London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009: PEDRO, MADAME X: AN ABSOLUTE RULER
London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009
Tuesday, March 31, highlights
Schedule and synopses from the LLGFF website
Madame X – An Absolute Ruler
| Directed by: | Ulrike Ottinger |
| Cast: | Tabea Blumenschein |
| Country: | West Germany |
| Year: | 1977 |
| Running time: | 141min |
Adventure and fun on the high seas comes at a price for this band of stereotyped women, who answer a call to join Madame X on her ship Chinese Orlando and experience a life without rules and patriarchal tyranny. However old roles reassert themselves and the women find themselves swapping one kind of servitude for another as Madame X demands complete devotion from her shipmates, even the ones she is enamoured with.
An early low-budget film from renowned avant-garde filmmaker [Ulrike] Ottinger, who actually took all crew positions while shooting in order to bring her outlandish vision to light. Madame X subverts traditional modes of narrative cinema creating a challenging and allegorical tale of female empowerment.
To Each Her Own
| Directed by: | Heather Tobin |
| Cast: | Hannah Hogan, Tracy Rae, Shaughnessy Redden |
| Country: | Canada |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Running time: | 109min |
This assured debut by talented all-rounder Heather Tobin (she scripted, produced, shot and edited the film) is the coming out tale of young married Jess and the emotional rollercoaster she finds herself on when she meets and instantly falls for out and proud lesbian Casey. Growing up with a mother that believes homosexuality is a sin it’s no wonder Jess buried her true feelings and married her high school sweetheart fresh after graduation. Yet she’s unable to keep away from the charming Casey and the two young women embark on an affair, discovering what it means to truly love someone. But will love be enough for Jess to tell the truth and come out? An award-winning film at numerous festivals this low-budget gem marks Tobin out as a director to watch. Emma Smart
Pedro
| Directed by: | Nick Oceano |
| Cast: | Alex Loynaz, Justina Machado, Hale Appleman |
| Country: | USA |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Running time: | 93min |
A biopic celebrating a remarkable individual. Pedro Zamora was in MTV’s Real World show in 1994 as an HIV positive person. He had been born in Cuba and then moved to Miami in the Marielitas exodus in 1980. Diagnosed with HIV as early as seventeen he became a peer educator speaking in schools about prevention. He died aged just 22 before the Real World’s final transmission but he had been able to carry out his dream of getting his message across to as many people as possible. Producers including Wash West and Richard Glatzer (The Fluffer, Echo Park, LA), scriptwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) and first time director Nick Oceano have combined their talents to make this a very special film. Acting honours to Alex Loynaz as Pedro and his sister Mily played by Justina Machado who you may recognize from Six Feet Under. Bring a hanky. Brian Robinson
Stonewall
| Directed by: | Nigel Finch |
| Cast: | Guillermo Diaz, Fred Weller, Brendan Corbalis |
| Country: | UK |
| Year: | 1995 |
| Running time: | 93min |
A spirited recreation of the lives of some of the people who hung out at the Stonewall Inn seen through the recollections of La Miranda/Hector, a fierce and fabulous drag queen who falls in love with Matty Dean, a bright young man she meets in the bar. The action leads up to the fateful night of 27th June 1969. A mood of defiance is in the air as the police make what seems like a routine raid on an illegal gay bar. Personal tensions of the bar patrons combine with police brutality to create an eruption of popular protest which becomes one of the defining moments of the modern gay liberation movement. Not every historical detail is correct but it feels emotionally true and quite powerful. Director Nigel Finch died from Aids shortly after completing the film.
London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009: EROS O BASILEUS, STEAM
London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009: BORN IN 68, Latin American Shorts
London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009: DOLLS, THE DEVIL’S CLEAVAGE
London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009: Fred Halsted, THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT
OTTO, OR UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE, THE LARAMIE PROJECT Offend
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Tags: Alex Loynaz, Dustin Lance Black, Film Festivals, Gay Film Festivals, Gay Interest, Heather Tobin, London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, London Screenings, Madame X - An Absolute Ruler, Nick Oceano, Nigel Finch, Pedro, Pedro Zamora, Stonewall, To Each Her Own, Ulrike Ottinger
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PEDRO IS A GREAT MOVIE. I CRIED WHEN IS AW IT. GO SEE IT IF YOU HAVE A CHANCE. ITS A VERY MOVING MOVIE. VERY TRUE STORY ABOUT A TRUE HOMAN BEING. GO SEE IT
FIlm to each his own should read to each her own
Ouch! So sorry about that. It’s been corrected.