Larry Horne

When "Basic Instinct" was filming in San Francisco last spring, it became a rallying point for some gay and lesbian activists who are angered about stereotypes and violence on the screen. Now, Larry Horne, the director of the annual Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival, is angered about the images that will be staying off the screen.

It's 1963 in a Barcelona hotel. Sitting in a bathtub, John Lennon stops playing harmonica and asks Beatles' manager Brian Epstein to scrub his back. It's an ambiguous request, a moment ripe with possibility, as imagined by director Christopher Munch in "The Hours and Times." His film is one of the 192 films, documentaries and shorts in the 10th annual Los Angeles International Gay and Lesbian Film and Video Festival showing at the Directors Guild of America.

When Outfest '97, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, opens with a gala premiere Friday of Brian Sloan's "I Think I Do," a screwball comedy with a modern twist, at the landmark Los Angeles Theater, it marks the 15th anniversary of the festival's founding.

MAIN ATTRACTIONS A BERRY GOOD TIME The 42nd annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival begins on the Village Green. The four-day festival features rides, games, food, live entertainment, a carnival, contests, arts and crafts and more. Highlights include the Tiny Tots King & Queen Contests and $15 wristbands for all rides today; the Strawberry Festival Parade (10 a.m.-noon) and a talent show (7:30 p.m.) today; and the Miss Garden Grove & Friends Show Sunday (7:30 p.m.). Festival hours: 1-10 p.m.

BORN out of frustration, it has evolved into a celebration: Outfest's Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival is turning 25 today. It is the city's oldest continuous film festival and one of the largest gay and lesbian film festivals in the world.