Chicago director Tadeo Garcia, creator of the 2003 film On the Down Low, says he didn't set out to make a gay movie, despite the implications of the title. But for Garcia, the conflict alluded to by the "down low" isn't about the protagonists' relationship, but rather their gang affiliations.

"That's where the real problem is. Never in the film do they ever mention anything at all about being gay," says Garcia about the lovers who are members of opposing gangs in Little Village. "That's just something at we see on a personal level, of the two characters as we see their whole lives unwind before our eyes."

The movie, originally released in 2003 was featured in film festivals from Chicago to Europe and Latin America, and will be re-released as a DVD in January.

Garcia first put the story together as a film student at Columbia College back in 2000, hoping to take the gangster film genre in an entirely new direction.

"There are quite a few films made in Chicago that are shoot-em-up gangster films with drugs. I didn't want to go in that direction," says Garcia. "When I was writing the short story, I asked myself what could I do differently, grab someone's attention and still put out a good product. So I made them both lovers. And the whole story evolved after that."

And Garcia insists that the film, which was shot on location in Pilsen and Logan Square, is less about a relatively hidden subculture than universal themes about love.

"It's not about being gay at all. It's just a love story. It's a relationship. And they happen to be members of the same sex," says Garcia, whose movie won the Best Short Dramatic Film at Out Fest in 2001. "It's not like we're portraying anyone in a negative way. Being gay is just part of life."

Garcia grew up on Chicago's South Side, and says as a kid, he would have his neighborhood pals to act out scenes in movies.

"I loved watching cartoons and Steven Spielberg movies. Anything that had to do with the supernatural," remembers Garcia. "We didn't have a camera. But I would draw everything. This actually helped a lot with visualization. That's about as close to a camera as I got."

He also got to know gang members he went to school with at Kennedy High School. "I didn't meet them in the way that they're portrayed as these hard core thugs. I met them as real people. Students who went to that school," notes Garcia, who uses the real names of Chicago gangs such as the Latin Kings and the 2-6 Nation in the movie. "It was cool to meet them on a personal level. And that's how I wanted to portray them."

On The Down Low was filmed in Chicago, specifically around the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods to take advantage of those neighborhoods' cinematic possibilities.

"[18th Street] is very photogenic," says Garcia. "It's really nice when you shoot it. I mean buildings that have fire escapes. How many of them do you see around neighborhoods? So take advantage and shoot as much as you can before it's all gone," says Garcia, who didn't have a permit, but shot around areas in Pilsen as well as his own Logan Square apartment.

"It was kind of like guerilla filmmaking. Sneaking in lights and cameras. We shot a lot of it around Pilsen because I knew a lot of people who would let us use their location at no cost. So that helped out a lot."

For actor Tony Sancho, who plays the troubled Isaac, acting as a gay gang member had less to do with the controversial story line and more to do with the person he was portraying.

"As long as they have something real, none of that stuff matters," says Sancho, who is a company member of the Teatro Vista Theater. "There's a common thread with all of humanity. When you think of that thread, there's no sex, no gender. It's a person's desires, needs and wants. That's the job of an actor. To portray that. For me, it's not about two men living "on the down low". It's about two men who love each other, but they can't because of the circumstances that they're in."

While both Garcia and Sancho hope to work together again in the future, right now they're focused on individual projects. Sancho is busy with theater productions while Garcia is busy running the Mellow Yellow restaurant in Hyde Park.

"My dad, God bless him, said that's fine if you want to do films. But you got to eat. You got to make money," remembers Garcia. "He said, 'Save your money and go into business.' So that's what I did."

But while he's still working at the restaurant, he's making time for a few movie projects, including finishing Grease Paint, a film set in LaGrange. It's a kid's movie, with a twist. "It's cross between Weekend at Bernie's and the Little Rascals," laughs Garcia. "They get a clown at their birthday party and they accidentally kill him."

Garcia is hopeful the success of On The Down Low will enable him to continue with future film projects. He says for any aspiring filmmakers, the best way to put together a movie is to just do it. "That's the best film school where you can learn. Because there were really, really great times and there were bad times," says Garcia who knows his movie will be compared to another famous film featuring gay characters. "I have a feeling some people might say 'you ripped off Brokeback Mountain.' I say actually I didn't. My film came out first."

The DVD release party and benefit will be held on Friday Dec. 29 at the Circuit nightclub, 3641 North Halsted Street. Proceeds from the event will benefit the A.L.M.A. organization (Association of Latino Men for Action). For more information, call 773/991-7962.