Sarasota Film Society’s GLBT Film Festival 2008
by Andre Soares
The Sarasota Film Society’s GLBT Film Festival is taking place this weekend.
Shelter, screening this evening, has received much praise at various gay film festival across the US. Based on a record-breaking bestseller, The Yacoubian Building, which screens tomorrow, was a major box-office hit in Egypt upon its release a couple of years ago. Using Cairo’s landmark Yacoubian Building (though the film was shot elsewhere) as a microcosm representing the decaying country in which the structure is located, director Marwan Hamed succeeded in creating a vast and intricate — and hardly flattering — tapestry of modern Egyptian society.
Schedule and synopses from the Sarasota Film Society’s site.
AFFINITY (120 min.)
Directed by Tim Fywell
A grieving upper class woman, Margaret (Anna Madeley) becomes a "Lady Visitor" at Millbank prison, hoping to escape her troubles and be a guiding figure in the lives of the female prisoners. Of all her friendships with prisoners, she is most fascinated by Selina (Zoe Tapper) — a medium. Set in the 1870s.
Friday 08/15, 5:00 PM
ANOTHER GAY SEQUEL (95 min.)
Florida Premiere!
Directed by Todd Stephens
Andy (Jake Mosser), Nico (Jonah Blechman), Jarod (Jimmy Clabots) and Griff (Aaron Michael Davies) reunite in Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break and participate in a contest called "Gays Gone Wild."
Friday 08/15, 7:45 PM
A PORTABLE TRIBE (83 min.)
Directed by Tom Murray
This light-hearted documentary celebrates the lives of Gay men, their bonding, sense of brotherhood and quest to explore non-urban adventures.
Saturday 08/16, 1:00 PM
BETWEEN LOVE & GOODBYE (97 min.)
Florida Premiere!
Directed by Casper Andreas
A modern gay drama involving Kyle (Simon Miller) and Marcel (Justin Tensen) who are falling in love at first sight, and the rocky road they travel leading them to fall out of love.
Sunday 08/17, 3:15 PM
BOB AND JACK’S 52-YEAR ADVENTURE (42 min.)
Directed by Stu Maddux
(Playing with MOMMY MOMMY)
The story about two men who met in the service, confronted the troops in their unit 52 years ago and went on to live the rest of their lives together.
Friday 08/15, 2:30 PM
FREEHELD (40 min.)
Florida Premiere!
Academy Award Winner!
Directed by Cynthia Wade
Closing Night Event with reception at Esca
Screening followed by panel discussion on the Marriage Amendment
Lieutenant Laurel Hester is dying. All she wants to do is leave her pension benefits to her life partner — Stacie.
Sunday 08/17, 5:30
LOVE MY LIFE (96 min.)
Directed by Kôji Kawano, in Japanese w/Eng. subtitles
This story, based on a manga, relates the intense relationship between two young women, Ichiko (Rei Yoshii) and Eri (Asami Imajuku), both university students.
Sunday 08/17, 1:00 PM
MOMMY MOMMY (42 min.)
Florida Premiere!
Directed by Sylvie Rosenthal
(Playing with BOB AND JACK’S 52-YEAR ADVENTURE)
This documentary explores the trials and tribulations of Linda and Mona in their attempts to start a family in Quebec. Even though Quebec is one of the few places in the world having legalized gay marriage and adoption, things are harder than they seem.
Friday 08/15, 2:30 PM
READY? OK! (93 min.)
Florida Premiere!
Directed by James Vasquez
Opening Night Film followed by a party at Burns Court Cinemas
In this comedy, a single Mom (Carrie Preston) struggles to understand and accept her young son’s (Lurie Poston) obsession with dresses, dolls and girls’ cheer-leading.
Saturday 08/16, 6:15 PM
SHELTER (88 min.)
Directed by Jonah Markowitz
Followed by a Karaoke party at 5ONE6 BURNS
Forced to give up his dreams of art school, Zach (Trevor Wright) works dead-end jobs to support his sister and her son. Questioning his life, he paints and surfs. When his best friend Gabe’s older brother, Shaun (Brad Rowe), returns home for the summer, Zach suddenly finds himself drawn into a relationship he did not expect.
Saturday 08/16, 8:15 PM
THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING (161 min.)
Florida Premiere!
Directed by Marwan Hamed, in Arabic w/Eng. subtitles
The Yacoubian Building in Cairo was long regarded as the last word in comfort and elegance. Nowadays the veneer has cracked and the shine has dulled to reveal the truth underneath the façade. Through interwoven stories of a number of the residents, the film paints a portrait of corruption, fundamentalism, prostitution, homosexuality, and drugs in central Cairo and creates a vibrant but socially critical picture of contemporary Egypt.
Saturday 08/16, 3:00 PM
North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Venice Film Festival 2008 - Competition Line-Up
ASK NOT, WERE THE WORLD MINE, THE LOST COAST: Outfest 2008
SORDID LIVES, SEBASTIANE, THE WORLD UNSEEN: Outfest 2008
LA CORONA, CIAO, MULLIGANS: Outfest 2008
A JIHAD FOR LOVE, HOMOCCULT: Outfest 2008
AFFINITY, ANTARCTICA: Outfest 2008
Slamdance Film Festival 2009: Call for Entries
THE NEW TWENTY, WHIRLWIND: Outfest 2008
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