Film Queen Reviews

Generations: Youth & Elders (2011 shorts program)

2011-06-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Johnny and Lyman, together
for 65 years and counting

“Generations: Youth and Elders Making Movies,” (shorts program)
Sun. 6/19, 4:00 p.m. @ Roxie

Coming Out in the 1950s: Stories of Our Lives, dir. Gabriel Gaska & Phil Siegel, 2011 USA, 15 min. 
Eau Queer Festival, dir. Pamela Forman & Ellen Mahaffy, 2010 USA, 11 min. 
The Hook-Up, dir. Frameline Generations Filmmaker Workshop, 2011 USA, 7 min. 
Johnny & Lyman: A Life Together, dir. Michael Chen & Paul Detwiler, 2010 USA, 19 min.  [trailer]
Love Me/Hate Me, dir. Frameline Generations Filmmaker Workshop, 2011 USA, 7 min. 
Our Compass, dir. Tess Vo, 2009 Canada, 29 min. 
Tenderloin: Forgotten History, dir. Frameline Generations Filmmaker Workshop, 2011 USA, 8 min. 

Coming Out in the 1950’s

Johnny & Lyman in 1947

Eau Queer Festival

Our Compass

“Generations” 2011 participants
(The Hook-Up, Love Me / Hate Me,
and Tenderloin: Forgotten History)

[Unfortunately, I lost the notes that I jotted down during the screening. My apologies for the skimpy content of these reviews.]

In Coming Out in the 1950’s: Stories of Our Lives, three teenage filmmakers interview three LGBT elders. The interviews themselves were well done and informative; unfortunately, they added in solo segments in which each young interviewer talked about the experience of doing the interview, with a bit of a “What did we learn today, class?” feel to them. Those segments injected the young’uns too much into a film that should have remained focused on its title subjects. You might say they aimed for Logo but hit somewhere closer to Nickelodeon. Recommended.

In Eau Queer Festival, a group of students from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire accompanied their professors to San Francisco for Pride Month and the Frameline34 LGBT Film Festival. It was a well-done travelogue, as the audience got to share in the students’ amazing experiences, and maybe even see themselves in a photo from last year. Highly recommended.

In The Hook-Up [photo not available], a young man is hoping to hook up with someone at the East Portal Muni Station (at the corner of Duboce Park, where the N-Judah enters the Sunset Tunnel), but there’s this old dude (like, over 50 or something) hanging around, putting a damper on the mood. The young man gets a bit of a surprise when his assumptions about the older guy are shattered. The setup and the resolution are both well done. Highly recommended.

In Johnny & Lyman: A Life Together [watch the trailer], we meet Johnny Dapper (age 83) and Lyman Hallowell (age 93), who met on V-J Day, 1945-08-14, and have been together ever since. They talk quite openly about the day they met — the joy over the surrender of Japan, the joy of meeting each other, but also the trepidation of opening their closet doors, even in the world of Hollywood — and about how they have made their relationship work for over 65 years. It’s a powerful story. Highly recommended.

In Love Me / Hate Me [photo not available], Joe and Moe, two high school students, are not exactly best friends. In fact, they don’t like each other at all. When their animosity catches the attention of the teachers, the principal hands down a novel punishment. Can they coexist in peace? Cute concept, pretty well done, but not long on production values. Recommended.

In Our Compass, we meet a group of Toronto queer youth labeled as having intellectual disabilities, started by one of the youth with help from the staff at the Griffin Centre. Compass is a weekly drop-in group for LGBTQ youth, offering a support group, a social network, and a safe space to explore their identities. In this film, we meet several of the Compass regulars and hear their perspectives on coming out, sex, relationships, and their lives in general, and they get to act out a few of their fantasies of dressing up and riding in a limo or playing guitar on a street corner or just wrapping themselves in a rainbow flag. It’s a powerful statement from an often stigmatized part of our community, standing up and speaking their truths honestly and with good humor. Highly recommended.

Tenderloin: Forgotten History is a short documentary about the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. Today, the Tenderloin is mostly known for drug addicts and toothless hookers, but its history includes some rather less unsavory moments, like the 1966 riot in which the transgender and queer locals fought back against police harassment at Compton’s Cafeteria, three years before the Stonewall Inn got all the attention. This documentary gives us a brief taste of the Tenderloin, and is well done as far as it goes, but it didn’t offer much that I didn’t already know. I would pick Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria [screened at Frameline29; now available on DVD from Frameline Distribution] for a fuller picture. Recommended.

The Queen Has No Crown

2011-06-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Heymann brothers,
from an old home movie.

The Queen Has No Crown, dir. Tomer Heymann (תומר הימן), 2011 Israel, 85 min., mostly in Hebrew with English subtitles 
Sat. 6/18, 6:30 p.m. @ Roxie

The Queen Has No Crown is a deeply personal documentary of the filmmaker’s life, growing up in Israel, coming out, gaining political awareness of gay rights and also of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tomer Heymann uses his own videos from the last decade, but also family home movies and photos going back to the formation of the State of Israel. He encompasses both the personal and family history, including the recent migration of much of the family to America, and the backdrop of world events against which the personal stories unfold. It’s an interesting story, and a rare opportunity to see so much of the story in contemporaneous images, but at almost an hour and a half, it ran a bit long; my interest flagged in several segments. Highly recommended.

Note: although most of the dialogue is in Hebrew (with English subtitles), the title of the film is only in English.

הערה: למרות שרוב הדיאלוג היא עברית (עם כתוביות באנגלית), את הכותרת של הסרט הוא באנגלית בלבד.

Please May I Have Another?

2011-06-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

International Mr. Leather contestants
in the doc. Crowned and Bound.

“Please May I Have Another?” (shorts program)
Sat. 6/18, 9:00 p.m. @ Victoria

Black Rose Tango, dir. Richard Kimmel, 2010 USA, 12 min. 
Brotherly Love, dir. Kinky Lez, 2010 USA, 14 min. 
Crowned & Bound, dir. Jeffrey Thomas McHale, 2010 USA, 21 min. 
feti(sh)ame, dir. Kevin Simmonds, 2011 USA, 25 min. 
Spring, dir. Hong Khaou, 2011 UK, 13 min. 
Transsexual Dominatrix, dir. Shawna Virago, 2011 USA, 3 min. 

Black Rose Tango

Brotherly Love

Transsexual Dominatrix
(photo: Sarah Derragon)

feti(sh)ame

Crowned and Bound

Spring

In Black Rose Tango, we are subjected to a dreadful soundtrack to accompany disjointed images and a narrative that makes no sense. There’s supposedly a story line in there somewhere, but, having seen the film, I remain skeptical. Not Recommended.

In Brotherly Love, we’re along for the ride as a young lesbian has her first “little brother” S&M scene. It’s heartfelt and authentic, but a little clumsy in the filming. Recommended.

In Crowned and Bound, we tag along for the 2010 International Mr. Leather competition in Chicago. We get to know a few of the contestants and see some of the full weekend, culminating in the crowning of the new IML, with a winner who breaks new ground for the competition in a couple of respects. Good, worth seeing, but lags in a few spots. Recommended.

In feti(sh)ame, we see re-enactments of the fetishes of a number of gay men, set to poetry. It ran long, and the effort to contextualize the fetishes as facets of normal sexuality also managed to sap them of their erotic energy. No recommendation.

In Spring, a 20-year-old college student has met up at a cafe with a top for his first experience of S&M, bondage, and dominance-and-submission. He is understandably nervous, asking directly how he can trust the older man. The top tells him that he thinks it’s hot that it’s the boy’s first time, but that he’s in good hands. He also tells him that feeling too safe might spoil the erotic thrill of the experience. They go back to the top’s flat and begin their scene, clearly with little or no discussion of the parameters and boundaries of that scene. Soon, the boy is made to stand on tiptoe and blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back and a noose round his neck. If he stands flat on his feet, the noose will tighten around his neck, asphyxiating him within minutes. It is profoundly and inexcusably irresponsible of the top to place a complete newbie in a position in which his life is literally in danger — where not merely the top’s action but his failure to act quickly enough could result in the bottom’s death — without taking adequate steps to assure the bottom that he will indeed survive the encounter. Of course, the bottom does survive, physically unscathed, but the reckless negligence of the top and the filmmaker’s tacit acceptance of it irredeemably ruin the film. Please boycott this film.

Transsexual Dominatrix is a music video by musician and performance artist Shawna Virago about the joys of being a transsexual dominatrix. As Shawna puts it, “I do it for the leather, I do it for the power, I do it for the pleasure of $250 an hour.” It’s a well-made video for a pretty good song, and fun besides. Highly recommended.

Bite Marks

2011-06-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

Bite Marks, dir. Mark Bessenger, 2011 USA, 84 min. 
Fri. 6/17, 9:30 p.m. @ Victoria
[screened with GaySharkTank.com, dir. Guy Shalem, 2010 USA, 14 min.; (not reviewed)]

Hey, Brewster! What’s in the
back o’ that truck, anyhow??

I should say at the outset that I’m not really an aficionado of vampire movies, or horror movies in general. That said, Bite Marks is a passable entry in the vampire genre. We start with a truck driver named Brewster (Benjamin Lutz) who subs at the last minute for his missing brother, delivering some coffins. Along the way, he picks up a couple of hitchhikers, college boys Cary (Windham Beacham, Long-Term Relationship [2006]) and Vogel (David Alanson). Of course, there be vampires in them thar coffins, and so our trio must work out what really works against vampires, as opposed to the silly stuff they put in movies.

Cary (Windham Beacham) and Vogel
(David Alanson), lookin’ fer vampires.

Aside from chowing down on corpses, the vampires have a few other tricks up their sleeves, to try to lure the boys out of the safety of the truck and to stop them from getting help. All the while, there’s sexual tension aplenty, as Brewster is secretly intrigued to learn that Cary and Vogel are lovers. Sadly, the lady vampire’s efforts at seduction are entirely wasted on these boys.

The story is a bit cheesy, but after all, we’re talking about a vampire movie, so that’s a given. This one sets up the conflict without undue reliance on gross-me-out splatterfest, and it keeps a self-deprecating sense of humor as the boys try just about anything short of a necklace of garlic to keep the fangers at bay. The production values are excellent, so if you like vampire movies but have always wished for a fun gay subtext in the center of the story instead of off on the fringes, this is your flick. Recommended generally; highly recommended for fans of vampire/horror movies.

Bashment

2011-06-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

J.J. (Joel Dommett) rapping with
Venom (Ludvig Bonin) in Bashment.

Bashment, dir. Rikki Beadle-Blair, 2010 UK, 110 min., 
Sat. 6/18, 1:30 p.m. @ Victoria; [view trailer]
ADVISORY: this film contains graphic violence

Rikki Beadle-Blair is well familiar to Frameline audiences for the 1999 TV series Metrosexuality and the 2008 short film Souljah; he also wrote the screenplay for the 1995 film Stonewall. In Bashment, he again takes on issues of race, sex, and sexuality. MC J.J. (Joel Dommett) is a white, gay rapper, originally from the “cow country” of southwestern England, rising quickly on the London rap scene. At the finals of the Urban Slam competition, J.J. comes out, inviting his boyfriend Orlando (Marcus Kai) to join him onstage. Problem is, the Ilford Ilmanics crew, pissed off at having been disqualified for showing up an hour late, take out their frustrations on Orly backstage, beating him so badly that he has permanent brain damage.

A handful of other characters become intertwined between J.J. and Orly on the one hand and the Ilford bunch on the other, but their introduction into the plot is unfortunately somewhat clumsy — especially the convenience store clerk who visits one of the Ilford guys in prison, helping him get in touch with his softer side. There’s also an odd mix of gruesome violence and kumbaya reconciliation in the plot, making more of an amalgam than an alloy. Still, if the violence doesn’t put you off the film entirely, Bashment mostly has its heart in the right place, and has many sweet and/or funny moments. With a caveat about the backstage beating scene and a prison fight, Recommended.

The Night Watch

2011-06-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

The Night Watch, dir. Richard Laxton, 2011 UK, 90 min. 

Kay (Anna Maxwell Martin) and
Helen (Claire Foy) in the London
blitz in The Night Watch.

Fri. 6/17, 9:30 p.m. @ Castro

The Night Watch follows a group of interwoven characters in London during and shortly after World War II. The narrative takes an unusual structure, though, because we spend roughly the first third of the film in 1947, then abruptly fast-rewind to 1944 for the middle third, and finally fast-rewind to 1941 for most of the last third, only jumping back to 1947 at the very end. The director, Richard Laxton, also made the fabulous “Must See” An Englishman in New York, the opening film of Frameline33.

The characters are a diverse lot: a young gay man who is shell-shocked not by the war itself but by his imprisonment for something to do with the neighbor boy, a lesbian who finds her inner strength as an ambulance worker during the war but who is rudderless afterwards, a woman who is trying to come to terms with being in love with a married man who clearly isn’t going to leave his wife, and several more. Their stories are compelling individually, and deftly braided together. The juggled timeline allows the audience to understand ramifications and repercussions the characters themselves cannot yet see. The acting is uniformly excellent. Definitely a MUST SEE.

Fun in Boys Shorts (2011)

2011-06-22T02:49:00.000-07:00

“Fun in Boys Shorts” (2011 shorts program)
Sat. 6/18, 11:00a @ Castro, FUNB18C
Sun. 6/26, 2:15p @ Castro, FUNB26C
UPDATE: all 8 shorts reviewed

Cassie (Ivy Latimer) and Greg (Callan
McAuliffe) in Franswa Sharl.

52, dir. Josh Levy, 2010 Canada, 4 min. 
BaldGuy (Skallamann), dir. Maria Block, 2011 Norway, 12 min., in Norwegian with English subtitles 
Cold Star, dir. Kai Stänicke, 2011 Germany, 7 min., music video 
Drives (Pulsiones), dir. José Manuel Carrasco, 2009 Spain, 12 min., in Spanish with English subtitles 
Franswa Sharl, dir. Hannah Hilliard, 2010 Australia, 14 min. 
I’d Rather be Looking at Porn, dir. Jared Michell & R.M. Vaughan, 2010 Canada, 3 min. 
The Itch, dir. Nora Tennessen, 2011 USA, 13 min. 
Revolution (انقلاب), dir. Abdi Nazemian, 2010 USA, 15 min. 

Scott Thompson in 52.

Beloved queer Canadian comedy icon Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall, Another Queer Movie, and so much more) is in a nightmare within a nightmare within ... well, I don’t want to give any spoilers. He’s (gasp!!) an aging homosexual who’s lost all his teeth, or maybe he’s a middle-aged married woman. In less than four minutes, 52 completely redefines the existential dialectic of being a late-Baby-Boomer gay man under the hegemony of the cultural something or other — ah, who am I kidding? It’s a cute fluff piece, gently poking fun at its subject; a good short to start off a weekend brunchtime screening. Highly recommended.

Frank Kjosås as Jonas, singing about his Skallamann.

In BaldGuy (Skallamann), Jonas (Frank Kjosås) comes home to give his parents some shocking news: he is over the moon from having just snogged someone. Of course, his mother worries about what the people of the town will think, but his father tries to calm her down. The entire town spontaneously bursts into song and dance, as Jonas is unable to contain his enthusiasm. By the end, you’ll be singing along, too, so here’s the key line: “Jeg har klinet med en skallamann.” Infectious, toe-tapping, singalong fun. Highly recommended. [trailer]

In ColdStar, a teenage boy (Benedikt Kauff) is at the swimming pool, having just met an interesting old man, when several other boys begin menacing him. His only escape is up the ladder to the diving board, but then a kindred spirit emerges: the older man (Dieter Rita Scholl) is a drag queen! They start a party and singalong in the pool, with men kissing women, men kissing men, and women kissing women. It’s a cute music video and an appeal for acceptance of all forms of sexual identity. Recommended.

Carlos (Nacho Casalvaque) hires
a rentboy (Marko Mihailovic)

In Drives (Pulsiones), Carlos (Nacho Casalvaque) is engaged to be married, but he’s worried, because sex with his fiancée is not very exciting and he feels certain “drives.” He decides to hire a professional (Marko Mihailovic) to help him explore those drives and decide whether he’s making a big mistake in marrying a woman. Carlos is a tightly wound character — we first see him obsessively grooming and then walking through his flat spraying air freshener, waiting for the rentboy to arrive, from which point he has no idea how to proceed. It’s a good fish-out-of-water sort of comedy, with several twists along the way. Highly recommended.

Greg Logan (Callan McAuliffe)
in full bloom as Franswa Sharl.

For five years in a row, a highly competitive dad has taken his family to Fiji for Easter vacation, encouraging the kids to compete and excel. Dad seems to be completely incapable of relaxing, but 12-year-old Greg (Callan McAuliffe, whom you’ll recognize from I am Number Four and Flipped) takes that drive to win in an unforeseen direction, entering a different sort of contest than his father expects. The kids and their interaction with a tightly wound father are absolutely spot on. Franswa Sharl is a real gem — delightful, fun, but with real heart. Definitely a MUST SEE.

I’d Rather be Looking at Porn is pretty self-explanatory: it’s a recitation of various things in life that the filmmaker finds less appealing than pornography. Unfortunately, rather like most porn, the film is pedestrian and clumsy in its execution and painfully obvious as to where it’s going. I’d Rather be Looking at Porn actually manages to make some of the porn more boring than the scenes of the Canadian Parliament, and it takes work to find porn that’s less appealing than Stephen Harper. No recommendation.

Robin (Aaron Harris) feels The Itch.

In The Itch, Robin (Aaron Harris) and Orlando (Brandon Collins) have a great first date, but things get weird the next day when Robin gets an itch he can’t stop scratching and he blames Orlando. Robin talks it over with his flatmate Suzie (Vanessa Hardy), also fresh from a hot hook-up, but eventually Robin confronts Orlando as the one he believes gave him scabies. Cute, but not as infectious as its subject. The writing is rather clumsy, especially in the too-good-to-be-true character of Orlando, who seems to be filling up his resumé for an application for sainthood. Recommended.

Gabe (Zach Cumer) and Jack
(Logan Aria) in Revolution
with the Ayatollah Khomeini
gazing up at them....

In Revolution (انقلاب), Jack (Logan Aria) is a 16-year-old Iranian immigrant, living in Los Angeles ten years after his family fled the ayatollah’s revolution. His mother fired the nanny because she was teaching Jack a simple Filipino prayer — after all, “if it wasn’t for religion, we would never be here.” Jack rebels by secretly adopting an abandoned puppy, despite his parents’ antipathy towards dogs. The new nanny brings along her son Gabe, who awakens in Jack some feelings that are sure not to sit well with his conservative family. It’s all part of Jack’s quiet little revolution — in his father’s words, “working within the system for incremental change.” It’s a well-done story with an intriguing cultural perspective, and Highly Recommended.

The Green

2011-06-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

The Green, dir. Steven Williford, 2010 USA, 90 min. 
Fri. 6/17, 7:00 p.m. @ Castro

Michael (Jason Butler Harner) and
Daniel (Cheyenne Jackson)

Michael (Jason Butler Harner) and Daniel (Cheyenne Jackson, most recently the Glee team’s nemesis Dustin Goolsby) were living in the New York City, but Michael’s yearning for something a bit more small-town — some place where he could see green — led them to the Connecticut countryside. Michael is working as a teacher at a private school, and Daniel has a catering business. Things are going well until Michael is accused of molesting one of the students, a boy named Jason (Chris Bert) who is clearly having problems in his home life. Jason’s recovering-alcoholic mom is dating the groundskeeper of the school, a man who seems indifferent at best to Jason and openly suspicious of Michael.

The mere fact of the allegation turns most of the town against Michael, and against Daniel by association, but of course the protagonists have some prejudgments of their own against some of the townsfolk. The characters are well drawn, as Daniel chafes at the provinciality of his surroundings, and then reels at the unexpected revelation of something from Michael’s past. Michael, for his part, digs in his heels, refusing to believe that a false accusation — even compounded with an out-of-context embarrassment from years ago — could go anywhere, and bewildered that the situation seems to be driving a wedge into his home life. Well done, highly recommended.

Weekend

2011-06-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

Weekend, dir. Andrew Haigh, 2011 UK, 96 min. 

Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen
(Chris New) in Weekend.

Fri. 6/17, 4:15 p.m. @ Castro

Russell and Glen hook up for a one-night stand, but their divergent views on relationships quickly become apparent. Also, Glen wants to record an audio interview with Russell about their hookup for some sort of art project he’s doing. Over the course of a weekend of sex, beer, and drugs, they talk quite uninhibitedly, the sort of chat you only have with someone you know is about to leave. I only know about cocaine third-hand, but it doesn’t seem like the optimal drug for soul-searching conversation. Still, the interaction between Russell and Glen comes across as genuine, and the insights they share authentic. Highly recommended, with a theatrical release in the US and UK expected later this year.

Blokes (shorts program)

2011-06-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

We Once were Tide

“Blokes” (shorts program), Fri 6/17 1:45p @ Castro, BLOK17C
UPDATE: all shorts now reviewed

Blokes (Block), dir. Marialy Rivas, 2011 Chile, 15 min., in Spanish with English subtitles; 
Spring, dir. Hong Khaou, 2011 UK, 13 min.; 
The In-between, dir. Alain Hain, 2011 USA, 10 min.; 
We Once were Tide, dir. Jason Bradbury, 2011 UK, 19 min. 
Triple Standard, dir. Branden Blinn, 2010, USA 20 min.; 
Family Affair (Assunto de Família), dir. Caru Alves de Souza, 2011, Brazil, 13 min., in Portuguese with English subtitles 

David Alfonso as Luchito in Blokes.

In Blokes (Block), young Luchito (David Alfonso, pictured) lives in a tenement complex (council block) and pines for Manuel (Campos Pedro), the boy across the courtyard, but the action is set in 1986, against the backdrop of the political upheavals of the Pinochet era in Chile. It’s a beautifully evocative portrait of sexual desire, with social and political unrest permeating everything. Highly recommended.

Noose and blindfold are not
toys intended for casual use.

In Spring, a 20-year-old college student has met up at a cafe with a top for his first experience of S&M, bondage, and dominance-and-submission. He is understandably nervous, asking directly how he can trust the older man. The top tells him that he thinks it’s hot that it’s the boy’s first time, but that he’s in good hands. He also tells him that feeling too safe might spoil the erotic thrill of the experience. They go back to the top’s flat and begin their scene, clearly with little or no discussion of the parameters and boundaries of that scene. Soon, the boy is made to stand on tiptoe and blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back and a noose round his neck. If he stands flat on his feet, the noose will tighten around his neck, asphyxiating him within minutes. It is profoundly and inexcusably irresponsible of the top to place a complete newbie in a position in which his life is literally in danger — where not merely the top’s action but his failure to act quickly enough could result in the bottom’s death — without taking adequate steps to assure the bottom that he will indeed survive the encounter. Of course, the bottom does survive, physically unscathed, but the reckless negligence of the top and the filmmaker’s tacit acceptance of it irredeemably ruin the film. Please boycott this film.

Danny Bernardy in The In-between

In The In-between, Jared (Danny Bernardy) has moved in with his boyfriend, a first for him. The question soon arises of how monogamous their relationship is, in theory and in practice. The scripted action between Jared and Robert (Brian Patacca) is accompanied by voiceover of documentary interviews with real gay men about monogamy and relationship issues. Unfortunately, I found the overlapping sound clips annoying, but overall the film offers an insightful exploration of monogamy and infidelity. Recommended.

In We Once Were Tide [photo above], Anthony (Alexander Scott) feels trapped, living with his dependent mother (Mandy Aldridge) in a cottage on the outskirts of a small village on the south coast of the Isle of Wight. There's fuck-all to do at home, but his mother requires constant supervision, so he sits with sketchbook in hand, waiting for inspiration. The one light in his life is his boyfriend Kyle (Tristan Bernays), but their moment of diversion turns to panic when they return to an empty house. Anthony is near his wits’ end, but Kyle has a few surprises in store. Scott and Bernays capture the palpable tension of the maelstrom of conflicting, sometimes contradictory, emotions, set against the desolate beauty of late winter. Highly recommended.

Crim and D at dinner in Triple Standard

In Triple Standard, former professional basketball player Crim (William Jennings) and his boyfriend D (Lee Amir-Cohen) must confront Crim’s deep-seated homophobia, which he expresses in nasty interactions during a friendly game at the gym. Indeed, Crim seems to be a poster boy for the idea that the most vocally homophobic guys are the closet cases. I loved the character of D, who is sure of himself and confident in stating his boundaries. Highly recommended.

Rossi and one of his brother’s friends

Rossi (Kauê Telloli) lives with his parents and his bully of an older brother Cauã (Thiago Franco Balleiro) in a flat in São Paulo, Brazil. In Family Affair (Assunto de Família), Rossi tries desperately to fit in with Cauã and his friends, who treat him as a nuisance or a plaything at their whim, but Rossi takes it in stride, presumably because he feels he has no choice. Other than his attraction to one of the friends, though, we don't get any insight into Rossi, and the matter-of-fact treatment of the bullying is disappointing. Recommended.

[Note: Family Affair (Assunto de Família) is not to be confused with Assuntos de Família – O Filme, the Brazilian title for the 2000 Growing Pains reunion movie. This film has neither Alan Thicke nor Kirk Cameron.]

Celebrating the Life of Del Martin

2011-06-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

Celebrating the Life of Del Martin, dir. Debra Chasnoff, 2011 USA, 57 min. 

A portrait of Del Martin hanging in
SF City Hall during her memorial.

Fri. 6/17, 11:30 a.m. @ Castro

Del Martin was an incredibly important figure for San Francisco and the world, a pioneer in lesbian rights (co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis), women’s health (the Lyon-Martin clinic is named for Del and her partner Phyllis Lyon), elder rights, marriage equality, and many other issues. This film documents the memorial service that was held for her at San Francisco City Hall when she passed away just ten weeks after her lifelong relationship with Phyllis Lyon was finally legally recognized.

Of course we begin with then-Mayor Gavin Newsom enjoying the sound of his own voice, umm, I mean, paying tribute to Del and Phyllis, plus some music and poetry, but the highlight was without doubt Kendra Mon, Del and Phyllis’ daughter, who gave the most personal and most moving tribute to her mom, echoing Del’s belief that she was not an extraordinary person, she was an ordinary person who did extraordinary things. Personally, I would say Del Martin was an ordinary person who had the extraordinary courage and conviction and perseverence to accomplish extraordinary things. If every other “ordinary person” had her strength of character, the world would be a far better place.

A memorial service is a difficult subject for a documentary — I find them hard to sit through in person without fidgeting, even for someone I knew well in life — but this one is pretty well edited and worth seeing. Highly recommended.

Kawa

2011-06-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Kawa (Calvin Tuteao)

Kawa, dir. Katie Wolfe, 2011 New Zealand, 76 min. 
Tue. 6/21, 4:00p @ Castro, KAWA21C
Thu. 6/23, 9:30p @ Elmwood, KAWA23E

Kawa is a family man from a traditional Māori (New Zealand native) family, the son of a clan leader. He has a wife and two kids, but he also has a secret that is gnawing at him and threatening to dissolve his marriage. His white boyfriend is losing patience with his closetedness, but his Māori family views homosexuality as dishonorable, disgusting, contemptible, and completely incompatible with the family leadership role Kawa is expected to take up from his ailing father. He has nowhere to turn.

The Māori culture and language is strikingly similar to Hawaiian — indeed, the Māori name for their mythical ancestral homeland is Hawai‘iki. Kawa and his family, even his young daughter, all speak Māori fluently, and carry on the cultural traditions as an integral part of their lives, not merely as a token observance only on major holidays. That cultural backdrop, rivaling any fundamentalist Christian upbringing for deep-seated homophobia, underpins the story.

Calvin Tuteao as Kawa brings to life a man deeply committed to irreconcilable principles: he is committed to his wife and children, but also to his boyfriend. He is committed to his family and culture, but also to an individual identity that he can no longer deny. The entire cast excels, the photography is gorgeous, and the story is compelling (based on the novel Nights in the Gardens of Spain by Witi Ihimaera). Definitely a Must See.

The Advocate for Fagdom

2011-06-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

Filmmaker Bruce LaBruce

The Advocate for Fagdom, dir. Angélique Bosio, 2011 France, 92 min. 
Wed. 6/22, 7:00p @ Roxie, ADVO22R

Canadian-born filmmaker Bruce LaBruce is certainly controversial, mixing a hardcore porno sensibility (often including actual porn using scenes from the same film shoot) with slasher horror film imagery and erotic images of skinheads, including Nazi skinheads. Even just the titles of some of LaBruce’s films are deliberately provocative: The Raspberry Reich, Bruce and Pepper Wayne Gacy’s Home Movies (a reference to serial killer John Wayne Gacy), and A Case for the Closet, for example.

A scene from Bruce LaBruce’s 2008
film Otto; or, Up with Dead People.

Personally, quite apart from political considerations, I find most of Bruce LaBruce’s work aesthetically unappealing. I don’t like horror films, most especially bloody slasher films, and I find the skinhead look an offense against fashion even without swastikas. However, it is an inescapable truth that Bruce LaBruce, by so aggressively pushing (and often crossing) the boundaries, has greatly expanded the realm in which filmmakers, and particularly queer filmmakers, can operate. The Advocate for Fagdom gives us a good look at the impact Bruce LaBruce has made, without requiring us to sit through an entire film, much less his entire œuvre. The interview segments with Bruce LaBruce are well done, interspersed with interviews with other queer icons including John Waters, Bruce Benderson, and Gus Van Sant. Watch carefully and you’ll even see Santino Rice, one of the judges from RuPaul’s Drag Race, on the set of L.A. Zombie (screening at Frameline35, Thursday, June 23, 9:30 p.m. at the Victoria, LAZO23V). Recommended, and highly recommended for any serious student of queer film.

Time Index of Reviewed Films

2011-06-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Check back for updates during the festival.
Last update: 2011-06-16 @ 17:50 (i.e., 5:50 pm on opening night)

Index of reviewed films, sorted by screening time(s)

Thursday, June 16, 2011
7:00p @ Castro: Gun Hill Road
10:00p @ Castro: The Sleeping Beauty of East Finchley

Friday, June 17
1:45p @ Castro: Blokes
7:00p @ Victoria: Bumblefuck, USA

Saturday, June 18
11:00a @ Castro: Fun in Boys Shorts
1:30p @ Castro: Fun in Girls Shorts
9:00p @ Castro: August

Sunday, June 19
1:00p @ Castro: Spork
1:15p @ Roxie: Coming Out
9:15p @ Castro: Absent (Ausente)

Monday, June 20
6:30p @ Castro: Private Romeo
7:00p @ Elmwood: The Sleeping Beauty of East Finchley
9:30p @ Victoria: Zombies, Aussies, Musicals, Oh My!

Tuesday, June 21
6:30p @ Castro: Three (Drei)
9:30p @ Castro: Romeos

Wednesday, June 22
1:15p @ Castro: Bob’s New Suit
7:00p @ Castro: Wish Me Away

Thursday, June 23

Friday, June 24
7:00p @ Castro: Tomboy

Saturday, June 25
11:00a @ Castro: Longhorns
1:15p @ Castro: Worldly Affairs
3:30p @ Castro: Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
9:30p @ Victoria: Au Pair, Kansas

Sunday, June 26
11:30a @ Castro: Fun in Girls Shorts
2:15p @ Castro: Fun in Boys Shorts
7:30p @ Castro: Christopher and His Kind

Alphabetical Index of Reviewed Films

2011-06-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Check back for updates during the festival.
Last update: 2011-06-16 @ 17:45 (i.e., 5:45 pm on opening night)

3 (Three, Drei)
Absent (Ausente)
Au Pair, Kansas
August
Ausente (Absent)
Blokes
Bob’s New Suit
Bumblefuck, USA
Christopher and His Kind
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
Coming Out
Drei (Three)
Fun in Boys Shorts
Fun in Girls Shorts
Gun Hill Road
Longhorns
Private Romeo
Romeos
The Sleeping Beauty of East Finchley
Spork
Three (Drei)
Tomboy
Wish Me Away
Worldly Affairs
Zombies, Aussies, Musicals, Oh My!

Three (Drei)

2011-06-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

Three (Drei), dir. Tom Tykwer, 2010 Germany, 119 min., in German with English subtitles 

Adam (Daniel Striesow) and Simon
(Sebastian Schipper) in 3.

Tue. 6/21, 6:30p @ Castro, THRE21C ($15 general, $12 members)

From the Frameline website: From the director of iconic indie flick Run, Lola, Run comes Three, Tom Tykwer’s latest exploration of human motivation. If you let it, love can be as easy as one-two-three, as Tykwer proves in this atmospheric piece about bisexuality, love and longing in cosmopolitan Berlin.

One: appealingly disheveled Simon, all scruff and dimples, who’s ready to move on from tragedy.

Two: slyly humorous Hanna, wry and knowing, who wants more than the comfortable companionship she has with Simon.

Three: magnetic blonde Adam, impish and confident, an occasional father who looks for connection. Which he finds with Simon. And Hanna.

My take: The bottom line is, I didn’t much like, and wasn’t much interested in, the three main characters, and that’s a major problem in a character-driven drama. Also, I felt I got much more insight into Hanna and Simon, their relationship to each other and the feelings each has for Adam, than I got into Adam. As I said about August, it was very well done, but I didn’t like it. I’ll give it a lukewarm Recommended.

August

2011-06-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

Ex-lover Troy (Murray Bartlett)
returns in the heat of August.

August, dir. Eldar Rapaport, 2011 USA, 105 min. 
Sat. 6/18, 9:00p @ Castro, AUGU18C; [watch the trailer]

Jonathan (Daniel Dugan) is happy with his new boyfriend, Raul (Adrian Gonzalez), almost but not quite living together in Los Angeles. (Raul has married Jonathan’s friend Nina to try to get a green card.) One steamy day in the middle of an August heat wave, they get a message from Troy (Murray Bartlett) that he’s moving back from Barcelona to L.A. Of course, Jonathan isn’t quite as “over” Troy as he would like to believe, and Troy clearly wants to start right back up.

Initially, we see Troy as kind of a self-centered asshole, and that perception doesn’t shift much as the story unfolds. Although billed as a story of “What if he comes back?” it read more as “What did he ever see in you??” Daniel Dugan does a fine job of letting us feel Jonathan’s agitation, compounded by his upcoming 30th birthday, but less well at conveying why the decision is difficult, especially when we learn how the relationship with Troy ended in the first place. August is very much a character-driven drama, and the characters are rich and complex, but the story takes too much of the feel of the 100°+ heat wave [near 40°, for you Celsians], enervating the audience. I guess what I’m saying is, it was well done but I didn’t really like it all that much. Recommended.

Longhorns

2011-06-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

Steve (Dylan Vox) and Kevin
(Jacob Newton) in Longhorns.

Longhorns, dir. David Lewis, 2011 USA, 74 min. 
Sat. 6/25, 11:00a @ Castro, LONG25C; [view trailer]

Kevin is a fratboy in Texas in 1982. He and his good-ole-boy buddies are interested in three things: football, beer, and pussy, and not in that order. Of course, when beer and yer buddies are all y’all got, you might come up with some creative substitutes for the pussy — ’scuse me, ma’am, ah mint to say female companionshee’up — with a little help from the VCR, “like havin’ a porno theater right in yer dorm room!”

Ah groo up in Texiss — umm, I mean, I grew up in Texas and was in college in the early 1980’s, so this film was a bit of a period / homecoming piece for me. I can tell you that the Texas accents were a bit of a mixed bag, some more authentic than others, but the obsession with football, especially the University of Texas Longhorns, rings true. My freshman year, I almost got into a fistfight with a fellow Texan because I didn’t know the words to the second verse of the Longhorns fight song, even though I went to school in New Jersey. The relationship between Kevin and César (Derek Efrain Villanueva as the only “out” gay boy in the dorm) mostly rang true, although I daresay you’d have found more Kevins than Césars in that era. The relationship between Kevin and his high school buddy Steve — who is 100% straight but likes to get naked and let his buddy “help him out” while they watch porn — was a bit more over-the-top cheesy. Unfortunately, the pacing was a bit slow, making the movie feel longer than it was. Recommended, I guess.

Best quote: “I enjoy Western Civ; it makes me think deep thoughts. Man, I could really use a blowjob.” — Kevin, voiceover

Private Romeo

2011-06-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Private Romeo, dir. Alan Brown, 2011 USA, 98 min. 
Mon. 6/20, 6:30p @ Castro, PRIV20C
screens with HERNDON, dir. Steve Clark Hall, 2010 USA, 3 min. (not reviewed)

The boys of McKinley Military Academy have been studying William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but on a weekend when all the adult faculty and staff are gone, leaving eight boys to fend for themselves, the story works its way off the dusty page and into their real lives. Most of the dialogue in the film — well over 90%, in fact — is the 400-year-old tale of Montagues and Capulets. If you’ve ever seen a high school try to perform Shakespeare, you might be filled with dread at the thought, but these boys clearly know that “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” is entirely different from “Where are you, Romeo?,” and they also know just where to hold an extra beat to underline a bawdy double-entendre.

The cast is uniformly excellent, carrying off the dual roles of Shakepearean tragedy and boys military prep school student with ease and fluidity. Indeed, my biggest knock against the film is that the credits identify the students by name, but not by the parts they played in Romeo and Juliet. With a bit of help from the press kit — plus the magical ability to rewind, pause, and read the original script — I discern that the parts flit about a bit, with Mercutio speaking a line of Romeo’s dialogue, for example. However, in the main, Sam Singleton (played by Seth Numrich) is Romeo, Glenn Mangan (Matt Doyle) is Juliet, Josh Neff (Hale Appleman) is Mercutio, Gus Sanchez (Sean Hudock) is Benvolio, Omar Madsen (Chris Bresky) is the Nurse, Carlos Moreno (Bobby Moreno) is Tybalt, Adam Hersh (Adam Barrie) is Friar Lawrence, and Ken Lee (Charlie Barnett) is Paris.

Come for the hunky military school boys, often shirtless, but stay for an excellent adaptation of a venerable classic and a beautiful gay love story. MUST SEE.

Wish Me Away

2011-06-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

Wish Me Away, dir. Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf, 2011 USA, 95 min. 

Country music star Chely Wright

Wed. 6/22, 7:00p @ Castro, WISH22C ($15 general, $12 members)

As recently as two years ago, there were zero openly gay or lesbian stars in country music. Chely Wright (“Shut Up and Drive,” “Single White Female”) was the very first, and she documented her journey with the help of filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf. Chely finally came out of the closet with a book titled Like Me and an album called Lifted Off the Ground, and went on The Today Show and Oprah to talk about them.

Thanks to Chely’s video journal, we get an intimate look into her thought processes, her second-guessing, her anguish, her spiritual and religious tumult, and her determination to follow through on being true to herself. Chely Wright grew up in a tiny little town in Kansas, certain from early childhood that she wanted to be a country star in the world of Nashville and the Grand Old Opry. Her family was fundamentalist Christian, and Nashville — while it has some openly gay and lesbian people working behind the scenes — hews to a public image of an everyman and a flag, not a lesbian and a fag. Chely Wright is deeply patriotic and a committed Christian, but she no longer wraps those qualities in quite the package that Nashville is selling. Given the fan reaction to the Dixie Chicks’ comments about George W. Bush, Chely had a well-founded fear that coming out could be the end of her career.

I can’t resist giving you a few pull quotes from the film:

There’s nobody quite as mean as people being mean for Jesus. — Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, Chely Wright’s spiritual advisor

“Put on a skirt and some makeup!” I wanted them [non-feminine women] to blend in, ’cause they were blowin’ my cover. — Chely Wright

The most simplest thing I can tell anyone is, Do not close the door, but open your heart. — Chely’s father on The Oprah Winfrey Show

I strongly recommend this film for all audiences, but it is especially a Must See for country music fans, people struggling to reconcile faith and sexuality, and anyone who grew up lesbian or gay in a small town.

You can order an autographed copy of Chely Wright’s autobiography Like Me from her website.

The album Lifted Off the Ground, including the single “Like Me,” is available on Amazon. [MP3] [CD]

Chely has also started a charity, The LIKE ME^® Organization, “to provide support, resources, and education to LGBT individuals, and their families and friends.”

Coming Out (shorts program 2011)

2011-06-14T17:25:00.000-07:00

Joel (Charlie Gustafsson)
in Coming Out. photo:
Alexander Westergårdh

“Coming Out” (shorts program 2011)
Sun. 6/19, 1:15p @ Roxie, COUT19R

10,000 Hearts, dir. Lisa Lodico, 2010 USA, 15 min. 
CHANGE, dir. Melissa Osborne, 2010 USA, 24 min. 
Coming Out (Komma Ut), dir. Jerry Carlsson, 2010 Sweden, 5 min., in Swedish with English subtitles 
Henry & Anthony, dir. Spencer W. Richards, 2010 USA, 20 min. (not reviewed)
James Dean, dir. Lucy Asten Elliott, 2010 UK, 8 min. 
Loop Planes, dir. Robin Wilby, 2010 USA, 12 min. 
One on One, dir. Luís Fernando Midence, 2010 USA, 10 min. 

[Henry & Anthony was not available for review. James Dean and Loop Planes will also screen in the “Transtastic!” shorts program, Wed. 6/22, 7:00p @ Roxie, TRAN22V.]

Nate (Miles Derwick) in 10,000 Hearts

In 10,000 Hearts, the high school is holding a competition to choose the theme for the homecoming dance. Sophomore Nate (Miles Derwick) is working for his wicked half-sister Heahter (Cassie Keet) on her “board games” theme, but he decides to work with Sara (Kristen Barkuloo) on her “over the rainbow” theme, in part hoping to get closer to his crush Logan (Jesse Damiani), the can-do-no-wrong golden boy of the school. At times painfully amateurish, but several tremendously funny and/or insightful lines make it worth watching. Highly recommended. [watch the trailer]

Jamie (Sean McClam) contemplates
Barack Obama and California Prop 8
in Change.

In CHANGE, kids of various ethnic backgrounds in a Los Angeles high school are discussing the upcoming 2008 election, with the possibility of electing the first black President but also banning same-sex marriage. Jamie (Sean McClam) is torn between his homophobic black friends and family and his boyfriend Ivan (Jesse James Rice), the class white-boy fag. It’s a moving portrayal of being at the intersection of a dream come true and a nightmare made real. Highly recommended.

[Note: many in the LGBT community unfairly blamed the black community, and particularly black churches, for the passage of Prop 8, amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, but the black vote was not a decisive factor, and this film demonstrates the perils of viewing it as monolithic.]

In Coming Out (Komma Ut) (photo above), Joel (Charlie Gustafsson) is agonizing over the decision to tell his parents that he’s gay. Will they hate him? Maybe they already know. Why has he waited so long to say it? He’s chickened out several times before, and is now trying desperately to muster the courage. He’s going to tell them ... now! Well, maybe not quite yet. He completely overthinks it, second-guesses himself, worries it, and chases his own shadow. We hear the entire debate inside Joel’s head in voiceover, with the shallow depth of field and muted colors enhancing the visceral feel of his inward focus. Brilliant and immersive, definitely a Must See.

Alex (Lauren Dempsie, foreground)
in James Dean. photo: George Geddes

In James Dean, a family is getting ready for a road trip. Daughter Alex is sporting a fresh black eye, having been in a fight at school. Her sister Morvern tells her that the whole school heard her classmates calling her a tranny, and reminds her that their mum is friends with the mother of the girl Alex fought with, so Alex decides she needs to talk to the parents before they hear it through the grapevine. Alex pops back into the house, reappearing dressed as James Dean, upsetting Mum, but Dad just laughs. The thick Scottish accent may be a bit difficult for an American audience, but James Dean is a cute snapshot of a family on the brink of a coming-out experience. Highly recommended. [also in the “Transtastic!” shorts program]

Nick (Chloe Levine) and Katie
ride on the Loop Planes

In Loop Planes, thirteen-year-old Nick is enjoying spending the summer helping his dad fix amusement park rides, but his mom insists on taking him away, even though he was supposed to stay for the whole summer. Nick meets the boss’s niece Katie, who has pink hair. She takes a while to warm up to Nick, but they finally have a first kiss, just as Mom shows up to ruin everything, calling her Nicole instead of Nick. Cute, sweet, Highly recommended. [also in the “Transtastic!” shorts program]

Trevor (Timothy Paul Brown) and
Alex (Braulio Cruz-Ortiz) go One on One.

In One on One, Trevor and Alex are playing a little pickup two-on-two basketball, but after the game we see that there’s much more to their relationship. On the way out of the gym, Alex sees a waltz class and tries to get Trevor to be his dance partner. Trevor resists, unwilling to “make a social statement” lest his masculine image suffer, but Alex doesn’t give up easily. The execution is a little clumsy, but clearly heartfelt. Cute, sweet, and upbeat; Recommended.

Spork

2011-06-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

Spork contemplating a spork.

Spork, dir. J. B. Ghuman, Jr., 2010 USA, 90 min. 
Sun. 6/19, 1:00 @ Castro, SPOR19C

“Spork” (Savannah Stehlin) is the nickname given to a girl-identified 13-year-old with an intersex condition. (She views herself as something of a hybrid, hence the name.) Her classmates mostly view her as a freak and an outcast, as much for her frizzy hair as for her unusual biology. With help from some of her friends, including the irrepressible neighbor girl Tootsie Roll (Sydney Park), Spork decides to enter the dance competition in hopes of winning the $236 prize in spite of her lack of rhythm and graceful moves.

The cast is young and energetic, although at times a bit too much so; Tootsie Roll, in particular, brings to mind the phrase, “Try decaf!” The story is very, very, very, very, very weird — oh, did I mention that it’s weird? — but cute and definitely unforgettable. The character of Chunk (Kevin Chung) is a standout, the sort of offbeat friend many of us might’ve wished for in our early teens; unfortunately, the mean girl Betsy Byotch and her crew are broadly drawn caricatures of the cliché. Spork is also a landmark in the portrayal of people with intersex conditions in comedy, in that the intersex condition itself is peripheral to the comedy: the character is mostly just a misfit, with many other facets to focus on. Keep an eye out for several notable cameos, including Yeardley Smith (the voice of Lisa Simpson) as the sex-ed teacher, Beth Grant (Sissy from Sordid Lives) as the principal, and Chad Allen (from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and more recently the Donald Strachey mysteries) as Loogie, a friend of Spork’s brother Spit who gets a girl pregnant.

The screener copy I was given for review was a rough cut, missing some special effects and other post-production niceties. I am hopeful that the final cut will also smooth out some of the rough spots in the film itself, giving it a better flow. As it stands, I’ll say “Recommended.”

The Sleeping Beauty of East Finchley

2011-06-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

The Sleeping Beauty of East Finchley, dir. Séamus Rea, 2010 UK, 50 min. 
Thu. 6/16, 10:00p @ Castro, SLEE16C
Mon. 6/20, 7:00p @ Elmwood, SLEE20E

Joan (Josie Walker)

Joan (Josie Walker) has a humdrum life, coming home from her boring job to care for her invalid mother, until the visiting nurse Pat (Ruth James) uncovers their shared passion for music, persuading Joan to join the “Friends of Dusty” women’s choir. The trouble is, Joan is a good Irish Catholic lass, so she has a heaping helping of guilt around using her beautiful voice for something other than the church choir, leading her to back out of singing the solo for the Friends of Dusty’s big performance at the big LGBT music festival in London.

The musical performances are all top-notch, and the film is worth seeing just for them. Josie Walker brings Joan’s conflicted feelings bursting through the screen and makes the audience ache with her need to let her light shine, no matter what the Pope says. A moving story, beautifully done; Highly recommended.

There’s a special thanks at the end to “The Deep C Divas” from Sheffield, whose performance of “Will Ye Go Lassie Go” at the Sydney Gay Games inspired the story, so here’s a shout-out to them.

The Sleeping Beauty of East Finchley screens with two additional films that were not available for review prior to the festival screening:

The Colonel’s Outing, dir. Christopher Banks, 2011 New Zealand, 17 min.
I Still Love Them (Je les aime encore), dir. Marie-Pierre Grenier, 2010 Canada, 13 min., in French with English subtitles

Absent (Ausente)

2011-06-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

Absent (Ausente), dir. Marco Berger, 2011 Argentina, 87 min., in Spanish with English subtitles 
Sun. 6/19, 9:15p @ Castro, ABSE19C

Martín (Javier de Pietro, foreground)
and Sebastián (Carlos Echevarría)

In Absent, 16-year-old Martín seems to be stalking his gym teacher, Sebastián, engineering an excuse for Sebastián to take him to the hospital, weaving a web of lies in order to spend the night on Sebastián’s sofa, and working his way into Sebastián’s life. But everything is not as simple as it seems. Despite having a girlfriend and a pretty ordinary life, Sebastián is clearly thrown off balance by Martín. Near the end of the film, we revisit several incidents from an alternate perspective: who is really stalking whom?

Absent is a well-crafted psychological thriller, building the tension between the main characters steadily as their mysterious relationship unfolds, re-folds, and unfolds again. The camera work, lighting, and musical score all help to set the mood as the characters build to a slow boil. Highly recommended.

Romeos

2011-06-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

Romeos, dir. Sabine Bernardi, 2011 Germany, 94 min., in German with English subtitles 
Tue. 6/21, 9:30p @ Castro, ROME21C

Rick Okon as Lukas in Romeos.

From the Frameline website: “A sweltering German summer is the perfect backdrop for Romeos, a rich story of coming into one’s own. Lukas just turned twenty, just showed up for his year of civil service, just finished his twenty-fifth shot of testosterone, and is saving up for surgery. Life is looking good. But when he’s mistakenly assigned to a women’s dorm and as he falls for a hot guy, it gets harder to keep his secret under wraps.

“Girls surround Lukas, including his childhood friend and wingman, Ine. But Romeos is all about the boys. Fabio, the hyper-masculine object of Lukas’s affection, runs hot and cold, but their chemistry undeniably steams up the screen – until a birthday visit from Lukas’s family throws everything off balance. Blonde Sven is a caring new friend, but a drunken night turns into a dangerous hookup. As he gains confidence, Lukas starts ignoring Ine, who’s having romantic troubles herself. When he needs support, he’s suddenly alone. Will Lukas’s hormones get the best of him? Can he find a true connection?”

Romeos deftly captures both the maelstrom of emotions and hormones and the quiet, steady certainty of a young transman beginning to inhabit his true sense of self. Beautifully crafted at every level. Highly recommended, a Must See.

Bumblefuck, USA

2011-06-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

Bumblefuck, USA, dir. Aaron Douglas Johnston, 2011 USA & Netherlands, 90 min. 
Fri. 6/17, 7:00p @ Victoria, BUMB17V

Jennifer (Heidi M. Sallows) and

Alexa (Cat Smits) in Bumblefuck, USA

Following the suicide of her friend Matt, Alexa has traveled from her home in Amsterdam to his home town, an unnamed small town in Iowa, to make a documentary about gay suicide and the coming-out experiences of some of the locals. Alexa rents a room from Lucas, a guy who gradually slides from socially awkward to creepy to criminally violent. (Note: the film includes a scene of sexual assault.) She also meets (and hooks up with) a lesbian artist named Jennifer and a young man who tends the landscaping at the cemetery. Her adventures with them are intermixed with footage from the documentary.

The biggest knock against the film is that I found the faux-documentary footage far more compelling than the main narrative. Although Alexa is apparently motivated by Matt’s suicide, we learn nothing of the connection they had. Indeed, we see very little beyond Alexa’s outer shell throughout the film. Given Jennifer’s understandable wariness about opening up to someone who’s just passing through, the connection between her and Alexa barely gets off the ground: they’re essentially summer hang-out buddies who have danced around the possibility of much more. There are some sweet moments, and the documentary footage is great, but on the whole I’d have to say Not recommended.

Keywords: Frameline35, LGBT Film

Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same

2011-06-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... I wonder where that bald
woman in the spacesuit is from....

Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same, dir. Madeleine Olnek, 2011 USA, 70 min.  [view trailer]
Sat. 6/25, 3:30p @ Castro, CODE25C

Campy, over-the-top, unrelentingly cheesy — zoinks! I mean, the protagonist is even named Zoinx. This film is exactly what it sets out to be: a send-up of low-budget black-and-white sci-fi movies of the 1950’s, with a heaping helping of lesbian film clichés added on the skewer. It’s amusing, and will probably be much more fun with a full theatre than it was with just me in my living room, but on the other hand I had the benefit of the 1.5X fast playback mode on my DVD player. After all, the flat monotone “I am a space alien” voice thing wears thin after a while. If the description sounds at all appealing to you, you’ll probably have a great time, plus you’ll get to see the director and three of the actors (guests expected, but not guaranteed). Recommended.

Keywords: Frameline35, LGBT Film

Zombies, Aussies, Musicals, Oh My!

2011-06-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

Murray and Barry in Slut – The Musical

“Zombies, Aussies, Musicals, Oh My!” shorts program
Mon. 6/20 9:30p @ Victoria, ZOMB20V

Cupcake: A Zombie Lesbian Musical, dir. Rebecca Thomson, 2010 Australia, 18 min. (not reviewed)
Slut – The Musical, dir. Tonnette Stanford, 2010 Australia, 16 min. 
Slashed, dir. Rebecca Thomson, 2010 Australia, 11 min. 
Why Me?, dir.Victoria Stanford, 2010 Australia, 22 min. 
I was a Teenage Werebear, dir. Tim Sullivan, 2011 USA, 28 min. (not reviewed)

Barry (Lee Jones) is the school’s avant-garde dancer and token “out” gayboy; Murray (Nigel Turner-Carroll) is a prefect, near the top of the school's social hierarchy. It’s the day of the Year 12 Formal (senior prom, in American terms) and Murray doesn't have a date. Will he go with Pauline (Marianne Frith) — fellow prefect, queen bitch, and french fry fetishist — or with dear, sweet Barry? In Slut – The Musical, we find out, with a little help from some spangly gold high-heeled boots. Cute and fun; Recommended.

A space-bad space-guy in Slashed

In Slashed, Renata is a medical receptionist, writing “slash” stories (fan fiction, mostly written by women, specifically including sex between male characters who were not sexually involved in the original work) when she should be focused on her day job. Frieda is a patient and also a fan of slash stories based on the same sci-fi show, Star Police, and she also seems to be a bit of a kleptomaniac. Things get wacky from there, as Renata decides to do a bit of real-world detective work, leaping exuberantly into action. Unfortunately, I found both the outer story and the slash story within it disappointing. Not recommended.

Cheryl’s piano teacher in Why Me?

In Why Me?, we meet Cheryl, a teenager who is learning piano and practicing for the school talent show, hoping to impress the sexy, leather-clad Rrrrussian piano teacher. It's a story that could be played for drama or for comedy but that misses both targets. Cheryl’s sister and parents are cardboard cut-out characters, with neither personality nor humor, and her classmates are almost as lifeless. Worse, the performances in the outer story are almost indistinguishable from the intentionally amateurish talent show bits. Not recommended.

[Cupcake: A Zombie Lesbian Musical and I was a Teenage Werebear were not available for review prior to the festival screening.]

Keywords: Frameline35, LGBT Film

Fun in Girls Shorts (2011)

2011-06-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

“Fun in Girls Shorts” (shorts program)
Sat. 6/18, 1:30p @ Castro, FUNG18C
Sun. 6/26, 11:30a @ Castro, FUNG26C

Elisa Dei and Heather Salm in Cyclicity

Flyers, dir. Laura Terruso, 2011 USA, 3 min. (not reviewed)
Cyclicity, dir. Jason Knade, 2011 USA, 11 min. 
Poker Face, dir. Becky Lane, 2011 USA, 14 min. 
Nice Shirt, dir. Erik Gernand, 2011 USA, 5 min. 
L.U.G.S., dir. Sarah Rotella, 2010 Canada, 14 min. 
Slow Burn, dir. Christine Chew, 2011 Canada, 14 min. 
Lust Life, dir. Lynda Tarryk, 2010 USA, 9 min. 
Out of Bounds, dir. Nicholas Ybarra, 2010 USA, 18 min. 

[Flyers was not available for review prior to the festival screening.]

In Cyclicity, two lesbians use a ride on a ferris wheel as a metaphor for their hypothetical relationship, from first meeting to pinnacle to denouement and the end of the ride, all in about ten minutes. The conceit of the ferris wheel ride works well as a frame for the story. Cute, sweet, emotionally connected. Highly recommended.

What secrets lie behind that Poker Face?

In Poker Face, Janet (Eliza VanCort, on the left) has her girlfriends over for poker night, but a phone call with news of her father’s death stirs the pot, bringing forth unexpected revelations and unforeseen reactions. In particular, Janet’s best friend Molly (Erica Steinhagen) feels betrayed that Janet blurted out her secret to the whole group instead of confiding in her first. Pretty well done overall, but the emotions don’t quite ring true. Recommended.

Brenda (Jenny Hagen, left) and
Molly (Abby McEnany) in Nice Shirt

“Since when has breaking up ever kept two people from being friends?” Brenda and Molly were a couple; they’ve broken up, but clearly have some issues left to resolve — by way of slogans on custom t-shirts, of course. Filled with tongue-in-cheek humor, sometimes giving new meaning to “wearing your heart on your sleeve,” cute and fun. Recommended.

L.U.G.S

L.U.G.S is a story of some lesbian college students, coming to terms with monogamy and wild hookups, with the issue coming to a head around a party for the beginning of the new school year. How will the main characters balance the allure of this year’s new girls with the stability of established relationships? Admittedly, I’m not exactly the target audience, but I found the story and characters rather underwhelming. Not bad.

Wild west ink-slingers in Slow Burn

Slow Burn answers the question that has preoccupied philosophers for millennia: What if the 19th-century North American frontier had been populated by lesbians more interested in tattoos and espresso than in cattle rustlers and gold in them thar hills? The production values are very good on all the technical elements, but to say the story is weird is beyond understatement. I’m not into tattoos or coffee at all, although the old-fashioned mechanical espresso press was magnificent, with Ravel’s Bolero the perfect accompaniment for its adoration. Fun for a niche audience, but much too quirky to recommend more broadly.

Where better than Paris to find Lust Life?

“Il y a cette toute petite seconde de parfaîte harmonie, entre le fond de la nuit et le lever du jour, où toute Paris s’arrête. Il y a aussi ce moment si rare entre ce qui n’est plus et ce qui aurait pu être.” In English, “There is a split second of perfect harmony, between the dead of night and the breaking dawn, when all of Paris stops. There is also that rare moment between what was and what could be.” In Lust Life, two women are reminiscing about their past relationship and how it went wrong. One tells the other she needs to reawaken her lust for life, but, by fortunate coincidence, she’s in Paris. A beautifully evocative poetic reverie. Highly recommended.

Out of Bounds

Out of Bounds is the story of Rose (Charity Johnston), who is about to head off to grad school, leaving her parents’ house and moving in with Samantha (Danielle Nelson), but Rose’s mom Irene (Leigh Hill) doesn’t know that she’s a lesbian. Samantha, an activist type who works in a record store (as in vinyl LPs!), chafes at Rose’s reluctance to address the issue head-on, but Irene is an über-bitch who is still trying to hook Rose up with eligible bachelors, and the prospects of her becoming a PFLAG mom look dim. The characters of the mother and the ersatz boyfriend especially are broadly drawn caricatures, and the plot feels formulaic. Not bad.

Au Pair, Kansas

2011-06-11T00:59:00.000-07:00

Oddmund (Håvard Lilleheie) and
Helen (Traci Lords) in Au Pair, Kansas.

Au Pair, Kansas, dir. J.T. O'Neal, 2010 USA, 94 min. 
Sat. 6/25, 9:30p @ Victoria, AUPA25V
preceded by Mr. Right, dir. Jim Knoop, 2010 Canada, 9 min. (not reviewed)

Helen (Traci Lords) is a recent widow, raising two sons on a bison ranch near the Swedish town of Lindsborg in central Kansas. She sends off for an au pair, and gets Oddmund (Håvard Lilleheie), a Norwegian who literally kicks his soccer ball down the stairs of the airplane as he arrives. Everyone wonders which team Oddmund really plays for — is he gay, or just European? In the mean time, Helen must deal with the ghost of her gay husband while raising a 15-year-old and a 9-year-old boy. When Helen develops feelings for Oddmund, things get really complicated, the police get involved, and somehow, through it all, we see the importance of real connections between people.

First of all, yes, Traci Lords started her career in XXX-rated films before she was old enough to do that sort of thing legally, so you won't be able to nip down to the corner video store to do a retrospective on her early work. However, in the years since, she has honed her acting skills and succeeded in being taken seriously in “legitimate” film. She had a cameo in Zack and Miri Make a Porno, for instance, but in Au Pair, Kansas, she displays an impressive range, making her truly a star of the film and not just a novelty. Håvard Lilleheie is new to American audiences, but had a couple of TV series in his native Norway. Other players in the film will be familiar, from the boys (whom you’ve probably seen in everything from Nip/Tuck to the 2009 Star Trek film) to the unforgettable Taco Chick / Kay Sedia from the Frameline festival trailer a few years back. It’s a great cast, all around, with characters mostly to match, but the “dad’s ghost” bit was overplayed, the conversion of the school bully to affable soccer teammate was too immediate, and the plot twist with a photographer near the end was just strange. Still, it’s a humorous and heartwarming story with top-notch production values, so I’d say Highly Recommended.

Keywords: Frameline35, LGBT Film

Bob's New Suit

2011-06-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

Bob (Hunter Bodine) and Steve
(Shay Astar) in Bob's New Suit.

Bob's New Suit, dir. Alan Howard, 2011 USA, 97 min. 
Wed. 6/22 1:15p @ Castro, BOBS22C

Bob (Hunter Bodine) has finally proposed to his longtime girlfriend Jenny (Hayley DuMond) and is off to tell his parents the joyous news, but his sister Stephanie has some news of his own: he's decided to start living as a man, and wants to be called Steve (Shay Astar). On top of that, cousin George gets Bob and his dad mixed up in some shady business, and Dad has a secret past that is about to be unearthed. It's a recipe for a pretty decent comedy, but one where the transgender character is one of the players, not a stereotyped butt-of-all-jokes.

Shay Astar shines as Stephanie/Steve, deftly portraying the mixture of self-confidence and trepidation of a transman coming into himself but worrying about his parents' reaction. Unfortunately, Bob's character is more roughly hewn, with fits of temper that seem to appear out of nowhere and then dissipate at the drop of a hat. Without giving any spoilers, I also found the plot twist at the very end a bit of a jumble. The biggest ding, though, is the conceit that gives the film its title: it is narrated by the new suit Bob acquires as he gets ready for his wedding, and worse yet, the fine Italian suit (assembled in China from fabric made in India) has a rather clumsy pseudo-Italian accent. The suit-as-narrator is a distraction from the heart and soul of the film.

Still and all, it's a fun film, and worth seeing for a well-crafted transgender character. Recommended.

Keywords: Frameline35, LGBT Film, Transgender, Feature

Tomboy

2011-06-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

Zoé Héran as Laure/Mickäel in Tomboy.

Tomboy, dir. Céline Sciamma, 2011 France, 84 min., in French with English subtitles 
Fri. 6/24, 7:00p @ Castro, TOMB24C

Laure and her family have just moved to a new neighborhood. Already quite a tomboy, Laure creates an alter-ego, a boy named Mickäel, who hangs out with the girl next door, Lisa, and plays soccer with the other boys. Poignant, funny, and insightful, Tomboy is a "must-see" portrayal of gender ambiguity on the threshhold of adolescence.

Worldly Affairs

2011-06-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

"Worldly Affairs" shorts program, Sat. 6/25 1:15p @ Castro, WORL25C

Ron (Yuval Rozman) and
Tal (Avi Kornick) in A Word.
רון (יובל רוזמן) ו טל (אבי קורניק) ב מילה.

A Day in the Country, dir. Pella Kågerman & Hugo Lilja, 2010, Sweden, 15 min., in Swedish with English subtitles; (not reviewed)
A Word (מילה), dir. Yoav Inbar (יואב ענבר), 2010, Israel, 19 min., in Hebrew with English subtitles 
Lek and the Waterboy, dir. Lasse Nielsen, 2010, Thailand, 8 min., (no dialogue) 
Samaritan (Samaritanen), dir. Magnus Mork, 2010, Norway, 29 min., in English, Norwegian and Kurdish with partial English subtitles 
I Don't Want to Go Back Alone, dir. Daniel Ribeiro, 2010, Brazil, 17 min., in Portuguese with English subtitles; (not reviewed)

[A Day in the Country and I Don't Want to Go Back Alone were not available for press review before the festival screening.]

In A Word (מילה), Ron wrestles with the question of whether his feelings for Tal, or his sister's feelings for her ex, or anyone's feelings for another person, qualify as "Love" with a capital L. Can someone completely separate Love and sex? Will Ron recognize Love if he finds it? We get surprisingly deep into the complications of that one word in Ron's life. Highly recommended.

Lek (Thanet Putthasorn) and the Waterboy

Lek and the Waterboy is the story of a teenaged boy growing up in Thailand, indulging in fantasies of gender and sexuality, particularly surrounding the young man who delivers water to Lek's mother's shop. There is no dialogue in the film, with Lek's inner world shown in brief dream sequences. We glimpse the early stages of Lek's journey, leaving us to wonder what joys and tribulations await in what will surely be an interesting life story. Recommended.

Terje Tjøme Mossige (Knut) and
Sharam Khalifeh (Mirza) in Samaritanen.

In Samaritan (Samaritanen), Knut (Terje Tjøme Mossige) is leaving work on a Saturday evening when he literally runs into Mirza (Sharam Khalifeh), a hunky Kurdish illegal immigrant. Knut tends to Mirza's scrapes and then invites him home for the night. Mirza sleeps on the sofa, but Knut clearly imagines that they might move much closer, using Norway's same-sex marriage laws to give Mirza a pathway to legal status. The dream begins to unravel almost immediately, though, as the reality diverges from Knut's fantasy. How much of Knut's motivation is an altruistic desire to help a down-on-his-luck immigrant, and how much is an unrequited desire for a fairy tale romance with a happily-ever-after ending? More to the point, can mutual exploitation form the basis for a marriage? Both actors play out the drama without melodrama, providing a window into the tentative approach of two men with reason to be wary. Highly recommended. [Note to the hearing-impaired: the portions of the dialogue in Norwegian and Kurdish are subtitled in English, but most of the film is in English, without subtitles.]

Christopher and His Kind

2011-06-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

Christopher and His Kind, dir. Geoffrey Sax, 2011 UK, 90 min. 
Sun. 6/26, 7:30p @ Castro, CHRI26C (closing-night gala; $35/$30 film only, $60/$50 film and party)

Christopher Isherwood (Matt Smith, lower right)
and Heinz Neddermayer (Douglas Booth)

Gay literary icon Christopher Isherwood, at the urging of his friend, poet W. H. Auden, lived in Berlin from 1929 to 1933, as the 1920’s gay liberation scene in Berlin was fading and Adolph Hitler’s “national socialism” was on the rise. That period of Isherwood’s life inspired several works, including the Broadway musical and film Cabaret. Christopher and His Kind is a more direct adaptation of Isherwood's memoirs in a biopic style, starring Matt Smith (the current Doctor Who!). Isherwood moved to Berlin “because of the boys,” but became especially fond of one in particular, Heinz Neddermayer (Douglas Booth). He also met the people who begat some of his more famous characters, including “Sally Bowles” (Jean Ross, played by Imogen Poots) and “Mr. Norris,” (Gerald Hamilton, played by Toby Jones) both of whom we meet in the film.

The subject matter could hardly be more compelling: a gay novelist living in Berlin, just as the rise of the Nazis is crushing (among many other things) the gay rights activism of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld and others. Isherwood explored the clubs and sampled many of the rent boys, but also had many less licentious adventures — some pleasant and droll, and others decidedly less so. Christopher and His Kind ranges over the full terrain, giving us a well-rounded portrait. Matt Smith is in fine form as the main character — “Issyvoo,” as his landlady calls him — but the entire cast is superb. Definitely a “must-see”!

If you simply must get your paws on the DVD as soon as it hits the streets, you’re in luck: there’s an ad in the back of the Frameline festival guide, offering it on pre-order for release on 2011-06-28. But do try to make it to the screening as well, because Don Bachardy, Isherwood’s lover for the last 30 years of his life, is expected to make an appearance. If you saw the documentary Chris & Don: A Love Story at Frameline32, you know Bachardy is quite a character in his own right.

Keywords: Frameline35, LGBT Film

Frameline35 is Here!

2011-06-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

The 35th annual Frameline LGBT Film Festival is upon us, with over 230 films from 30 countries, including 80 feature-length films. The four spotlighted films (opening night, closing night, and two centerpieces) represent the four bastions of the LGBT community. Gun Hill Road, the opening night film, leads off an impressive list of 44 transgender-themed films. The Tuesday centerpiece film, Drei (Three), delves into bisexuality, followed by the Wednesday centerpiece, Wish Me Away, about country music star Chely Wright's coming out as a lesbian. The closing night film, Christopher and His Kind, rounds out the list with gay literary icon Christopher Isherwood's life in Berlin in the early 1930's — with Isherwood played by the current Doctor Who!

I'm reviewing a number of titles from press screeners, and will have reviews of additional films I see during the festival proper. Stay tuned!

Ticket prices:
matinees: $9 general, $8 members
evenings: $11 general, $10 members
centerpieces: $15 general, $12 members
opening/closing night, film only: $35 general, $30 members

Remember: even if a screening is listed as “sold out,” you can wait in the “hope line” for the last few seats.

Keywords: Frameline35, LGBT Film

Gun Hill Road

2011-06-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Harmony Santana and Esai Morales
in Gun Hill Road. [click for full size]

Gun Hill Road, dir. Rashaad Ernesto Green, 2011, USA, 88 min. 
Thursday, June 16, 7:00 PM, Castro Theatre, ticket code GUNH16

Enrique Michael Rodriguez (Esai Morales) is coming home to his Puerto Rican family in New York City after three years in prison — not his first time — to find that his family is not quite just as he left them. His wife still loves him, but how much comfort did she find in the arms of another man while he was "upstate"? More importantly, what is up with his teenage son Michael (Harmony Santana)?

Enrique's efforts to reconnect over baseball (or football, or basketball, or fill-in-the-blank-ball) are falling flat, and Enrique gradually learns that his son and namesake is now calling herself Vanessa, growing her hair long, and writing poetry. It's quite a dilemma for a macho ex-con making a shaky transition from prison to an outside world that stubbornly refused to stand still while he was gone. We see Vanessa's ambivalence, watching the father she loves return home and demand that she renounce the new life into which she is blossoming forth, but the short timescale of the film gives us much less insight into Enrique's process: he barely moves beyond the initial shock, and it is the brevity of that character arc that left me feeling unsatisfied. Still, highly recommended.

Faetopia Cuddle Cinema

2010-06-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much up to my eyeballs in Frameline34 this week, but it's not the only queer film game in town! Faetopia is the space where the Tower Records used to be at Market & Noe, but for this week it's been taken over by the Radical Faeries of Comfort & Joy. There will be yoga classes today through Friday, doors open 5:00, class is 5:30 to 7:00, with a different style of yoga each day. There will also be a live performance of the trippy 1970's film Aliens Cut My Hair, tomorrow through Saturday at 7:30.

However, if you're reading this blog, you're probably wondering what films they have coming up, so here is the Faetopia Cuddle Cinema line-up:

Mon. 8:30 Sissyboy: the Movie (about a radically neo-something-or-other drag troupe in Portland, Oregon)
Mon. 10:00 double feature: The Glitter Emergency and The Apparition of the Eternal Church

Wed. 10:00 Whatever Happened to Susan Jane?

Thu. 10:00 Skinnyfat (Missed the Frameline screening? Here's your second chance!)

Frameline34 Highlights and Recommendations

2010-06-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

I don't have time to post the full reviews, but here are a few of my thoughts on some of the programs I've pre-screened:

Open: Interesting, but unsatisfying
Trans Francisco: well done documentary
Arias with a Twist: don't let the term "docufantasy" put you off, because this is really just a documentary about two fascinating artists, drag goddess Joey Arias and puppetmaster Basil Twist. Highly recommended.
Fun in Girls Shorts: only got to see 6 of the 8 shorts; all worth seeing, but the standout is "Door Prize."
Fun in Boys Shorts: several excellent shorts, plus an undeserving Oscar® winner. Although historically the Girls shorts program has usually been more satisfying than the Boys, this year is an exception. Of the 7 films I was able to preview, I gave 4 a "highly recommended" rating. Best of set goes to "Gay Baby."
8: The Mormon Proposition: excellent documentary about the LDS Church's obsessive push for the anti-gay Prop 8.
Postcard to Daddy: a documentary on a difficult subject, the filmmaker's own experience of child sexual abuse by his father. The lingering pain is evident as he struggles to make peace with the past.

I'll add to this list as I finish more previews.

The Owls

2010-06-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

The acting performances and the technical aspects of The Owls are all top quality, but I found the central narrative structure unworkable. The actors occasionally step out of character to comment on the film, for instance. More basically, though, none of the characters engaged me more than intermittently, and the narrative shifts increased rather than diminished my emotional distance from the story. The ending was at once both too heavy and too flippant, but rather than one leavening the other, they intensified both extremes. Recommended for fans of Cheryl Dunye, but a question mark for general audiences.

The Real Anne Lister

2010-06-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

How many times have you heard the words "laugh-out-loud funny" used to describe a documentary? As we watch the narrator (Sue Perkins) learn about the life of Anne Lister, a woman who lived as a defiantly open lesbian in rural west Yorkshire in the early 19th Century, we see Perkins at turns relate deeply to Lister and find her quite troubling. Last night, Frameline opened with a film dramatizing Lister's life (see The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister); this documentary sheds a bit of a different light on the life of a remarkable woman. The dramatization takes a few minor liberties with the story, chiefly in compressing the timeline, but it also makes her the protagonist. The documentary takes a more balanced look at some of her foibles and downright unpleasant characteristics, notably that she was arrogant and rather a snob. All the same, Anne Lister is most definitely not a character you would expect to meet in a Jane Austen novel, and we are fortunate that her diaries survived being examined and decoded on multiple occasions before the world was ready for her story.

The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister

2010-06-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, dir. James Kent, 2010, UK, 90 minutes

Two centuries ago in Yorkshire, England, a woman named Miss Anne Lister defied social conventions by openly refusing to take a husband, saying that she would instead seek to have a female companion. She was a feminist, generations before that term was coined, and fiercely determined to live true to her own life. Her diaries, written largely in code, survived, almost forgotten, until they were deciphered in the late 20th century. This biopic compresses the timelines slightly, but is essentially true to the remarkable life of an astonishing trailblazer. MUST SEE.

Note: The Real Anne Lister (below) is a documentary about the title character; also a MUST SEE.

Frameline34

2010-06-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

I'm already working my way through a pile of press "screener" copies, and will be at dozens of in-theatre screenings the next week and a half. Posting of reviews may not be as prompt as I'd like, because my wrists are feeling rather delicate, but everything I see will get up here on the blog eventually. Meanwhile, the Opening Night festivities are mere hours away....

Assume Nothing

2009-06-19T14:15:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 19, 2:15 pm, Castro Theatre, ASSU19C
North American Premiere

Rebecca Swan is a professional photographer and a gender activist. She produced a book called Assume Nothing with photos of several gender-variant individuals, challenging the notion that there are only two possible genders and even the idea that "male" and "female" are ends of a linear spectrum. In this documentary, we meet Swan and some of her subjects, delving into the personal histories of androgyny, intersex, drag, and transgenderism, including some specifically South Pacific perspectives. For example, the Maori (indigenous New Zealander) language has a gender-neutral pronoun for people, and traditional Sa'amoan culture reveres the fa'afafine (roughly, MTF). It's an intimate look inside some of the most personal aspects of identity. Highly recommended.

Assume Nothing, dir. Kirsty MacDonald, New Zealand, 2009, 80 min.; view trailer

Technorati tags: Assume Nothing,Transgender, Photography, Rebecca Swan, Documentary, Frameline33, LGBT Film

The Naked Civil Servant

2009-06-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 19, 12:00 pm, Castro Theatre, TBA119C

Quentin Crisp was truly a trailblazer, with blazing red hair to underscore the point. In London from the 1930's onward, he took his homosexuality not as a secret shame to be hidden from the world, but as a badge of identity to be shouted from every rooftop. Before World War II, Crisp occasionally worked as a rentboy, selling his services for 7s6d (37½p in decimal), sometimes earning a 10-shilling (50p) note. By the time the war began, he had found other sources of income, but was nonetheless arrested and tried on charges of "soliciting for an immoral purpose." His testimony in his own defence shines as the high point of the film, although his arch wit shows in both the dialogue and the voiceover throughout the film.

In 1975, The Naked Civil Servant played on PBS in the United States, creating quite a stir, especially outside the major cities of the East and West Coasts. It also earned both the director and the star (John Hurt) BAFTA awards. Hurt reprised the role in the 2009 sequel, An Englishman in New York, completing the story of Crisp's remarkably unique life. Both films are on my MUST SEE list.

The Naked Civil Servant, dir. Jack Gold, UK, 1975, 77 min.

Technorati tags: The Naked Civil Servant, Quentin Crisp, Frameline33, LGBT Film

The Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel)

2009-06-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 18, 10:05 pm, Castro Theatre, COUN18C
Monday, June 22, 9:30 pm, Elmwood Theatre, COUN22E

A young science teacher leaves his prestigious prep-school job (and his overbearing mother) in the big city, relocating to a small village school. He befriends a single mother and her teenage son, becoming almost part of the family, watching the boy's freely and openly sexual relationship with his girlfriend. But then a fuckbuddy from the city comes for a visit, throwing the teacher into a fog of uncertainty, rejecting sex without love but not sure how to find both together.

The story line treads uncomfortably close to stereotypes of gay men as pathetic emotional cripples who can't function in society. Indeed, the teacher is moping almost throughout the movie as he sits by on the sidelines, before he takes an even more disturbing turn. The cinematography is beautiful and the acting and directing are top-notch, but the central character knocks the film down a peg or two in my recommendations. Near the end, the townspeople show a surprisingly unstereotypical side. On the whole, I give it 3½ out of five bells.

The Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel), dir. Bohdan Sláma, Czech Republic, 2008, 113 min., in Czech with English subtitles; watch the trailer

Technorati tags: The Country Teacher, Venkovský učitel, Frameline33, LGBT Film

An Englishman in New York

2009-06-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 18, 7:00 pm, Castro Theatre, ENGL18C

Thirty-four years ago, Quentin Crisp was introduced to a worldwide audience by the film The Naked Civil Servant, illuminating his life of openly flamboyant homosexuality. John Hurt, whom younger audiences will recognize as everyone from Mr. Ollivander, purveyor of magic wands to Harry Potter, to Chancellor Sutler, the über-villain of V for Vendetta, played Crisp in a breakthrough performance that earned him a BAFTA award for best actor. Hurt returns to the role, picking up Crisp's story where the first film left off, with the newly famous "civil servant" moving to New York City.

I remember seeing The Naked Civil Servant when it was broadcast on PBS in the 1970's, although I didn't yet identify with the central figure — probably best for my odds of surviving puberty in Dallas, Texas. The sequel, though, picks up shortly before the time I myself was living near New York City as a college student, just beginning my coming-out process. Where the first film dealt with Quentin Crisp as a gadfly in the London of the 1930's to early 1970's, bucking the ubiquitous pressure to conform to heterosexual norms, the sequel focuses more on his "fish out of water" experience among the post-Stonewall gay culture of New York. Someone as eccentric as Quentin Crisp is not fated to truly fit in anywhere, it seems.

John Hurt's performance is as breathtaking as his inauguration of the role, and indeed director Richard Laxton said he could not have imagined participating with anyone other than Hurt in the lead role. The supporting cast was fabulous as well, rounding out a worthy opening film for the Frameline festival. Definitely a MUST SEE.

An Englishman in New York, dir. Richard Laxton, USA, 2009, 74 minutes.

Technorati tags: An Englishman in New York, Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant, Frameline33, LGBT Film

Frameline 33 begins....

2009-06-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

The 33rd annual Frameline International LGBT Film Festival is underway, marking the beginning of my total immersion. For the next 10 days and 11 nights, I will basically wake up, go to movies, come home, and go to sleep, with occasional brief breaks for food and mental health breaks, because, after all, what could be a better way to celebrate the longest days of the year than spending them inside a dark theater? 8^}

Technorati tags: Frameline33, LGBT Film

"U People" coming to Logo, DVD

2009-01-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

Hanifah Walidah's powerful "accidental documentary" U People (read my review) will be playing on the Logo cable channel in a few days, with the DVD re-release to follow shortly after.

Airtimes (Eastern/Pacific, check local listings, etc.):
Saturday, Feb. 7, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 8, 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 9, 5:30 p.m.

Runtime as aired is 90 minutes. Set your TiVo® now, or go to the official website to find a viewing party in your area — or maybe even host one!

The "first edition" DVD is available now on Amazon.com; the "collector's edition" is due out in February 2009.

Technorati tags: U People, Hanifah Walidah, LGBT Film

Outfest 2008

2008-07-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

I won't be attending Outfest 2008 in Los Angeles, beginning tonight, but I've seen and reviewed a number of the films that will be screened. Here's a quick summary, with each title linked to the full review.

Affinity (dramatic centerpiece)
Another Gay Sequel
Boystown (Chuecatown)
Breakfast with Scot (opening night)
Ciao
Derek
Dream Boy MUST SEE
It's STILL Elementary MUST SEE
A Jihad for Love (documentary centerpiece)
The Lost Coast
Mulligans
The New World
Newcastle MUST SEE
On the Other Hand, Death
Out in India MUST SEE
The Polymath
Ready? OK!
Saturn in Opposition
The Secrets
She's a Boy I Knew
Sordid Lives: the series
Steam MUST SEE
Tru Loved (closing night)
U People MUST SEE
Were the World Mine (awards night)
Wild Combination (platinum centerpiece)
The World Unseen
Word is Out (legacy gala)
XXY MUST SEE

(You may also want to check the list of shorts I reviewed in Frameline32, in the entry directly below this one.)

Technorati tags: Outfest, LGBT Film

Frameline32 cross-reference

2008-06-30T23:59:00.001-07:00

Affinity (Frameline32 opening night)
All My Life
Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! (Frameline showcase)
The Art of Being Straight
Be Like Others (documentary) MUST SEE
Big Eden (retrospective) MUST SEE
Bound (retrospective)
Breakfast with Scot (Frameline closing night)
Buddy G
Byron Chief Moon: Grey Horse Rider
Ciao
Derek (documentary, Frameline showcase) Highly recommended
Dottie's Magic Pockets
Drifting Flowers (Piao Lang Qing Chun) (漂浪青春)
Dyke Delights (2008) (shorts program)
Electroshock (A Love to Keep)
Envisioning Justice: the journey of a transgenderered woman
Fairytale of Kathmandu
Les feluettes (Lilies) (retrospective) MUST SEE
Gewoon Liefde (Simply Love)
It's STILL Elementary (documentary) MUST SEE
Japan Japan (יפאן יפאן)
A Jihad for Love (documentary, Frameline showcase)
The Kinsey Sicks: Almost Infamous
Law of Desire (La Ley del deseo) (retrospective) MUST SEE
La Léon
La Ley del deseo (Law of Desire) (retrospective) MUST SEE
Lilies (Les feluettes) (retrospective) MUST SEE
The Lost Coast
A Love to Keep (Electroshock)
Mala Noche (retrospective)
Manuela y Manuel, MUST SEE
Mom, I Didn't Kill Your Daughter (אמא, לא הרגתי את הבת שלך), MUST SEE
The New World (Le nouveau monde)
Le nouveau monde (The New World)
Oh Happy Day
On the Other Hand, Death
Out in India: a family's journey
Over Da Rainbow
Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band
The Perfect Man
Piao Lang Qing Chun (Drifting Flowers) (漂浪青春)
The Polymath, or the life and opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman
Ready? OK!
Ruby Blue (Frameline showcase) MUST SEE
Saturn in Opposition (Saturno contro)
Saturno contro (Saturn in Opposition)
She's a Boy I Knew (documentary) MUST SEE
Sikil (Unspoken Passion)
Simply Love (Gewoon Liefde)
Solos
Sonja
Sordid Lives (tv series preview)
Steam (dir. Kyle Schickner) MUST SEE
Tru Loved (Frameline showcase)
U People (documentary) MUST SEE
Unspoken Passion (Sikil)
Were the World Mine, MUST SEE
When I Knew (documentary, Frameline showcase)
U People (documentary) MUST) MUST SEE
Wild Combination: a portrait of Arthur Russell
Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives (documentary, Frameline showcase) MUST SEE
The World Unseen (Frameline showcase) Highly recommended
XXY (Frameline centerpiece) MUST SEE

סרט חובה • MUST SEE (Mom, I Didn't Kill Your Daughter) אמא, לא הרגתי את הבת שלך
(Japan Japan) יפאן יפאן

漂浪青春 (Piao Lang Qing Chun) (Drifting Flowers)

Shorts programs:
Fun in Boys' Shorts (2008) (shorts program)
Fun in Girls' Shorts (2008) (shorts program)
Transtastic (shorts program)
Worldly Affairs (2008) (shorts program)
The Young and Evil (shorts program)

Short films by title:
Alonso's Deadline, "The Young and Evil"
Babysitting Andy, "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
Baggage, "The Young and Evil"
Bend It, "Transtastic"
Benni Has 2 Mothers, "Fun in Girls' Shorts"
The Bond (documentary), "Transtastic" MUST SEE
Bongo Bong, "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
Bonne Mère, "Worldly Affairs"
Bramadero, "Worldly Affairs"
Café com Leite (You, Me and Him), "Worldly Affairs"
Congratulations, Daisy Graham, "A Gay Old Time"
Country Life (Landleben) (Vie champetre), "Worldly Affairs" MUST SEE
The Cousin (El Primo), "The Young and Evil"
Crafty, "Dyke Delights" MUST SEE
Dolls (short), "The Young and Evil" MUST SEE
Donkey Girl, "Fun in Girls' Shorts"
Donny & Ginger, "Transtastic"
Downstream (Im Fluß) (documentary), "A Gay Old Time"
Duck Soup, "Fun in Girls' Shorts"
El Primo (The Cousin), "The Young and Evil"
En el Instituto (In the High School), "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
Felicia (documentary), "Transtastic"
For a Relationship, screened with Ciao, Recommended
Forever's Gonna Start Tonight (documentary), "A Gay Old Time"
Forever's Gonna Start Tonight (documentary), "Transtastic"
Happenstance, "Fun in Girls' Shorts"
Hello, My Name is Herman, documentary, "A Gay Old Time"
HerzHaft, "Worldly Affairs" MUST SEE
Hirsute, "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
How Do I Say This? I'm Gay!, "Fun in Girls' Shorts" MUST SEE
Im Fluß (Downstream) (documentary), "A Gay Old Time"
In the High School (En el Instituto), "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
Just Me? (documentary), "A Gay Old Time" MUST SEE
King County, "Dyke Delights"
Landleben (Vie champetre) (Country Life), "Worldly Affairs" MUST SEE
The Last Visit, "A Gay Old Time"
Lezbro: Don't Cha Know, "Dyke Delights"
Lloyd Neck, "The Young and Evil"
Lot's Wife, "Worldly Affairs"
Love Sucks, "Dyke Delights"
Maggots and Men, "Transtastic" [not reviewed]
Mars, "The Young and Evil"
Menopausal Gals Gone Wild, "Dyke Delights"
Mirror Mirror, "A Gay Old Time"
No Bikini, "Fun in Girls' Shorts" [not reviewed]
Operated by Invisible Hands, "Dyke Delights" MUST SEE
Overstuff, "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
Pages of a Girl (Páginas de Menina), "Fun in Girls' Shorts" MUST SEE
Páginas de Menina (Pages of a Girl), "Fun in Girls' Shorts" MUST SEE
Pat's First Kiss, "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
Pitstop, "Fun in Girls' Shorts" MUST SEE
The Postcard, "Worldly Affairs"
The Premiere, "Fun in Girls' Shorts"
The Role I Was Born to Play, "Transtastic" [not reviewed]
Screening Party, "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
The Sheep and the Ranch Hand: A Sexyqueer Love Story, "Dyke Delights" MUST SEE
Silver Road, "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
Sistole/Diastole (Systolic/Diastolic), "A Gay Old Time"
Social Conflict Management, "Dyke Delights"
Souljah, "The Young and Evil"
Systolic/Diastolic (Sistole/Diastole), "A Gay Old Time"
Tá, "Worldly Affairs"
Thorn in Your Side (documentary), "Transtastic"
Toi et Moi, "Dyke Delights"
The Touch, "Fun in Girls' Shorts"
TRANSforming Healthcare (documentary), "Transtastic" MUST SEE
Unca Trans, "Transtastic"
The Vicious & the Delicious, "Dyke Delights"
Vie champetre (Landleben) (Country Life), "Worldly Affairs" MUST SEE
The Window, "Fun in Boys' Shorts"
A Work in Progress, "Dyke Delights"
Worst Case Scenario: Femme Edition, "Dyke Delights" MUST SEE
You, Me and Him (Café com Leite), "Worldly Affairs"
The Young and Evil (short), "The Young and Evil"

Technorati tags: Frameline32, LGBT Film

Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild!

2008-06-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

Director Todd Stephens had a smash hit with his first film, the coming-out drama Edge of Seventeen. He had difficulty with his second film, Gypsy 83, because distributors said it was "not gay enough" for the sorts of DVD vendors that were happy to push Edge. With his third film, he rose to the challenge of making the gayest film ever, 2006's Another Gay Movie. He's back this year with the follow-up, Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! picking up the same foursome of boys, now in college and no longer virgins, going on spring break to Fort Lauderdale.

Unfortunately, three of the four original cast members backed out of the sequel, two of them at the last minute. While the replacements aren't close lookalikes, they did an admirable job of capturing the mannerisms of the original characters, making it somewhat easier to keep track of who was which. Scott Thompson and Lypsinka are back as Andy's parents (although it's a new Andy), and RuPaul, The Lady Bunny, and Brent Corrigan splish-splash their way on the screen. The story line, though, lacks the freshness of the first film, making it a bit harder work to get the laughs that came so easily last time. It's largely a case of "sequel-itis," although it didn't help that I'm much less familiar with the source material being spoofed this time around: shifting from American Pie and the John Hughes movies to Annette Funicello and Beach Blanket Bingo, is bound to lose some of your target market. Where Another Gay Movie was an out-of-the-park home run, the sequel is at best an infield double. It may have a very limited theatrical release, and the DVD is due around Christmas. Recommended

Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! dir. Todd Stephens, 2008 USA 90 min.; official website

update: I recently saw Another Gay Sequel (now out on DVD), and it fares much better standing on its own than watching it soon after having watched Another Gay Movie — the casting changes are much less jarring if the first film is not quite as fresh in your mind. In particular, my friends who had not seen the original at all, found the sequel very enjoyable. By all means, see both movies — just not back-to-back!

Technorati tags: Another Gay Sequel, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Over Da Rainbow

2008-06-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

(screened before Another Gay Sequel)

Rapper Terrier (teh-ree-AY) has a music video for his new song, "Kill Faggots" off the triple-platinum album hoMOFObic, with lyrics like "a butthole ain't no buffet meal" and "stuff faggots' ass up with electric eels." Terrier wants to sample the 1980's "hair metal" song "Teri Why," but he must get Max Lightning's widow Theresa to sign off. She agrees on the condition that he reunite her with her estranged son Christopher, a gay-rights activist and childhood friend of Terrier's. Gee, do you suppose the lyric "so deviant, so sinister, that's why I love killin' faggots named Christopher" might have some relevance to the plot line?

It's a satire of the world of rap, where song lyrics are often only slightly less violently homophobic than this parody. I'm not at all sure, though, that people seeing the video by itself on the web (yes, it's out there) will grasp the context, even with the "OverDaRainbow.com" logo in the corner of the video, if they don't read the notes below it. I certainly hope that it will provoke the discussion it aims to begin, and perhaps shame some of the real rappers into selling music instead of hate. Recommended, with a caveat regarding extremely offensive content.

Over Da Rainbow, dir. Jay Lap, 2007 USA 20 min.

Technorati tags: Over Da Rainbow, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Dyke Delights (2008)

2008-06-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

Menopausal Gals Gone Wild: Who says that only college co-eds get to whoop it up and show some skin? We've got hot flashes! We don't need no steenkin' tampons! It's all in the flavor of those obnoxious late-night TV ads, but with a highly subversive twist — although you can get your MMGW merchandise, including shirts, coffee mugs, bumper stickers, and fridge magnets. Cute and funny, highly recommended
Menopausal Gals Gone Wild, dirs. Donna Marie Nudd & Diane Wilkins, 2007 USA 4 min.

Crafty: an activist with a petition for E.R.T.V.S. — Equal Rights This Very Second — shows up on a woman's doorstep and decides that she wants more than just her signature. It includes such educational gems as the factoid that women in same-sex relationships are 70% less likely to be attacked by sharks. An excellent mix of sex and politics, MUST SEE
Crafty, dir. Erik Gernand, 2008 USA 9 min.

Toi et Moi: dance-offs and drag queens, in a music video style, set in Portland, Oregon, but with really bad French accents. Amusing; recommended
Toi et Moi, dir. Ali Cotterill, 2007 USA 3 min.

Social Conflict Management: a 1950's-style educational film, instructing young people on how to deal with some awkward situations. Cute, well done, highly recommended
Social Conflict Management, dir. Dagny Thompson, 2005 Canada 8 min.

Lezbro: Don't Cha Know: Gay men have their "fag hags," but what do you call a straight man who hangs around with lesbians? He's a lezbro! A fun testament to cross-community harmony, highly recommended
LezBro: Don't Cha Know, dirs. Melinda Bagatelos & Dara Sklar, 2008 USA 10 min.

A Work in Progress: two writers with a past are thrown together to work on a project, with cinematic nods to D.E.B.S. and Go Fish. Highly recommended
A Work in Progress, dir. Keshia Coe, 2008 USA 8 min.

Worst Case Scenario: Femme Edition: How do you, as a femme dyke, get that butch dyke to notice you? This black-and-white Super-8 instructional film will get you started. "Oh, didn't I see you at Moist Wet Pussysnatch [club]?" Very funny, MUST SEE
Worst-Case Scenario: Femme Edition, dir. Mary Guzman, 2008 USA 5 min.

Operated by Invisible Hands: Two dolls come to terms with the existential angst around feeling like you're being controlled by an unseen force, as if your life isn't your own and you have no free will. Brilliant script, hilarious, MUST SEE
Operated by Invisible Hands, dir. Nicole Brending, 2007 USA 7 min.

Love Sucks: For two lesbian vampires, it can be a real challenge to keep the relationship fresh, even with some help from a couples counselor, especially when they're trying to be socially responsible vampires, keeping live feedings to a minimum. Funny, well done, highly recommended
Love Sucks, dirs. Ingrid Jungermann & Sara Winters, 2008 USA 10 min.

The Sheep and the Ranch Hand: A Sexyqueer Love Story: You'll never hear the words "rack of lamb" quite the same way again, not to mention "C'mere, ewe!" A woman dreams of being a sheep, shacking up with a female ranch hand. Lots of little touches, several laugh-out-loud moments, MUST SEE
The Sheep and the Ranch Hand: A Sexyqueer Love Story, dir. Loretta Hintz, 2008 USA 14 min.

King County: The challenge: find a bad 80's movie to turn into a Broadway-style stage musical for a Seattle audience. How about Top Gun as performed by butch lesbians? Or maybe an all-bear version of Showgirls. Fun, well done, highly recommended
King County, dir. David Quantic, 2007 USA 7 min.

The Vicious & the Delicious: An Australian soap opera, with some over-the-top plot twists, including a whole new meaning to "I'll rip your throat out!" It drags on a bit long, though, and not all of the gags work. No recommendation.
The Vicious & the Delicious, dir. Tonnette Stanford, 2007 Australia 11 min.

"Dyke Delights" (2008) (shorts program)

Technorati tags: Dyke Delights, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Sonja

2008-06-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Sonja is a 16-year-old girl who can't seem to fit in. She is alienated from friends and family alike, indifferent to her boyfriend, but irresistibly drawn to her friend Julia. She writes in her diary about her feelings for Julia, but her mother snoops and scowls, leading Sonja to take a holiday with her father. While at the beach house, she decides to try out this whole heterosexuality thing, but with a rather iffy older man. The teen angst is palpable throughout the film, but I didn't really get a good sense of the characters; in particular, the decision to have sex with a man seemed abrupt and lacking in context. I also felt that the film tried to say too much with wistful glances that ought to have been conveyed in dialogue. Recommended

Sonja, dir. Kirsi Marie Liimatainen, 2007 Germany 73 min., in German with English subtitles
view trailer

Technorati tags: Sonja, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Worldly Affairs (2008)

2008-06-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

"Worldly Affairs" (2008) shorts program of international films

Tá: Two young men gather in a toilet stall to snort some cocaine and talk about sex. One asks the other to help him get aroused, but it takes a bit of work. Very cute boys, and a nice surprise ending; highly recommended
Tá, dir. Felipe Sholl, 2007 Brazil 5 min., in Portuguese with English subtitles

HerzHaft: The 33yo soccer coach and a 15yo member of the team are having an affair, but things get dicey when the boy's (lesbian) mother finds out. Treads deftly between the extremes of NAMBLA's view that children's sexuality is the same as adults' and the religious right's view that children have no sexuality at all; the reality is far more complicated. Excellent, MUST SEE
HerzHaft, dir. Martin Busker, 2007 Germany 15 min., in German with English subtitles

Bramadero: Two men find a construction site where they can explore their passion for each other. No dialogue at all, and no shortage of skin. However, the film seems to mistake slow motion for emotional intensity, and the lack of dialogue ultimately results in a lack of storyline. Eye candy aside, is this porn trying to pretend to be art or art trying to be porn? My recommendation: choose one or the other, because Bramadero fails at trying to be both. Not recommended
Bramadero, dir. Julián Hernández, 2007 Mexico 22 min., no dialogue

Bonne Mère: The Frameline program says only this: "Alfred leaves northern France for Marseille to look for his mother." She works as a prostitute, and he changes his name and becomes a hooker, too, to be just like dear old Mom. I just didn't see any point to it; my reaction is summed up in a single word: "Huh??" Not recommended
Bonne Mère, dir. Maxime Desmons, 2008 Canada 3 min., in French with English subtitles

The Postcard (그림엽서): Last year, filmmaker Josh Kim presented his first short, The Police Box; he's back with another fun short this year. A young man comes into the post office day after day to send a series of postcards with highly personal messages but only an address with no name. The gossipy female clerks try to figure out which of them he's flirting with, never guessing the truth, until things come to a head. Highly recommended
The Postcard, dir. Josh Kim, 2008 South Korea 15 min., in Korean with English subtitles

Lot's Wife: A young man's family comes to his tenement to "rescue" him from his life of "shame," living with another young man. His mother isn't sure how to act, so she just watches. Even at 9 minutes, this short felt more like a prelude than an actual story. Recommended
Lot's Wife, dirs. Koray Durak & Harjant Gill, 2008 Turkey 9 min., in Turkish with English subtitles

Country Life (Landleben) (Vie champetre): Julian, a shy country boy, just came out to his best friend Simone. She introduces him to another gay friend, but Julian meets his mismatch in the very urban party boy Adi. The two young men are worlds apart, one seeking quiet solitude in the mountains while the other looks for the gay clubs in the big city. Cute, fun, and funny, with very cute boys. MUST SEE
Country Life (Landleben) (Vie champetre), dir. Lukas Egger, 2007 Switzerland 16 min., in (Swiss) German with English subtitles

You, Me and Him (Café com Leite): A young man and his boyfriend are planning to move into an apartment together, finally getting out from under their respective parents' roofs. Their plans change suddenly, and the two lovers must learn to live with the kid brother, and decide what to do about their plans for a honeymoon trip. Very well done, although I thought the ending left a few too many loose ends. Highly recommended
You, Me and Him (Café com Leite), dir. Daniel Ribeiro, 2007 Brazil 18 min., in Portuguese with English subtitles

Technorati tags: Worldly Affairs, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Pride Weekend at Frameline32

2008-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

a few selections for the final 3 days of the Frameline32 festival; note that I have only seen the ones marked with ∗

FRIDAY
6:00 Cas: ∗Were the World Mine, choreographed h.s. rugby team — you gotta see this!
9:00 Vic: Chris & Don, gay lit icon Christopher Isherwood & his lover (doc.)

SATURDAY
11:00a Cas: ∗Yes, Nurse! No, Nurse! silly, campy, Dutch musical
1:15 Cas: ∗Sordid Lives, preview of the new TV series coming later this year
6:00 Cas: ∗Kinsey Sicks, behind-the-wigs look at drag-a-pella politics
6:00 Vic: ∗Jihad for Love, doc. about gay Muslims. NOTE: jihad does not mean what the US media think it means!
8:30 Cas: Another Gay Sequel, must-see follow-up to Another Gay Movie

SUNDAY (all at the Castro Theatre)
11:30a: ∗"Fun in Girls Shorts," some real gems, as usual
2:00: ∗"Fun in Boys Shorts," not as good as the Girls, but still worth seeing
4:30: ∗Derek, moving doc. on Derek Jarman, narrated by Tilda Swinton
7:30: ∗Breakfast with Scot, closeted jocks reluctantly take on a foster child who challenges them on many levels

Technorati tags: Frameline32, LGBT Film

On the Other Hand, Death

2008-06-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

here!TV, the gay premium cable channel, has been bringing author Richard Stevenson's mystery novels, centering on gay detective Donald Strachey, to television. On the Other Hand, Death is the latest, with Strachey (Chad Allen) caught up in a tangled web when his mystery client hires him to surveil a woman who turns out to be an undercover cop. In the mean time, a small-town lesbian couple (Margot Kidder and Gabrielle Rose) are facing homophobic vandalism, escalating to violent threats, plus angry parents upset that Kidder, a high-school guidance counselor, is telling her students about the Trevor Project, a crisis hotline for queer and questioning youth (1-866-4-U-TREVOR = 1-866-488-7386). Of course, there turns out to be a connection between the two threads, which Strachey uncovers — but not before a dead body turns up in Kidder and Rose's barn. It's an entertaining and engaging mystery story, in the tradition of Barnaby Jones or Columbo, but with a bit more of a noir aesthetic and a definite gay twist. Highly recommended

On the Other Hand, Death: A Donald Strachey Mystery, dir. Ron Oliver, 2008 USA 86 min.

Technorati tags: On the Other Hand, Death, Donald Strachey, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band

2008-06-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

If you know anything at all about gay rock'n'roll, you've undoubtedly heard of Pansy Division. They take a defiantly in-your-face-queer approach to making rock music, but equally eschew the disco / boy-band / synthpop aesthetic of much of queer music. This documentary is a history of the band, made by their friend Michael Carmona and band member Chris Freeman, tracking from the very beginning when Jon Ginoli was Pansy Division as a solo act, to teaming up with Freeman, through the succession of drummers, the tour opening for Green Day just as they started tearing up the charts, and the change of record labels. Bits of concert footage, mostly submitted by fans with video cameras, are interwoven with TV appearances, plus interviews specifically for this film. I've known Jon Ginoli for years and been a Pansy Division fan, but I learned quite a bit about the band's ups and downs. Highly recommended for any fan of rock'n'roll.

Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band, dir. Michael Carmona, 2007 USA 84 min.

Technorati tags: Pansy Division, Queercore, Homocore, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives

2008-06-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Way back in 1977, the Mariposa Film Group interviewed 26 openly gay and lesbian people, from college-aged to senior citizens, about their lives. The result is a two-hour documentary that aired on PBS. In many respects, the interviewees are typical folks, but their candor about their sexuality was striking for the late 1970's. Some of them had stood up to oppression and violent homophobic attacks; for example, a woman who was in the WAC in World War II told of the soldiers who would attack the lesbians because they weren't making themselves sexually available for their pleasure. All of them displayed tremendous personal courage in standing up for themselves. In some ways, we are light years removed from the world of the 70's, as we fight for marriage equality and other issues that were not even on the radar back then, but it is important to remember our collective history, and Word is Out provides a priceless window into that era. MUST SEE

Word is Out, dir. Mariposa Film Group, 1977 USA 124 min., restored print; DVD release is planned

Technorati tags: Word is Out, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Big Eden

2008-06-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Big Eden has the distinction of being my mother's favorite film ever from the Frameline festivals; in fact, it's one of only a very few I've ever gotten her to watch. Henry (Arye Gross, "Ellen") is an artist in New York City, looking forward to his big gallery opening with a level of enthusiasm usually reserved for root canals. The day before, he gets a call from Big Eden, his home town in the mountains of Montana, that his grandfather is dying, so he flies back, much to the dismay of his agent. He ends up staying for several months to care for "Sampa," and reconnects with some old friends, including his high-school crush Dean and the inscrutable Pike, now the owner of the general store. Henry is preoccupied with Dean, who is now divorced with two kids; in the mean time, Henry is oblivious to Pike's steady interest. The small town turns out to be very different from the redneck hellhole one might imagine, and it seems that the biggest obstacle to Henry's coming out is himself. It's a beautiful story, told flawlessly, down to the smallest details of plot, dialogue, costumes, and props. All of the major characters give award-worthy performances, and the film more than earned its thunderous standing ovation the first time it screened at the Castro, 2000-06-22. Definitely a MUST SEE, and a must for your DVD collection.

Big Eden, dir. Thomas Bezucha, 2000 USA 117 min.; view the trailer

Technorati tags: Big Eden, Frameline32, LGBT Film

A Love to Keep (Electroshock)

2008-06-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

Based on a true story, A Love to Keep begins in fascist Spain in the early 1970's. The two main characters are school teachers Elvira and Pilar, two women who live a quiet but happy life together until Pilar's parents intervene and have her shipped off to a psychiatric hospital for "treatment," including electroshock aversion therapy. She remains confined for over 4 years, finally released after Franco's death, as the fascists give way to a more open society and political system. However, she is a broken woman, beset by nightmares and sudden mood swings — side effects of the electroshock therapy — and their hopes for a happy life after their long-awaited reunion slowly unravel. It's a moving story, although heavily downbeat and at times difficult to watch. As a made-for-TV movie, the production values are a little rough around the edges, but the performances make up for those minor issues. Highly recommended

A Love to Keep (Electroshock), dir. Juan Carlos Claver, 2006 Spain 98 min., in Spanish with English subtitles

Technorati tags: A Love to Keep, Electroshock, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Ruby Blue

2008-06-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

Jack (Bob Hoskins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) is a recent widower, still trying to regain his footing after his wife's death. He has a flock of racing pigeons in the back yard, but even they only barely hold his interest. A nosy little girl begins to draw him out of his shell, but it's Stephanie, the French divorcée across the street, who gently nudges him to re-engage with life, giving him several surprises, some pleasant and others unsettling. A teenaged hooligan-in-training comes under Jack's wing, learning how to care for and race the pigeons. Things get ugly when the little girl goes missing and rumors fly that Jack is a pedophile, but Stephanie and some of the neighborhood children stand up for him. It's well-written, with strong performances across the board, and a story of hope and connection; MUST SEE

Ruby Blue, dir. Jan Dunn, 2008 UK 112 min.

Technorati tags: Ruby Blue, Pigeon Racing, Frameline32, LGBT Film

A Gay Old Time

2008-06-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

"A Gay Old Time," a program of short films by or about older members of our LGBT community

Systolic/Diastolic (Sistole/Diastole): A short film dealing with end-of-life issues, including senility. Well done, highly recommended
Systolic/Diastolic (Sistole/Diastole), dir. Pelayo Muñiz, 2006 Spain 20 min., in Spanish with English subtitles

Forever's Gonna Start Tonight: (documentary) Vicki Marlane, at 71 "the oldest living, continuously performing transgender drag performer" tells some tales, including Ethel Merman and the entire Broadway cast of Gypsy giving the female impersonators a standing ovation for their version. Highly recommended (also screened as part of the "Transtastic" shorts program)
Forever's Gonna Start Tonight, dir. Michelle Lawler, 2007 USA 9 min.

The Last Visit: a woman visits her bubbie (grandmother), wringing her hands as she brings the news, "Yes, bubbie, I met someone." Recommended
The Last Visit, dir. Bee Sack, 2007 Canada 5 min.

Congratulations, Daisy Graham: A schoolteacher is being honored for her many years of service, but she has something far more pressing to worry about (although she does pause long enough to correct the grammar in her congratulations letter): her partner fades in and out of contact with reality, sometimes violently. Daisy has a rifle and a box of bullets; how will she get out of this awful situation? Highly recommended
Congratulations, Daisy Graham, dir. Cassandra Nicolaou, 2007 Canada 15 min.

Downstream (Im Fluß): Two older women ponder the unthinkable: what will either of them do if the other passes away? Their lives are so interwoven after decades together that it's hard to imagine. We see them both literally and figuratively floating down the river of life together. Highly recommended
Downstream (Im Fluß), dirs. Claudia Lorenz & Cecilia Barriga, 2007 Switzerland 5 min., in German with English subtitles

Mirror Mirror: (no, not the famous Star Trek episode!) Joe has shared the last many years with his alter-ego Jana, but now he must kill off his inner drag queen. Highly recommended
Mirror Mirror, dir. John Winter, 2007 Australia 10 min.

Hello, My Name is Herman: I saw this one up in its native Toronto in May. The Queer Youth Digital Video Project helps a handful of young Torontonians make short films; Karine decided to introduce her grandfather to us. He's 91, and loves Karines's girlfriend almost as much as her. Definitely worth seeing twice; highly recommended
Hello, My Name is Herman, dir. Karine Silverwoman, 2007 Canada 10 min.

Just Me?: Am I really the only lesbian in the family, or is there something I should know about my great grandmother? It seems Nana had a "good friend" (and housemate and traveling companion) named Betty.... Excellent, MUST SEE

Just Me?, dir. Amy Neil, 2007 USA 22 min.

Technorati tags: A Gay Old Time, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Lilies (Les feluettes)

2008-06-25T14:15:00.000-07:00

I was in the Castro Theatre on 1997-06-26, when Lilies played to an enthusiastic capacity crowd. Other movies have followed with some of the cinematic elements Lilies pioneered, but the film itself has lost none of its lustre. The setting is a Québec prison in 1952; the bishop has come, ostensibly to hear the confession of one of the prisoners, but he arrives to find the tables turned. The prisoner, the young man for whose murder he is imprisoned, and the bishop were boyhood schoolmates, and with help from the other inmates and the chaplain, the prisoner stages a play about their shared past. The top of the confession booth lifts off, and the bishop finds himself transported back to Roberval, on the shores of Lac St.-Jean. We see the young Bishop Bilodeau (Matthew Ferguson, Eclipse), wracked with jealousy over Simon's affection for Vallier. A variety of other characters enter the story, most notably a Parisian lady who arrives by hot-air balloon. The interplay between the characters in the flashback and the present, weaves an enchanting tapestry, drawing the viewer completely into its world. Flawless performances, exquisite cinematography, a compelling story, and a liberal sprinkling of eye candy, justify not only Lilies' place in the pantheon of gay cinema, but also its Genie^® award (Canada's answer to the Oscars^®). Any serious gay film buff must have Lilies in the DVD collection. MUST SEE

Lilies (Les feluettes), dir. John Greyson, 1996 Canada 95 min.

Technorati tags: Lilies, Les feluettes, Frameline32, LGBT Film

She's a Boy I Knew

2008-06-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

She's a Boy I Knew is a transgender documentary with a major twist: the filmmaker is not only transgedered herself, she is the subject, giving a much closer first-person narrative than any other similar work I've seen. Gwen Haworth began life as Steven, and she uses family photos and videos and interviews to explore the emotional dimensions of her transition, not only in her life but in the lives of the people around her. Steven's wife Malgosia is supportive, but she fell in love with a man and isn't sure she wants to stay married to a woman, Gwen's father speaks of his feelings of losing a son even as he embraces his new daughter, but Gwen's friend Roari is a champion of acceptance and support. Gwen herself is both an interesting subject and a capable filmmaker, creating a compelling documentary. MUST SEE

She's a Boy I Knew, dir. Gwen Haworth, 2007 Canada 70 min.

Technorati tags: She's a Girl I Knew, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Ready? OK!

2008-06-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Joshua is on the cusp of his 11th birthday, going to Catholic school, living with his single mother in Normal Heights, USA. But Joshua is not so much interested in being on the wrestling team, as in cheering the team on to victory. For Halloween, he goes to school dressed as Maria von Trapp from Sound of Music. He gets some help and support from his gay next-door neighbor Charlie (Michael Emerson, Lost), although his mother is clearly uneasy with the stereotypes her son's behavior plays into. Joshua does his best to tough it out, but it's clear that he doesn't belong on the "straight and narrow" path.

The backdrop of the family dynamic is a bit uneven, particularly the character of Joshua's vagrant loser uncle, who seems mostly to point up the lack of stable male role models in Joshua's life. But Lurie Poston as Joshua lights up the screen, leaping into the role with "gimme a V" V-E-R-V-E. (Remarkably, he was unable to attend the Frameline screening because he's away at football camp in South Carolina!) Look for him later this summer in the Will Ferrell movie Step Brothers. Michael Emerson plays the gay neighbor with quiet grace and understated elegance. Carrie Preston as the mother captures the uncertainty of trying to understand and deal with her son's likely homosexuality — how much should she try to butch him up? How much should she give him free rein to simply be himself, straight or gay, macho or sissy, quiet or flaming? Cute and sweet, with a strong child actor in a strong child role; highly recommended

Ready? OK!, dir. James Vasquez, 2008 USA 91 min.

Technorati tags: Ready? OK!, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Bound

2008-06-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

Before The Matrix trilogy or V for Vendetta, never mind Speed Racer, the Wachowski Brothers made a movie that remains a classic of lesbian film, pairing Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly as two small-time criminals with a plan to make their big score by putting one over on the Mob. Watching this film, you'd be hard-pressed to imagine that it was written and directed by a couple of straight boys making their second feature film. The heat between Gershon and Tilly is so intense, it's a wonder the screen doesn't melt. There are some gruesome scenes of violence, too, but the center of the story is the pas-de-deux of these two women figuring out how far they can trust one another, both in love and in crime. A dozen years later, it's a real treat to see it in 35mm on a big screen, even though it's already in any serious queer film buff's DVD collection. MUST SEE

Bound, dirs. Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski, 1996 USA 108 min., available on DVD

Technorati tags: Bound, Wachowski, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Oh Happy Day

2008-06-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's a nightmare scenario for any closeted office worker: Saturday's one-night stand turns up on Monday, the big new client your boss expects you to reel in. Jonathan, the advertising director, faces an impossible task, working with a man with whom he shares an unmistakable passion without either running afoul of company non-fraternization policies or alienating the client. Throw in some complications from Jonathan's co-workers, and you have the makings of a right mess. I couldn't help feeling, though, that Jonathan's stodgy stiffness (in public, anyway) gave the film a bit too much of the aspect of feeling trapped in an untenable position, not leaving the humor enough air to fully breathe. Still, it's a solid comedy; highly recommended

Oh Happy Day, dir. Ian Poitier, 2007 UK 100 min.

Technorati tags: Oh Happy Day, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Steam (dir. Kyle Schickner)

2008-06-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

Three very different women — a college student, a single mother, and a widow — meet in the steam room, hoping to melt away their troubles. Elizabeth, the college freshman, is struggling to break loose from her controlling, narrow-minded parents, and her world is rocked when she meets a seductive activist. Laurie (Ally Sheedy) is trying to cope with her ex-husband's efforts to use their son to get back at her, even as she begins a tricky relationship with the son's soccer coach, a man closer to her son's age than to her own. Doris (Ruby Dee) spends her days avoiding the church busybody committee until she meets a new man. All three stories are engaging and well told, with a wonderful performance especially by Ruby Dee. MUST SEE

Steam, dir. Kyle Schickner, 2007 USA 117 min., view the trailer

Technorati tags: Steam, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Simply Love (Gewoon Liefde)

2008-06-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

Forty-some years ago, Marcel and Marijke met at a summer camp and fell in love. Circumstances separated them, and each married and had children. In 1993, Marcel was the subject of the documentary A Change of View (Anders Bekeken), following him on his transition to Marcella. Now, Marijke's husband has died, leaving her to wonder what ever became of Marcel. She writes a letter, which reaches Marcella, and they rekindle their romance, not skipping a beat over the change from "boy meets girl" to "two older women." Some tensions arise, of course, as they try to figure out how to fashion their new life together, with Marcella's ex-wife still in the picture. Of course, in the Netherlands, marriage is an option, and that brings up further issues. Simply Love is an engaging portrait of an extraordinary love story; highly recommended

Simply Love (Gewoon Liefde), dir. Eveline van Dijck, 2007 Netherlands 50 min., in Dutch with English subtitles

Technorati tags: Simply Love, Gewoon Liefde, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Envisioning Justice: the journey of a transgendered woman

2008-06-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

Pauline Park has a pretty incongruous life story. She was a Korean orphan, but grew up with Lutheran adoptive parents in Wisconsin, eventually coming to terms with being a transwoman. She has picked up the baton, though, and run with it, becoming an outspoken activist on transgender and other issues, co-founding NYAGRA, the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy. Envisioning Justice is a compelling portrait of this remarkable activist; highly recommended

Envisioning Justice: the journey of a transgendered woman, dir. Larry Tung, 2008 USA/Taiwan 32 min.

Technorati tags: Envisioning Justice, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Law of Desire (La Ley del deseo)

2008-06-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 23, 1:45 pm, Castro Theatre

Law of Desire wasn't director Pedro Almodóvar's first feature film by a longshot, but it is the one that brought him to the attention of a wider American audience, in large part thanks to Michael Lumpkin and Frameline. It also brought actor Antonio Banderas to our screens, long before he became fluent in English. The story is almost as crazy as Banderas' character, a stalker obsessed with Pablo Quintero, a gay filmmaker. (Hmm, I wonder who that could represent...) The wonderful Carmen Maura, one of the director's favorite actors, plays Pablo's MtF sister. Throw in a few other of Almodóvar's signature "crazy but somehow still functional" characters, and you have a classic. MUST SEE

A few of my favorite Almodóvar films: What Have I Done to Deserve This?, Dark Habits, Volver, Bad Education, Labyrinth of Passion [22yo Antonio Banderas playing a gay Islamic terrorist in 1982!]

Law of Desire (La Ley del deseo), dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 1987 Spain 102 min., in Spanish with English subtitles

available on DVD

Technorati tags: Law of Desire, La Ley del deseo, Frameline32, LGBT Film

All My Life

2008-06-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Frameline describes All My Life as "epic in length"; unfortunately, that's not so much for having 2½ hours worth of story to tell, but for lack of an editor with the detachment to cut some of the many, many places where the film bogs down, often in repetitive scenes. It's a basic rule of film-making: if the filmmaker is also the editor, he or she is often too emotionally enmeshed with every frame to make the difficult decisions necessary to pare it down to a watchable length. There's probably a good, solid 90-minute film to be made from this footage, but by the time I finally walked out a little past the 2-hour mark, I was about ready never to set foot in a theatre again.

On the positive side, All My Life is ground-breaking for its open and explicit portrayal of gay men in Egypt, and it grapples with what has to be one of the most gut-wrenching decisions imaginable: stay in the land of my birth, despised and oppressed for my sexuality, risking arrest, blackmail, or even torture and death — or emigrate to a land where I can be openly gay but where every other aspect of my culture is alien and where I may be despised and oppressed as a foreigner. The shoestring budget of the film shows through, but that isn't enough to spoil it. If Maher Sabry brings on someone else to do a re-edit down to 90 or 100 minutes, I'll give this film a "highly recommended," but at 150 minutes, I have to say not recommended.

All My Life (طول عمري), dir. Maher Sabry, 2008 Egypt/US 150 min.

Technorati tags: All My Life, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Drifting Flowers (Piao Lang Qing Chun) (漂浪青春)

2008-06-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

It seems I am fated not to see this film in its entirety. I gave up my ticket for the screening at InsideOut in Toronto last month, I tried unsuccessfully to check out a press screener before the Frameline festival, and I left early from the Castro Theatre screening in order to catch a feature at the Victoria. I did see the first of the three segments of Drifting Flowers, but missed the other two.

In the first segment, we see two orphaned girls: Jing, a nightclub singer who also happens to be blind, and Meigo, her younger sister, just on the cusp of puberty. The two face a daunting challenge, trying to take care of one another, leading Jing to make the wrenching decision to place Meigo in foster care with a wealthy family. But there is a third player in the domestic drama: Chalkie, a butch musician from the nightclub. Chalkie is chasing after Jing, but Meigo has a crush on Chalkie and is bitterly jealous of her sister.

The character of Jing comes across as woefully lacking in self-confidence, forced to rely on others for her day-to-day well-being, but the callous indifference of the strangers she encounters on the street makes that seem more a question of environment and less a matter of personal shortcomings, softening my usual distaste for "shrinking violet" characters. Meigo is a barrel full of monkeys, ready to burst forth at any moment with a torrent of dammed up energy, but yearning for something more. Chalkie appears as the ticket to stability, but only for one or the other sister.

Based only on the first ⅓ of the film, I'd recommend it, although I would hope for some stronger characters in the other two segments.

漂浪青春 (Piao Lang Qing Chun) (Drifting Flowers), dir. 周美玲 (Zero Chou), 2007 Taiwan 97 min., in Taiwanese (臺灣話) with English subtitles; Official website

Technorati tags: Drifting Flowers, Piao Lang Qing Chun, 漂浪青春, Frameline32, LGBT Film

When I Knew

2008-06-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

"When did you know you were gay or lesbian?" It's one of the ubiquitous questions any out-of-the-closet queer has heard a thousand times. For me, there is no simple answer, since it was a gradual dawning masked by the equally gradual erosion of an elaborate system of denial and concealment of the truth even from myself. Documentary filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (everything from Party Monster [both the documentary and the feature film] to The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and many more) let a succession of people sit down in front of a camera and give their answers. Since there's only one question, there's no need for an interviewer. The answers run the gamut from poignant to funny, but they all shed light on the experience of realizing that you're profoundly different from the other boys and girls around you.

In addition to the main screening, the filmmakers set up a video booth at the Frameline festival, allowing quite a few of this year's attendees to see themselves on the screen. MUST SEE

When I Knew, dirs. Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato, 2008 USA 35 min.
When I Knew: Stories from Frameline32 Patrons, dirs. Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato, 2008 USA 30 min.
Filmmakers' Official Website

Technorati tags: When I Knew, Frameline32, LGBT Film

It's STILL Elementary

2008-06-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

In 1996, Debra Chasnoff made the documentary It's Elementary, exploring the ways a few courageous teachers and schools presented gay and lesbian issues in age-appropriate contexts for elementary school children. It was controversial, to say the least, sending right-wing groups into apoplexy. Since then, the film, and a shorter version edited for presentation to educators, have been percolating through the schools, so Chasnoff made a follow-up to explore the impact of the first film. We get to talk with several of the original kids, although the "no big whoop" kid declined to be interviewed on camera.

It's Elementary presented with stunning clarity the reality that it is possible to talk to young children about gay and lesbian issues, without getting into sexual material beyond their grade level. Kids need to know that there are some families that have two moms or two dads instead of one of each, and that it doesn't make them monsters. They also need to be taught, not just as a one-time lesson but as an immutable part of the background of their education, that using a slur based on perceived sexual orientation is no more acceptable than using a racial slur. It's STILL Elementary puts the lesson in context and gives some good follow-up, showing teachers who have gotten into hot water over their lessons as well as educators with much more positive experiences. MUST SEE, especially for educators and parents.

It's STILL Elementary, dir. Debra Chasnoff, 2008 USA 51 min.
It's Elementary, dir. Debra Chasnoff, 1996 USA 37 min. [abridged version]
Filmmaker's official website

Technorati tags: It's STILL Elementary, It's Elementary, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Dottie's Magic Pockets/Buddy G

2008-06-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Frameline pulled together a program of "family"-friendly family-friendly television: in other words, children's shows that validate and celebrate families with same-sex parents.

What happens when a stay-at-home lesbian mom sprinkles some enchanted glitter around her lonely living room while her partner and son are off to work and school? She gets to sing and play with her new magic friends, learning about life and the world. I'm past my second childhood, not yet into my third, and I don't have kids in my life right now, so take my perspective with a grain of salt; that said, I didn't find it engaging, and the kids in the audience seemed at best tepid in their response. The flower has an annoying faux-Frahnsh accent, and a song about being yourself carried an undertone of "don't try to be something different" that would be a terribly negative reinforcement for internalized transphobia, for a couple of examples. I think I'd flip channels to watch a re-run of Mister Rogers. Then again, it's still better than a lot of the junk television out there, particularly stuff with a much more blatantly heterocentrist worldview. No recommendation.

Buddy G is aimed at a slightly older audience, roughly kindergarten. Buddy lives with his two moms, having friends over for backyard adventures in his treehouse. The 3-D computer animation is reasonably well done, and the characters have some depth, too. In this sample episode, Buddy loses one of his moms' rings, and the whole family gets in on the search, assisted by Buddy's armband computer Socrates. It's cute and well presented; Recommended

"Dottie's Magic Pockets" (shorts program)

Dottie's Magic Pockets, episode: "Doing the Flower," dir. Andrea Maxwell, 2007 USA 23 min.
Dottie's Magic Pockets, episode: "Beat Beet," dir. Andrea Maxwell, 2007 USA 23 min.
Dottie's Magic Pockets official website
Buddy G, My Two Moms and Me, episode: "Lost Rings," dir. Margaux Towne-Colley, 2007 USA 11 min.
Buddy G official website

Technorati tags: Dottie's Magic Pockets, Buddy G, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Manuela y Manuel

2008-06-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 21, 9:00 pm, Castro Theatre, MANU21C
Monday, June 23, 9:30 pm, Elmwood Theatre (Berkeley), MANU23E

Manuela (Humberto Busto, Amores Perros) is a Puerto Rican drag queen, performing in a nightclub and living in a beautiful apartment, but all is not roses and champagne. Manuela's boyfriend Toño dumped her, the crazy landlady is after the rent, and her best friend Coca is pregnant after a one-night stand — but wants Manuela to put on boy drag and pretend to be the baby daddy, to conceal the truth from Coca's crazy parents. Toss in the landlady's crazy niece (pining for a husband who just left her), plus some unexpected cross-connections among the characters, add liquor, firearms, and taffeta, plus an over-the-top gringo businessman, and stand back and watch the soap-opera comedy spin. Laugh-out-loud funny (even though the subtitles — as always — miss a good few subtleties of the dialogue), but also an engaging and sometimes touching story. Humberto Busto is flawless, the costumes are great, and the dizzying pace of the screwball antics leaves just enough breathing room to recover before the next plot twist. MUST SEE

If you missed this one on Saturday, you get a second chance in the East Bay on Monday.

Manuela y Manuel, dir. Raúl Marchand Sánchez, 2007 Puerto Rico 94 min., in Spanish with English subtitles

Technorati tags: Manuela y Manuel, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Out in India: a family's journey

2008-06-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 21, 6:00 pm, Roxie Theatre

When I first saw the description of this documentary, my initial reaction was, "Fight AIDS with art? What do you mean?" The answer to that question provides a compelling look into the creativity we need to tap into in order to address the worldwide AIDS crisis. The umbrella of "art" includes street theater, puppet shows, traditional painted teaching scrolls, dance performances, and other means of sneaking in a message that the audience might not pay attention to without the distraction of entertainment. A group of people in a town square aren't likely to listen attentively to a dry medical lecture, but they'll happily watch a show that presents much of the same information. In a country where HIV is running wild, with an estimated 90% of carriers unaware they're infected, we have to get the knowledge out there any way we can.

Out in India chronicles the journey of UCLA arts professor David Gere as he travels to India on a six-month fellowship to organize a conference, to gather together local artists from across India who are already using their talents to increase HIV/AIDS awareness, so they can compare notes and feel that they are part of a tangible movement. We get to go along for the ride, but we also see David's partner Peter and their two children as they navigate life in a foreign country, with the added challenge that David is traveling around India and both childcare and preschool are dicey propositions. In the end, David's Make Art/Stop AIDS conference is a huge success, splashed with a little extra glamor by a cameo appearance by David's brother Richard Gere, and Peter and the kids pull through unscathed.

Director Tom Keegan deftly weaves the personal with the global, bringing to life an issue that will reverberate through the 21st century. MUST SEE

Out in India, dir. Tom Keegan, 2008 USA 71 min.

Technorati tags: Out in India, Make Art Stop AIDS, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Mom, I Didn't Kill Your Daughter(אמא, לא הרגתי את הבת שלך)

2008-06-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 21, 3:45 pm, Roxie Theatre, screened with The Perfect Man

Lior is a transman, beginning the medical transition process, taking hormones, getting ready for top surgery. His mother is still unsure how to handle having a son when she raised a daughter, unable to fathom how natural and profoundly self-affirming the change is for him. We see Lior go back to his home town, meeting some of his old friends as a man for the first time; they are surprised and a bit unsure of what this all means, but he impresses upon them that what is at stake is not merely his happiness but his very life. At the same time, Lior's boyfriend Yoav (Yuval?), also a transman, is a reluctant trailblazer in the process of legally changing his gender on his identity papers — a first in Israel. A compelling portrait of two ordinary guys compelled by circumstances to take up extraordinary lives. MUST SEE

Mom, I Didn't Kill Your Daughter (אמא, לא הרגתי את הבת שלך), dir. Orna Ben Dor, 2007 Israel 50 min., in Hebrew with English subtitles

Technorati tags: Mom, I Didn't Kill Your Daughter, אמא, לא הרגתי את הבת שלך, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Note: different sources list Lior's boyfriend as either Yoav or Yuval; I don't know which is correct.

The Perfect Man

2008-06-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 21, 3:45 pm, Theatre, screened before Mom, I Didn't Kill Your Daughter

Liam Eriksson is a transman, taking T (testosterone, not crystal meth!) and getting ready for top surgery. He has the support of his friends and family, but he gets caught up in the maze of the healthcare system. When he has a breakdown, the doctors take away the T and the scheduled surgery, forcing him to retrace a part of his life's path that he thought he had made it beyond. The Perfect Man weaves home movies of Liam when he was a little girl with present-day interviews as we follow his difficult journey. Highly recommended

The Perfect Man, dir. Maria Åkesson, 2007 Sweden 24 min., in Swedish with English subtitles; watch the trailer

Technorati tags: The Perfect Man, GenderBender, Genderqueer, Frameline32, LGBT Film

The Lost Coast

2008-06-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 20, 10:00 pm, Victoria Theatre

The Lost Coast is a stretch of about 130 km (80 mi) between Eureka and Fort Bragg in far northern California. The Pacific Coast Highway, CA-1, ends just south of it, and US-101 bends inland around the wilderness. In the movie The Lost Coast, a camping trip to the Lost Coast forms a flashback backdrop for the events of a Halloween night in the Castro. Four friends wander from the street party to an indoor party, off in search of some Ecstasy, and into the pre-dawn quiet of the west end of Golden Gate Park, exploring the connections among the characters in the past and the directions they're heading. I usually run screaming when I see the words "non-linear narrative style" in a film description, but this one works. Highly recommended

The Lost Coast, dir. Gabriel Fleming, 2008 USA 74 min.

Technorati tags: The Lost Coast, Frameline32, LGBT Film

The Polymath, or the life and opinions of Samuel R. Delany

2008-06-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 20, 8:00 pm, Roxie Theatre

Samuel R. ("Chip") Delany has written scads of science-fiction novels, in many of which there are characters whose gender is never quite clear. Initially the effect is unsettling — we're deeply ingrained in the habit of pigeonholing he and she — but with a little familiarity comes the realization that the story doesn't pivot on whether this character is male or female. In his personal life, too, Delany refuses to play by arbitrary societal rules, still having casual sexual encounters well into his 60s, waxing nostalgic about the porn theatres he visited in decades past. His wife would go off to her job; he would stay home and write, but then reward himself with a sex break in the theatre or in a public restroom, and he did so without shame or guilt. The Polymath is an engaging look into an ardently unconventional life; highly recommended

The Polymath, or the Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman, dir. Fred Barney Taylor, 2007 USA 75 min.

Technorati tags: Polymath, Samuel R. Delany, Frameline32, LGBT Film

The Young and Evil

2008-06-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 20, 4:15 pm, Roxie Theatre

Lloyd Neck: program guide: "Alex has a crush on her brother's friend Jesse, but Jesse likes Alex's brother Taylor." Cute, sweet coming out story, well written, well filmed, highly recommended

Dolls: (not to be confused with the feature of the same title) Thomas is roped into helping his mom with a garage sale. Not only does he have to spend the day working, she also makes him sell his dolls, but that's not the end of it. Exquisitely captures Thomas' character in only 10 minutes. MUST SEE

The Cousin (El Primo): Mark is visiting his older, tougher cousin Luís in Laredo; Luís decides Mark needs some help being a man, but it's not that simple for Mark. Recommended

Alonso's Deadline: A college professor and a young school janitor make eyes at each other. Well made, but insubstantial; recommended

Baggage: Martin's suitcase has started stalking him, forcing him to deal with some baggage from his childhood. Interesting premise, but I didn't feel it quite came together. No recommendation

Mars: program guide: "a short film about the passion, disappointment, and discrimination involved in love." Shot with a washed-out overexposed look, left me cold. No recommendation

Souljah: a fresh new short from the writer/director of Metrosexuality, an effeminate young man and his mother must run a gauntlet of drug-dealing thugs to cross the playground outside their apartment building, but the young man has a secret weapon. Highly recommended

The Young and Evil: an otherwise intelligent 18-year-old sets out on a mission: to get infected with HIV. You get a visceral sense of his troubled state and the abhorrence with which his would-be partner views his desire, but no real sense of why on earth he would want to get infected. Not recommended

"The Young and Evil" (shorts program)

Lloyd Neck, dir. Benedict Campbell, 2007 USA 16 min.
Dolls, dir. Randy Caspersen, 2008 USA 10 min.
The Cousin (El Primo), dir. Nick Oceano, 2007 USA 16 min., in English and Spanish with English subtitles
Alonso's Deadline, dir. Mario Galarreta, 2007 USA 6 min.
Baggage, dir. Maxime Desmons, 2007 Canada 11 min.
Mars, dir. Jim Martin, 2007 USA 8 min. [not in IMDB]
Souljah, dir. Rikki Beadle-Blair, 2007 UK 10 min.
The Young and Evil (short), dir. Julian Breece, 2008 USA 15 min.

Technorati tags: The Young and Evil, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Mala Noche

2008-06-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 20, 2:15 pm, Castro Theatre

I'm a great fan of Gus Van Sant, the director who has brought us everything from Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho to Good Will Hunting and a music video for Hanson, not to mention Elephant, the 1998 remake of Psycho, and later this year Milk, with Sean Penn playing the trailblazing openly gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk. Van Sant's first feature, though, was Mala Noche, the story of Walt, a convenience store clerk who goes gaga over a Mexican illegal immigrant boy who doesn't speak English and probably isn't even 18, and pursues him directly and through his friends, undaunted by their clear lack of interest, taking their callous abuse and coming back for more. While it was interesting, in a kind of a "train wreck" sort of way, to watch the story unfold, I never felt like I could get inside Walt's head — not that I particularly wanted to. I just find it difficult to enjoy a film in which the protagonist is a pathetic loser whom I don't even like. Absolutely a must-see for film students and Van Sant fans, but otherwise not recommended.

Mala Noche, dir. Gus Van Sant, 1985 USA 78 min.

Technorati tags: Mala Noche, Gus Van Sant, Frameline32, LGBT Film

The Art of Being Straight

2008-06-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 20, 12:00 noon, Castro Theatre
Saturday, June 21, 10:00 pm, Victoria Theatre

John (played by writer/director/producer Jesse Rosen) has just broken up with his girlfriend and moves to Los Angeles, hanging out with his college buddies, going out to drink and get laid, and working a day job as a glorified gofer in an ad agency, hoping to pursue his interest in photography. His boss has "7-figure sexual harrassment suit" written all over him, but John is initially too confused about himself to push away. Some of the funny lines are laughs and others are groaners — subtle and not-so-subtle inuendos — but throughout, the viewer gets a sense of a young man wrestling with defining himself and shifting from a collegiate to an adult persona. Oh, and the eye candy's pretty sweet, too.... Highly recommended

The Art of Being Straight, dir. Jesse Rosen, 2008 USA 77 min.

Technorati tags: The Art of Being Straight, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Unspoken Passion (Sikil)

2008-06-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 19, 10:30 pm, Castro Theatre

Unspoken Passion is a work that will look familiar to fans of Filipino film, with the flamboyant older man who hires out the hunky younger "dancers," some of whom actually are straight and the rest who pretend. Unfortunately for those not already fans of the genre, Passion is mired in its conventions and clichés. The film spent entirely too long setting up the story — yes, okay, we get it already, the boy's father was a mean s.o.b.; can we please move on now? — before settling into the present. So much so, in fact, that I left before the sex scenes, which I'm sure were really steamy. Recommended if you're just looking for skin (especially if you can fast-forward through some of the setup), highly recommended if you're a devotée of "macho dancer" stories, but otherwise not recommended.

Unspoken Passion (Sikil), dir. Roni Bertubin, 2007 Philippines 109 min., in Tagalog (Filipino) with English subtitles

Technorati tags: Unspoken Passion, Sikil, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Affinity (Frameline32 opening night)

2008-06-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

The Frameline32 San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival opens tomorrow night with Affinity, which the festival program describes as a "delicious period piece ... a women-in-prison movie with a gothic Victorian twist." I should say at the outset that such a description doesn't exactly set my heart going pitty-pat; it's not that I don't go in for lesbian-themed movies, more that I don't go much for gothic Victorian. That said, the acting is beautiful, the sets and costumes flawless, and the story well told. I'd say this one is highly recommended, but bump that to "must see" if the words "gothic Victorian women-in-prison mystery love story" do make your heart sing.

Affinity, dir. Tim Fywell, 2008 UK 94 min.

Technorati tags: Affinity, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Solos

2008-06-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 20, 6:00 pm, Victoria Theatre

Shot mostly in black-and-white and entirely without dialogue (although not without sound), Solos is based on a true story of an affair between a male teacher and his male student. The visuals are rich, and the sexual expression is explicit enough to get the film banned in its native Singapore. However, ultimately I found the lack of all dialogue left me without a good sense of who the characters were or what was driving them, leaving me disappointed in the overall film experience. Recommended for film school students to see what you can — and cannot — achieve without words, but otherwise not recommended.

Solos, dir. Kan Lume and Loo Zihan, 2007 Singapore 70 min., no dialogue

Technorati tags: Title, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Note: I've tagged this one "subtitled" because it contains no dialogue.

Saturn in Opposition (Saturno contro)

2008-06-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 20, 9:15 pm, Castro Theatre, SATU20C

Lorenzo is at the center of a disparate group of friends. He and his boyfriend Davide, a famous novelist, host frequent dinner parties. At one of them, Lorenzo collapses into a coma, leaving the rest of the group to question what other connections they have to one another. Unfortunately, most of my interest in the film plotzed face first into the pasta right alongside Lorenzo. Saturn in Opposition was nominated for several David di Donatello awards (Italy's answer to the Oscars^®), but I give it no recommendation.

Saturn in Opposition (Saturno contro), dir. Ferzan Ozpetek, 2007 Italy 113 min., in Italian with English subtitles

Technorati tags: Saturn in Opposition, Saturno contro, Frameline32, LGBT Film

The World Unseen

2008-06-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

Frameline Showcase Film
Friday, June 20, 6:30 pm, Castro Theatre, WORL20C
Tuesday, June 24, 12:00 noon, Castro Theatre, WORL24C

(see my full review from Toronto's InsideOut festival last month)

Highly recommended, but don't expect a comedy

The World Unseen, dir. Shamim Sarif, 2007 UK 94 min.

Technorati tags: The World Unseen, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Fun in Boys' Shorts (2008)

2008-06-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 21, 11:00 am, Castro Theatre)
Sunday, June 29, 2:00 pm, Castro Theatre

Bongo Bong: a quiet gay man finally responds to his gossipy neighbors. Upbeat, amusing, recommended.

Babysitting Andy: "What does fellatio mean?" Two gay men babysit their 9-year-old niece, who will not take "when you're older" for an answer. The girl steals the show. Cute, highly recommended.

Hirsute: A man is in his study, poring over pages of equations, trying to solve the problem of time travel. He resolves to return to this place and time when he figures it out. Suddenly a notably less hairy version of himself appears. I love sci-fi and particularly time-travel stories, but this one was too weird and esoteric for me to recommend. No recommendation.

Silver Road: Two lifelong friends take a drive down the back roads. The rural closetedness, the impulsive attempt to connect, the awkward silence, are all palpable. Recommended.

Pat's First Kiss: an autobiographical animated account of the filmmaker's first kiss. Engaging story, but incredibly annoying animation. Not recommended.

Overstuff: two boyfriends are browsing the thrift store and get into a tiff. An annoying film about two annoying people having an annoying argument. Not recommended.

In the High School (En el Instituto): a teenaged boy knows what he wants and asks for it. The furtive glances are incredibly expressive, leaving no need for any more than the single line of dialogue. Highly recommended.

Screening Party: a journalist, tasked to write a review of Pretty Woman, gets together a group of friends to watch it together. The pace is frantic, and the film tries way too hard to be witty, ending up with a grand total of zero laughs and only a couple of tepid, half-hearted bemused smiles. I cannot express how glad I am that none of my friends is remotely like any of the characters in this film. Not recommended.

The Window: if you live in a gay urban area, you've probably seen some of your neighbors putting on impromptu "window shows," or at least read about them in Craigslist ads. The Window divides the screen into three panels, with subtly choreographed interplay among the men at the windows. A cute diversion from the filmmaker who brought us Chalk! Recommended.

"Fun in Boys' Shorts"

Bongo Bong, dir. Ken Wardrop, 2007 Ireland 5 min.
Babysitting Andy, dir. Pat Mills, 2007 Canada 11 min.
Hirsute, dir. A.J. Bond, 2007 Canada 14 min.
Silver Road, dir. Bill Taylor, 2007 Canada 13 min.
Pat's First Kiss, dir. Pat Mills, 2007 Canada 4 min. animated
Overstuff, dir. Keith Wilson, 2007 USA 8 min.
In the High School (En el Instituto), dir. Xavi Sala, 2006 Spain 3 min., in Spanish with English subtitles
Screening Party, dir. Chil Kong, 2007 USA 25 min.
The Window, dir. Philippe Gosselin and Ronald Regina, 2008 USA 6 min., no dialogue

Technorati tags: Fun in Boys Shorts, Frameline32, LGBT Film

Fun in Girls' Shorts (2008)

2008-06-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 21, 1:30 pm, Castro Theatre
Sunday, June 29, 11:30 am, Castro Theatre

Once again this year, the Girls have hands-down the better "Fun in Shorts" program at Frameline. All you gay boys who are thinking, "Ooh! Ick! Cooties!!" are really missing out.

Happenstance: (see my full review from Toronto last month). Ne'er-do-well son brings his new(est) girlfriend to meet his parents. Mom is strangely flustered, starting the drama rolling. Well made and thoroughly enjoyable, hoping for a planned feature-length version. Highly recommended

Pitstop: A station wagon full of kids pulls up to an isolated gas station in the middle of the Arizona desert. The kids burst forth and bustle noisily about, queueing for the one restroom. Young Margaret (Shawnna Youngquist) finally gets her turn, taking the opportunity for a moment of quiet and also taking a few photos of her surroundings. Her family drives off without her, leaving her for a few minutes to chat with June (Andrea Helene), the proprietor of the station, who shows Margaret some of her leatherwork and gives her a memento of their conversation about art and life. Touching, a real gem. MUST SEE

Duck Soup: "I love duck soup, but I love you more." The woman hearing those words finds byzantine depth in their hidden meanings. Highly recommended

The Touch: Based on the true story of the 1904 romance between Renée Vivien and Karimé, a married Muslim woman. Sensuous and passionate, but sometimes tries a bit too hard at the affectation of being a "period piece." Recommended

Benni Has 2 Mothers: South Africa, for so long defiantly stuck in a backwards-facing world with apartheid and other human rights abuses, has moved to the vanguard, joining the handful of countries (plus Mass. and Calif.!) giving legal recognition to same-sex marriages. This short examines the ripples in the life of Benni as his mum and his "Auntie Anne" get married. On the school playground, Benni learns who his true friends are. Well done, highly recommended

The Premiere: an older woman travels from her small coastal town to the big city to attend the opening night of an opera recital by a former neighbor, and reconnects with an old friend. Beautifully filmed, highly recommended

Pages of a Girl (Páginas de Menina): The setting is a bookstore in Brazil in 1955, but the basic archetype is "librarian." Silvia, the store manager, takes an interest in her young apprentice as they bond over more than a shared love of literature. Sensual and brimming with passion boiling insistently to the surface. MUST SEE

How Do I?: "It ain't a crime, but you try to hide it — what's the use?" Silly and cute, but with a strong message of affirmation, a Valentine to young lesbians (and gay boys) working up the nerve to tell their parents. MUST SEE

Donkey Girl: Farouzi, an adolescent girl, wonders, "Where do the fish pee?" As she stands cleaning fish with her two obnoxious little brothers, a stranger passes by on a motor scooter, spreading flower petals along the way. Farouzi jumps on her donkey to give chase, catching up with the other girl at the pier. Evocative of Farouzi's dreams that seem so close and yet so far out of reach. Highly recommended

No Bikini: no screener copy, no review. Sounds promising. (Sure enough, it won "best short" in the festival.)

"Fun in Girls' Shorts"

Happenstance, dir. Joyce Draganosky, 2007 USA 8 min.
Pitstop, dir Melanie McGraw, 2007 USA 15 min.
Duck Soup, dir. Kathryn Goldie, 2007 Australia 4 min.
The Touch, dir. Jane Clark, 2007 USA 8 min.
Benni Has 2 Mothers, dir. Vivid Tjipura, 2007 South Africa 10 min.
The Premiere, dir. Margret Bergheim, 2006 Norway 9 min.
Pages of a Girl (Páginas de Menina), dir. Monica Palazzo, 2008 Brazil 20 min., in Portuguese with English subtitles
How Do I Say This? I'm Gay! dir. Michael Bodie and Silas Howard, 2007 USA 5 min.
Donkey Girl, dir. Ties Schenu, 2006 Netherlands 14 min., in Dutch, Arabic, and French with English subtitles
No Bikini, dir. Claudia Morgado Escanilla, 2007 Canada 9 min.

Technorati tags: Fun in Girls Shorts, Frameline32, LGBT Film