Philadelphia Weekly

In 2002, TLA Entertainment Group—now owner of five local video stores, a film distribution arm and QFest—took over the Philadelphia Film Festival (PFF) from its creators at International House. It was a large undertaking consistent with TLA’s expansion over its 28 years, and to help manage the fest, TLA CEO Ray Murray formed the Film Society.


For seven years, the festivals—both the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (PIGLFF) and PFF—ran smoothly. 


But six months before this year’s PFF start date, TLA and the Film Society violently split, citing differences between Ray Murray and the Film Society board. 


The problems began when, as Murray puts it, the Film Society “started getting opinions.” 


Murray claims they didn’t like his power, or that the Film Society, a nonprofit, was associating with TLA, a for-profit. They wanted to relocate their offices outside TLA’s offices. And, Murray says, they had their own ideas—different from his own—about how the PFF should run.


The split threatened to derail the PFF completely. The Film Society retained many of the sponsors and control of a lot of the submitted films. They also owned the PFF name. TLA served the Film Society papers in a lawsuit. There was talk of countersuing. A deal almost reached conclusion then fell apart at the last minute.


Fortunately, TLA and the Film Society settled on a one-time agreement to co-run the PFF as the PFF/CineFest 09 and then go their separate ways. Ironically, the PFF/CF (which ran through April) was a success—even better than previous years. 


“In some ways the publicity of the fight made people more aware of the festival,” Murray says. “Maybe that helped us, I don’t know.”


Recalling the conflict now, Murray wonders if it could have been different.


“I look back and I could have avoided the whole thing if I had been more … I don’t know what,” he says. “Not nicer, but more agreeable to them. If I had negotiated more. I saw it as a black-and-white issue.”


That was three months ago.


Since then, TLA has formed another nonprofit, the Philadelphia Cinema Alliance, composed of the same TLA staff. This week that staff unleashes QFest, the 15th installment of
what was previously PIGLIFF. During the TLA/Film Society wars, there were reports that the Film Society would retain the rights to the PIGLFF name as well, but they happily gave it back.


Murray says he never liked the horribly bulky PIGLFF name, but that was basically the only reason for the change. 


“We made a mistake changing the name,” says Murray. “That’s actually causing much more confusion than CineFest. People think the gay festival is over. So we have a large number of people calling us, confused, thinking it’s not happening.” 


But the title of QFest isn’t the only switch-up. This year changes some locations, ditching the Arts Bank and Wilma Theater for the Ritz. And the emphasis, Murray says, is more on “pop.” 


Some of the fest’s more difficult films—chiefly the documentaries on transsexuals, which were never very well-attended but had been kept in so as to represent that perspective—have severely decreased in number.


Murray also added programmer 
Carol Coombes, who has greatly upped the number of lesbian films in the fest and who feels quite differently from her boss about the title change. 


The fest’s new emphasis on edgier American independent films (such as the Lynchian Pornography ) is partly intended to bring in a younger audience. 


The fest, Murray says, “has a core group that goes and it’s well-attended. But we’re finding our audience every year is a year older. Where it used to be the average was 30s, nowadays it’s 40s.”