Being gay is not a problem.

These six simple, yet powerful words by Wayne Hughes sparked clapping and cheering in the tiny, but filled-to-capacity film theater in the Wexner Center for the Arts. The film “20 Straws” premiered Thursday and was the launch for Out@Wex, a gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender film festival. Over the span of three days, seven films were shown, some standing out above the others.

“20 Straws” is a documentary following the lives of nine Columbus teenagers growing up gay. The students worked together to shoot and edit the short, yet poignant film. The film shared a slice of life of the teens, from Hughes, who thought he had AIDS as a child because of what his peers told him, to Michelle Lang, whose mother told her she was gay, to Denise Hutchinson, whose mother forgot she was gay.

After the film, the filmmakers participated in an intimate Q&A panel.

Liv Gjestvang, coordinator for the Digital Union and video artist for Youth Video Outreach, said the biggest challenge in making the film was creating a narrative arc. The troop also traveled to the First World Outgames in Montreal, where Lang said they were the youngest participants to present.

Angela Sherry, one of the young filmmakers, said the next step is to screen “20 Straws” at different schools, churches and film festivals. The documentary provides hope for those who haven’t come to terms with their sexuality and provides a platform for dialogue.

“The Out@Wex series came about because we noticed a number of excellent new titles we thought our audiences would be interested in, so it made sense to gather them into a small festival format,” said Bill Horrigan, Director of Media Arts at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

Also on Thursday was “Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner.” The documentary provided an intimate look at the gay, Jewish, politically charged writer. The film showed the writer after Sept. 11 finishing his latest stage play “Homeboy/Kabul,” working on John Kerry’s presidential campaign, opening a Broadway musical “Caroline, or Change” and getting married to his partner.

On Friday, “Wild Tigers I Have Known” was screened. Executive-produced by Gus Van Sant, the film, which was the official selection at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, follows the bright-eyed, 13-year-old Logan as he discovers his sexual identity through a crush on a popular ninth-grader and adopting a female alter-ego. The beautifully shot film succeeds at raising the bar for the coming-of-age genre.

Four movies were screened Saturday, from the 1986 gem “Carvaggio” to the French “L’Homme de sa vie” (“The Man of My Life”). The latter was part of a tribute to Strand Releasing, a film distributor.

Horrigan said the tribute is the first time the Wexner Center has honored a film distributor. The Santa Monica-based company has been one of the U.S.’s most reliable sources for challenging international cinema speaking to GLBT concerns.

Co-founder Marcus Hu spoke candidly about the struggles of being a smaller distributor. Hu introduced the company’s new titles, “The Man of My Life” and “Puccini for Beginners.”

The French film, “The Man of My Life,” follows a loving, happily married couple, Frederic and Frederique, and their new neighbor, Hugo, who has developed a friendship with Frederic. The core of the film is the late night conversations by the heterosexual Frederic and the homosexual Hugo. Through the course of the film the conversations turned more intimate and the growing sexual tension between the two erupted into a web of complexity and sexuality. Although dark at times, the film remained thought-provoking and easily sticks out as the best selection of the festival.

“Whether Out@Wex becomes an annual event is too soon to tell, but, as in the past, the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender audience here in Columbus is one we’ll continue to serve in our ongoing program,” Horrigan said.

Gerrick Lewis can be reached at [email protected].