met with homophobic jeers, while instance of sexual coercion drew applause.
Festival representatives insist that the ugliness came from a small segment, says BIFFF press chief Jonathan Lenaerts.
The attendees outlined some the screening’s worst moments as part of a longer statement they shared with Variety: “We know the difference between standard jokes and lesbophobic insults. When audience members applaud during [what we feel to be] a rape scene, when they pantomime masturbation and catcall the actresses on screen by shouting ‘get naked,’ ‘she wants cock,’ ‘disgusting,’ and ‘dirty dykes’ at the slightest scene of lesbian intimacy, once spectators stand up to leave the theater or ask for respect, only to be booed, insulted and physically assaulted, and once dozens of lesbians leave the theater in tears, dirtied, degraded and shocked, we can’t speak of a ‘good-natured’ atmosphere.”
“Once we stood up, we started hearing insults directed at us,” says an attendee. “It became something much nastier, violent. We were overwhelmed, crying and we said that this wasn’t normal.”
Such heated language fueled a growing exodus – eventually seeing somewhere between 60 and 80 attendees regrouping in the cinema lobby. There, the young viewers began to push back en masse.
The protesters pushed against the event – asking that the show be cut short. When festival organizers opted against that request, the incensed attendees became more vocal, looking to interrupt the screening from the outside before local law enforcement arrived to break up the demonstration.
The festival called the police to break up the protest and to ensure that the sold-out show could continue. With no further festival dates planned and the wider release not yet dated, the evening was for many opportunity to see “Love Lies Bleeding” on the big screen.
“We have duty to contextualize,” Lenaerts says. “To make sure that all communities feel welcome. The humor in the room should never be targeted and mean spirited, and all exceptions are intolerable. We will take direct measures: If someone makes inappropriate comments, they’ll be immediately thrown out.”
On Sunday, BIFFF released a statement calling the previous evening’s events “unacceptable” and apologizing to the audience for “discriminatory remarks against any community.” Only the release made no explicit mention as to the nature of those inflammatory remarks.
“This film represents us. It was made for and by our community, so to have our experience ruined by homophobes is terrible. We feel very sad, shocked and angry, because we feel that our position cannot exist without attack. The fight against homophobia still has a long way to go.”
