David is a gay performance artist. Alicia is a video artist. They are the best of friends, sharing frustrations and feelings about love, sex, employment, and art over 3 a.m. cups of coffee. Into their world comes Craig, a would-be actor and photographer who is as ambivalent about his career plans as he is about his sexuality. Although he lives with Alicia he finds himself more and more attracted to David. Three Bewildered People in the Night is a refreshing, often wryly funny look at three people struggling to understand themselves and their needs as artists. The gay elements in the story are treated with unusual respect and affection as the dilemma is brought to a compassionate and original resolution.

Writer/producer/director Gregg Araki has done a remarkable job with a limited budget. He began work on the film in 1984 after graduating from USC and taking a Hollywood movie industry job at MGM. He hated it and, encouraged by the success of some recent American independent films, decided to go for broke. He quit his job, wrote the script for Three Bewildered People in the Night, and began production in Los Angeles, where all the action takes place. Judging from the reaction (the film won numerous awards, including the Bronze Leopard at the 40th Festival Internazionale del Film in Locarno, Switzerland) Araki has a bright future as an independent filmaker. 92 minutes, color 16mm, English Gay/Bisexual, Narrative Subjects: Bisexual, Relationships