Friday, June 22, 4:00 p.m. Castro
- Top 10 Lugares em São Paulo (Top 10 Places to Visit in São Paulo), dir. Akira Kamiki, 2018 Brazil, 14 minutes, in Brazilian Portuguese and Argentinian Spanish with English subtitles, plus English without subtitles, WEST COAST PREMIERE 👏
- Set Me As a Seal upon Thine Heart (Simani k’hotam al libha) (שִׂימֵנִי כַחֹותָם עַל־לִבֶּךָ)
(שימני כחותם על לבך), dir. Omer Tobi (עומר טוב), 2018 Israel, 10 minutes, in Hebrew with English subtitles, BAY AREA PREMIERE 👍 - Pre-Drink, dir. Marc-Antoine Lemire, 2017 Canada, 23 minutes, in French with English subtitles and in English with English subtitles (100% subtitled), WEST COAST PREMIERE 💖
- Just Past Noon on a Tuesday, dir. Travis Mathews, 2018 Brazil/USA, 22 minutes, in Portuguese with English subtitles, WEST COAST PREMIERE 👎🏼
Top 10 Places to Visit in São Paulo (Top 10 Lugares em São Paulo)
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| Top 10 Places to Visit in São Paulo (Top 10 Lugares em São Paulo) |
Fran, an Argentinian photographer, has just arrived in São Paulo on vacation, knowing no one and speaking only a few halting words of Portuguese. As he wanders the city taking photos, he encounters Plínio, a local photographer. Unfortunately, Plínio speaks neither Spanish nor English (Fran’s second language), but they spend the afternoon together, Plínio showing Fran some of his favorite photo spots as they talk each in his own language. The conversation gradually gets more personal as the connection between them becomes more clear. The pace of the film is leisurely, but that fits perfectly for a film about a desultory vacation day. Very well done, highly recommended.
• IMDb • trailer (Vimeo) • WEST COAST PREMIERE
Set Me as a Seal upon Thine Heart (שימני כחותם על לבך)
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| Set Me as a Seal upon Thine Heart (שימני כחותם על לבך) |
Scene: a gay sauna (bathhouse) in Tel Aviv. A young man is roaming about looking for a hookup when he comes upon a much older man, Amos, who is dazed and bewildered, asking for someone named Eli. The young man helps Amos get to the locker room and helps him get dressed, going so far as to look around to try to find this Eli. He forms a very different kind of connection than he anticipated, finding himself genuinely concerned for Amos’ well-being. It’s an interesting snapshot of these two characters, but I didn’t really find any sense of who they are or what brought them to this chance encounter. In particular, what shifts the protagonist from prowling for sex to single-minded concern for Amos? Recommended.
• IMDb • BAY AREA PREMIEREPre-Drink
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| Pre-Drink |
Alexe (Pascale Drevillon), a recently transitioned transwoman, has a few drinks with her longtime best friend Carl (Alex Trahan) (who is gay) before they go out with some other friends. One glass of wine leads to another until they wind up in intimate territory neither had envisioned: having sex together for the first time. It’s a tender and playful glimpse at a moment of vulnerability as their friendship makes a transition.
There is plenty of alcohol-fueled giggling and silliness, but also true intimacy and genuine affection. Bare breasts are the extent of the nudity in the film, but all the same I daresay most people of whatever gender and/or orientation will find the sex scene steamy. At the same time, though, the metaphorical steam isn’t the focus, but rather the delicate and sometimes unclear boundaries between lifelong friends. The performances and the production values are uniformly excellent, carrying a nuanced storyline seemingly effortlessly. MUST SEE.
(Note to hearing-impaired audiences: although some bits of the dialogue are in English, the film is 100% subtitled.)
• IMDb • Facebook: @PreDrinkFilm • teaser trailer (Vimeo) • WEST COAST PREMIERE
Just Past Noon on a Tuesday
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| Just Past Noon on a Tuesday |
Marco just died, so his sister invites his fuck buddy Tiago to his apartment to help remove things that would distress Marco’s mother. Tiago finds Marco’s “little black book” and invites a couple of Marco’s other paramours over to parTy — yes, with the capital T. Marcelo, who turns out to have been more of a lover than a mere fuck buddy, arrives, and he and Tiago have an afternoon of G, meth, and sex, gradually feeling a connection beyond the drugs.
The film is very well made, but I find the subject matter intensely repellent, so I cannot in good conscience recommend this film. If parTying is (or preferably was) a part of your life AND you won’t feel triggered by the scenes of drug-addled sex, you may want to see this film; otherwise, feel free to experience “late afternoon on a Friday” outside the theatre instead. Not recommended.
contains explicit sex and drug use
The film is very well made, but I find the subject matter intensely repellent, so I cannot in good conscience recommend this film. If parTying is (or preferably was) a part of your life AND you won’t feel triggered by the scenes of drug-addled sex, you may want to see this film; otherwise, feel free to experience “late afternoon on a Friday” outside the theatre instead. Not recommended.
contains explicit sex and drug use
• IMDb • teaser trailer (Vimeo) • WEST COAST PREMIERE
Hi Lincoln! I'm so glad I stumbled across your article by accident. I'm thrilled you enjoyed Pre-Drink, and thanks for the kind words about the film. I'll share them with the team! :)
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