Donna Deitch, Dan Butler at Outfest 2008, Saturday, July 12
I’ve seen four of the Boys’ Shorts: The Lonely Lights. The Color of Lemons., Lloyd Neck, El Primo, and The Back Room. All four are worth a look, and each offers memorable moments. But I was particularly moved by the first two in my list.
Benjamin M. Piety’s The Lonely Lights. The Color of Lemons. is a beautiful, poetic, funny, heartbreaking — and at times unfathomable — experimental work on conformity and the workings of the human mind, while Benedict Campbell’s Lloyd Neck is a deceptively simple and immensely touching look at three young people in the throes of major life changes.
Synopses from the 26th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival website.
SAT 7/12 11:00am
DGA 1
Boys’ Shorts
Program Running Time is 85 min
From Australia to Long Island, these superb boys’ shorts inspire laughter, contemplation and — they might even turn you on! Aussie beach boys learn to say goodbye, a young man develops a crush on his cousin and a bear finds unexpected love in a charming locale. Q&A with Directors after the screening.
The screening shorts are:
The Lonely Lights. The Color of Lemons. (top photo)
Directed By: Benjamin M. Piety
USA, 2006, 16 min
Lloyd Neck
Directed By: Benedict Campbell
USA, 2007, 16 min
El Primo (The Cousin)
Directed By: Nick Oceano
USA, 2008, 16 min
The Back Room
Directed By: Greg Ivan Smith
USA, 2008, 16 min
My Last Ten Hours with You
Directed By: Sophie Hyde
Australia, 2007, 15 min
The Window
Directed By: Philippe Gosselin, Ronald Regina
USA, 2008, 6 min
SAT 7/12 Noon
DGA 2
A Conversation With Donna Deitch
(90 mins)
Moderated by Kimberly Peirce
Recipient of the 2008 Outfest Achievement Award, writer-director Donna Deitch made a stunning impact on independent cinema with her film Desert Hearts. Arguably the most beloved lesbian feature film of all time, Desert Hearts continues to be a milestone for its beautiful sex scenes and depiction of love between two women. This early success set Deitch on a trailblazing career path few women directors in Hollywood ever experience. Her credits include the Emmy-nominated The Women of Brewster Place, The Devil’s Arithmetic, Common Ground, and dozens of TV series. Donna Deitch is a gifted director and a pioneer who continues to bring groundbreaking images of women and lesbians to the screen.
SAT 7/12 4:00pm
DGA 1
Clapham Junction
(UK, 2007, 120 mins)
Directed By: Adrian Shergold
SCR: Kevin Elyot
Clapham Junction reunites the stars of Maurice, James Wilby and Rupert Graves, but this is no Merchant-Ivory drama. Sexually graphic, gritty, and often violent, this made for British television drama takes a look at gay men in contemporary London whose lives intersect during a 36-hour period. From civil partnership ceremonies to bathroom trolling, the brutally honest and controversial Clapham Junction takes stock of what it means to be gay in metropolitan Britain.
SAT 7/12 7:00pm
DGA 1
Karl Rove, I Love You
(USA, 2007, 97 mins)
Directed By: Dan Butler, Phil Leirness
SCR: Dan Butler & Julia Miranda
What happens when the role of a lifetime becomes the love of your life? Dan Butler (Bulldog on Frasier) and his friends play themselves in this witty satirical film about “an unknown supporting actor” obsessed with Karl Rove. Butler’s research on Rove leads him first to anger, then mania and ultimately to put on a one-man show. His show is a huge success and Butler gets so deep into the character that reality and fiction blur. A Washington/Hollywood story that is as smart as it is funny!
In Person: Dan Butler and Phil Leirness along with cast for a Q&A after the screening. That will be followed by a post-screening party.
SAT 7/12 7:30pm
Fairfax 2
My Super 8 Season (Ma Saison Super 8)
(France, 2005, 74 mins)
In French with English subtitles
Directed By: Alessandro Avellis
SCR: Alessandro Avellis
Forty years after France’s tumultuous May 1968, My Super 8 Season (Ma Saison Super 8) puts queer characters front and center in that era’s social revolution. Marc balances gay politics and his love affair with a gorgeous factory worker while Julie redefines herself in a lesbian commune. Filled with the type of young, sexy and intellectually-charged characters Godard would love, the film brilliantly balances the personal and the political against a backdrop of social change.
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
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, Chuck Connelly: Los Angeles Film Festival 2008
HELLBOY, Guillermo Navarro: Los Angeles Film Festival 2008
Derek Jarman, Lee Atwater: Los Angeles Film Festival 2008
NIXON/FROST to Open Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival
Guillermo del Toro, Heidi Fleiss: Los Angeles Film Festival 2008
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