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“Out At Lunch” does “Real Lesbians: Cambridge”

Funny thing happened on the way to a reality show about lesbians. We discovered, courtesy of EurOut.com, that the Brits have already done the movie. Out At Lunch, from Life Slice Films, introduces a group of lesbian friends facing their last days together at Cambridge University. To mark the occasion, they plan a formal dinner and invite their parents, many of whom have never acknowledged their daughters’ sexuality and relationships.

Emma Brogen, producer of Out At Lunch, told IndieFlicks how the project came to be:

Graduation was drawing near and I wanted to do something to mark the end of what had been, for me, a very special time in my life. That’s where the idea for the lunch came from, as for the documentary, well that was just obvious. A bunch of gays trying to persuade their parents to not only acknowledge their sexuality but to come and have a polite meal in a room full of people pretending it was normal! I couldn’t resist.
On a more serious note, it meant a lot to me. I wanted to give an honest, open portrayal of what it really meant to be a lesbian and to explore why the prospect of asking their parents to lunch caused near panic in so many of my friends. Brogen’s straight sister, Alisa Arnah, directed. In an interview with Eye For Film, she explained why Out At Lunch is so important to her”
I had always considered myself to be very open minded and liberal but when Emma came out I was confronted by prejudices I didn’t even know I had. I found myself asking questions that seem crazy to me now: is she afraid of relationships with men? Will her life be really difficult? How will she ever have a family? It took several years for me to truly accept it and now I couldn’t be happier for her, she knows who she is and she’s not afraid of it. It was very upsetting in some of the interviews to hear about girls whose families practically stopped speaking to them when they came out. It’s my hope that this film will not only help young people coming out but also go some way towards relieving misplaced preconceptions and help families and friends of gay people too.
Here’s the trailer” Out At Lunch will be released in February 2010 to coincide with LGBT history month, with preview screenings in Cambridge, London, Brighton and Manchester. Let’s hope we get to see it in the U.S., too. You can keep up with the film’s progress at the Out At Lunch Facebook page. To me, the idea of filming a group of lesbians that already have connections is much more “real” than putting random lesbians in a house together. What do you think? Will you be on the lookout for Out At Lunch?

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