Greetings from Out Here (1993)

Accompanied by her dog Sam and a video camera, the filmmaker (Ellen Spiro) traveled from Virginia to Texas and back exploring the openly gay culture in the Deep South. Highlighted by spontaneous encounters with local eccentrics and mechanics (her van breaks down frequently) the film provides detailed portraits of small town gay and lesbian Southerners, from Rita, a retired military officer, now a drag queen in New Orleans to Iris, a black lesbian living in a bus in the Ozarks. Filmed on location at the Texas Gay Rodeo, Mardi Gras, Gay Pride in Atlanta, Dollywood, Miss Miller's Eternal Love and Care Pet Cemetery and the Short Mountain Radical Faerie sanctuary, Spiro's footage captures the richness, vitality and courage of "out" gay Southern life.