AFFINITY, ANTARCTICA at Outfest 2008, Wednesday, July 16
by Andre Soares
Synopses from the 26th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival website.
WED 7/16 7:00pm
DGA 1
Dramatic Centerpiece: Affinity
(UK , Canada , Romania, 2008, 90 mins)
(In English)
POST-SCREENING RECEPTION
Directed By: Tim Fywell
SCR: Andrew Davies
Based on Sarah Waters‘ masterful award-winning second novel, Affinity is a gorgeous tale of love, longing and mystery set in Victorian London. Upper crust Margaret Prior grieves the death of her father as she tries valiantly to move past a lost love. She decides to take on "a project" and volunteers at Millbrook, a grim women’s prison full of ladies who have committed some of the most heinous crimes.
One of these women is Selina Dawes, an angelic-looking woman convicted of assault and fraud, and who purportedly possesses special powers as a spirit medium. As Margaret’s visits to the jail increase (and to Selina, in particular), her interest in the world of spiritualism intensifies — but is Selina really the prodigy she claims to be?
With the riveting quality of past Waters’ work brought to screen (Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith), Affinity takes us on a heart-pounding, bodice-straining journey of romance and intrigue as its shocking twists and simmering passion drive it to a stunning finale.
WED 7/16 7:00pm
Fairfax 1
Antarctica
(Israel, 2008, 108 mins)
In Hebrew with English subtitles
AFTER-PARTY
Directed By: Yair Hochner
SCR: Yair Hochner
The hip and beautiful boys and girls in this super sexy Israeli romantic comedy set in Tel Aviv are searching for something. For some it’s just sex — and lots of it. Most nights bespectacled cutie Omer works at the local library and reads books about U.F.O.s before bed. Then Omer meets Ronen, a devastatingly handsome journalist. Might Ronen have the ability to melt Omer’s frozen heart and give him what he didn’t know he was looking for?
WED 7/16 7:15pm
DGA 2
Meadowlark
(USA, 2007, 77 mins)
World Premiere
Directed By: Taylor Greeson
In the summer of 1993, at age twelve, filmmaker Taylor Greeson was ordained a Mormon priest, lost his virginity to an older man and arrived home from a family trip to find his older brother stabbed to death. This is Greeson’s autobiographical journey as he travels throughout Montana, weaving a fragile tapestry as he retraces what happened that fateful summer. Greeson reveals his struggle with faith, sexuality and loss, culminating in a heart-wrenching confrontation with the man who murdered his brother.
WED 7/16 8:30pm
Ford Amphitheatre
Eleven Minutes
(USA, 2007, 104 mins)
West Coast Premiere
AFTER-PARTY
Directed By: Michael Selditch, Rob Tate
If you’re a fan of Project Runway — and really, who isn’t — then you’ll be riveted by Eleven Minutes, a fascinating peek behind the curtain at season - one winner Jay McCarroll’s preparation for his debut fashion show. Witness a hilarious and heartbreaking year of McCarroll’s life as he creates a 660-second spectacle for the runways of New York’s Bryant Park. Eleven Minutes brilliantly examines how reality television and reality are two different things altogether. In Person: Jay McCarroll and Special Guests
WED 7/16 9:15pm
DGA 2
Tearoom
(USA, 1962, 56 mins)
Silent with English subtitles
Directed By: William E. Jones
Tearoom consists of footage shot by the police in the course of a crackdown on public sex in the American Midwest. In the summer of 1962, the Mansfield, Ohio Police Department photographed men in a restroom under the main square of the city. The cameramen hid in a closet and watched the clandestine activities through a two-way mirror. The original surveillance footage shot by the police came into the possession of director William E. Jones while he was researching this case for a documentary project. The unedited scenes of ordinary men of various races and classes meeting to have sex were so powerful that the director decided to present the footage with a minimum of intervention. Tearoom is a radical example of film presented "as found" for the purpose of circulating
historical images that have otherwise been suppressed.
WED 7/16 9:15pm
Fairfax 2
Devotee
(France, 2008, 50 mins)
In French with English subtitles
West Coast Premiere
Directed By: Rémi Lange
SCR: Remi Lange, Herve Chenais & Guillaume Quashie-Vauclin
Daring and straightforward, Devotee is the story of Hervé, an assertive 43-year-old man who was born without arms or legs. He meets a gorgeous young man online, a devotee (devoteeism [or acrotomophilia] is the sexual attraction to people with amputations) who seems like he might be different. Their encounter proves Hervé’s difficulty in finding a true connection with someone who is interested in treating him like a person rather than a mere fetish.
WED 7/16 9:30pm
Fairfax 1
Boystown / Chuecatown
(Spain, 2007, 100 mins)
In Spanish with English subtitles
Directed By: Juan Flahn
SCR: Felix Sabroso, Dunia Ayaso & Juan Flahn
Gentrification can be murder in Boystown, an outrageous new Spanish comedy. Real estate agent Víctor (Pablo Puyol) will stop at nothing to make Madrid’s trendy gay Chueca neighborhood the yuppie paradise of his dreams, even it means bumping off all the old ladies and unfabulous gays who refuse to sell their apartments. Add Almodóvar regular Rosa Maria Sarda as a neurotic police detective and you have a wildly funny farce with a body count.
WED 7/16 9:30pm
DGA 1
Keen on Boys
Shorts Programs
Program Running Time is 91 min
These first-timers all learn a similar lesson — love just ain’t easy. Maybe the lead in your school play got your hormones raging or perhaps it was your teacher. Even if you leave the rez for Hollywood or flee the farm for college, there’s just no simple way around it. A word of advice: if he leaves you, seek comfort inunexpected places.
Mr. A Mr. A
Directed By: Joe Murphy
USA, 2008, 12 min
Shotgun (above)
Directed By: Ronny Hirschmann
Israel, 2007, 17 min
Tá
Directed By: Felipe Sholl
Brazil, 2007, 5 min
Center of the Universe
Directed By: Jarrah Gurrie
Australia , USA, 2007, 14 min
Two Spirits, One Journey
Directed By: Arthur Allan Seidelman, Chad Richman
USA, 2007, 18 min
Romeo’s Kiss (Le Baiser)
Directed By: Julien Eger
France, 2007, 12 min
Silver Road
Directed By: Bill Taylor
Canada, 2007, 13 min
Slamdance Film Festival 2009: Call for Entries
THE NEW TWENTY, WHIRLWIND: Outfest 2008
TWO LOOKS, International Girls Shorts: Outfest 2008
Derek Jarman, Peter Berlin: Outfest 2008
Donna Deitch, Dan Butler: Outfest 2008
Ferzan Ozpetek, Bruce LaBruce: Outfest 2008
MAMMA MIA!, "Rough and Ready" Shorts: Outfest 2008
BREAKFAST WITH SCOT Opens Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2008
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