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Chicago Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009

Baby Jane by Billy Clift (top); Shirley Knight, Liz Jahren in Not Fade Away (middle); Homewrecker by Paul Hart (bottom)

Reeling 2009, this year’s edition of the Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival, kicked off on Thu., Nov. 5, with a screening of Casper Andreas‘ The Big Gay Musical.
Upcoming feature films include:

Billy Clift’s Baby Jane, a recreation of What Ever Happened with Baby Jane? starring real drag queens playing the two female leads — as opposed to Joan Crawford and Bette Davis playing drag queens playing the two female leads.
Florencia Manovil’s romantic drama Fiona’s Script, about an insecure bisexual woman who reluctantly enters into a relationship with a ladies’ tomboy.
Rob Williams‘ Make the Yuletide Gay, a family Christmas [...]

Gay Documentary THIS AREA IS UNDER QUARANTINE Banned

Thunska Pansittivorakul’s Thai-made experimental documentary This Area Is Under Quarantine, which discusses the difficulties faced by both gays and Muslims in Thailand, has been banned by that country’s Ministry of Culture from showing at next month’s World Film Festival of Bangkok.
According to a report in the Bangkok Post, the problem has less to do with an outright ban of the film’s themes — which includes mention of the Tak Bai Incident of 2004, a case of police/army brutality that left nearly 100 Muslim protesters dead in the southern Thai province — than with labyrinthine new laws involving ratings committees and subcommittees that are supposed to classify films shown at special screenings or festivals.

On his [...]

Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2009

Among the highlights at the 2009 Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, which runs Oct. 9-15 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are:

Tom Murray’s Amancio: Two Faces on a Tombstone, about the brutal murder of Yuma-based drag performer Amancio Corrales, whose body was found floating in the Colorado River. The local police didn’t seem all that interested in solving the case, but Yuma resident Michael Baughman became determined to keep the hate crime in the public eye.

Chaim Elbaum’s Israeli short And Thou Shalt Love tells the story of a young man studying in the special “Hesder” program for orthodox soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces. Much to his chagrin, said young man eventually comes to realization that he [...]

Out on Film 2009: Atlanta’s Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Stephan Bender, Maximillian Roeg in Dream Boy (top); Sharon Gless in Hannah Free (bottom)

Out on Film, Atlanta’s gay & lesbian film festival, kicked off last night with a screening of Casper Andreas‘ The Big Gay Musical. The festival runs until Oct. 8.
Among the screening films are:

Glenn Gaylord’s Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat, featuring hunky guys, some identity mix-ups, a three-way sex scene, and Mink Stole.

John G. Young’s Rivers Wash Over Me, about a gay teen New Yorker who is forced to move in with his family in the rural South.

Ellen Siedler and Megan Siler’s And Then Came Lola, a lesbian-themed version of the German hit Run, Lola, Run.

Doug Sebastian’s A Cross Burning in Willacoochee, a documentary about the [...]

Copenhagen Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2009

Copenhagen Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2009 poster (top); Alexandre and Victor Carril in Give Me Your Hand (middle); Hello My Name Is Lesbian by Iben Haahr Andersen, Minna Grooss (bottom)

The 2009 edition of the Copenhagen Gay & Lesbian Film Festival runs Oct. 16-25.
Among the festival’s "themes" this year are "Documenting Denmark," "Daddy Cool," "Cry for Me Argentina," and "Bollywood Goes Gay."

Rückenwind by Jan Krüger (top); Daddy’s Love by Mette Aakerholm (middle); Nobody Passes Perfectly by Saskia Bisp (bottom)

Screening films include Jan Krüger’s Rückenwind, which follows a young couple (Sebastian Schlecht, Eric Golub) on a bike trip in the woods that turns nightmarish after they meet with a lone mother and her shy teenage son; Iben Haahr [...]

Controversial FROM BEGINNING TO END Premiere Postponed

Rafael Cardoso, João Gabriel Vasconcelos as two incestuous brothers in From Beginning to End

Brazilian filmmaker Aluízio Abranches‘ Do Começo ao Fim (From Beginning to End), which revolves around a love affair between two brothers, has generated quite a bit of discussion in Brazilian online forums even though the film hasn’t been released, yet. Those waiting to check it out at the upcoming Festival do Rio, Rio de Janeiro’s international film festival, which runs Sept. 24-Oct. 8, will be disappointed.
Abranches has declared that his film won’t be ready in time for its scheduled screening. (Eliane Caffé’s O Sol do Meio Dia [The Midday Sun], about a dangerous love triangle in the Brazilian hinterlands, will take its slot.) As a result, [...]

Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009

Sonia Sebastian’s Girl Seeks Girl (top); Glenn Gaylord’s Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat (middle); Jochen Hick’s The Good American (bottom)

The 2009 edition of the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival runs from Oct. 16-25.
Among the screening films are:

Bette Gordon’s Handsome Harry, starring Jamey Sheridan as a 52-year-old, divorced ex-Navy man who, following an encounter with an old — and dying — Navy buddy (Steve Buscemi), decides to face an uncomfortable issue from his past. Also in the cast: Campbell Scott, Aidan Quinn, Titus Welliver, and John Savage.

Two documentaries on transvestites/transsexuals: Fernanda Tornaghi and Ricardo Bruno’s Queen of Brazil, about the 32-year-old Miss Gay Brasil beauty pageant, and Queens at Heart, about pre-Stonewall transsexuals. According to the festival’s [...]

A SINGLE MAN Photos

Colin Firth in A Single Man (top); Firth and Matthew Goode play lovers in A Single Man (bottom)

Winner of the Queer Lion for best gay-themed film, A Single Man chronicles the emotional struggles of a suicidal middle-aged college professor mourning the sudden death of his partner of 16 years in a car accident. During that period — one day in 1962 in Los Angeles (a time when gay sex was still illegal in California) — the world is facing the Cuban missile crisis.
Loosely based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel, A Single Man was directed by fashion designer-turned-filmmaker Tom Ford, and adapted by Ford and David Scearce.

Colin Firth, Julianne Moore in A Single Man

Colin Firth won the best actor award [...]

Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2009

The 2009 edition of the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, billed as the oldest and largest gay film festival in the American Southwest, will take place from Sept. 8-13
Among the screening films are:

Writer-director Caspar Andreas‘ Between Love & Goodbye, in which two lovers, Marcel (Justin Tensen) and Kyle (Simon Miller), find their happiness seriously threatened once Kyle’s former prostitute transgender sister (Rob Harmon) moves in with them.

Fred M. Caruso’s The Big Gay Musical, the story of two actors, Paul (Daniel Robinson) and Eddie (Joey Dudding), whose private lives mirror their stage roles in a play called "Adam and Steve, Just the Way God Made ‘em": while Paul searches for True Love, Eddie struggles with [...]

I KILLED MY MOTHER d: Xavier Dolan

J’ai tué ma mère / I Killed My Mother (2009)
Direction and Screenplay: Xavier Dolan
Cast: Xavier Dolan, Anne Dorval, François Arnaud, Suzanne Clément
 

 

Xavier Dolan’s semi-autobiographical J’ai tué ma mère / I Killed My Mother has been getting a lot of attention, mostly because Dolan is 19 and has won three awards at Cannes for his first film. A former child actor, Dolan spent some of his acting money to make this film about an adolescent (played by himself) who hates his mother.
I really wanted to like I Killed My Mother because it’s Canadian and made by such a young fellow. I even thought Dolan could be the Canadian Orson Welles! But he’s not, and I Killed My Mother [...]

Outfest 2009: AMERICAN PRIMITIVE, BIG LOVE, PORNOGRAPHY, DARE

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Sunday, July 19. Synopses from the Outfest website.

American Primitive (Sun, Jul 19th 5:00pm, FAIRFAX 1)
See Outfest July 11 highlights

God Only Knows: A Look at Big Love (Sun, Jul 19th 5:00pm, DGA 1)
Panels
(90 mins)
video
Bold, funny and wholly original, HBO’s Big Love explores the evolving institution of marriage in America through a typically atypical family. Creators/Executive Producers Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer have crafted three seasons of sophisticated, intriguing entertainment that remains utterly topical. Join Mark V. Olsen, Will Scheffer, Matt Ross (’Alby Grant’), Mary Kay Place (’Adaleen Grant’), Sandy Martin (’Selma Green’), additional members of the cast and moderator/Outfest programmer Alonso Duralde for an in-depth look at their groundbreaking [...]

Outfest 2009: PRAYERS FOR BOBBY, Boys Shorts, EATING OUT 3, Don Roos

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Sunday, July 19. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Prayers for Bobby (Sun, Jul 19th Noon, DGA 1)
(USA, 2009, 89 mins)
video
Directed By: Russell Mulcahy
SCR: Katie Ford (teleplay), Leory Aarons (book)
Prayers for Bobby is the story of Mary Griffith (Sigourney Weaver), a devout Christian who has raised her children with a conservative religious perspective. When her younger son, Bobby (Ryan Kelley), reveals to his older brother that he is gay, the entire family dynamic is irrevocably shifted. While Bobby’s father (Henry Czerny) and siblings slowly come to terms with his homosexuality, Mary turns to her steadfast beliefs in an attempt to cure her son. Alienated and quickly becoming more detached from the safety [...]

Outfest 2009: PORNOGRAPHY, MOTHERLAND, THE END OF LOVE

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Saturday, July 18. Synopses from the Outfest website.

The Baby Formula (Sat, Jul 18th 8:30pm, Ford Amphitheatre)
(Canada, 2008, 81 mins)
video
World Premiere
Directed By: Alison Reid
SCR: Richard Beattie
Athena and Lilith want to have a baby…and they’re looking to do it without a man! The ladies employ an experimental procedure that turns stem cells into sperm, allowing them to have a biological child. But when their relatives and a documentary crew find out, the couple’s domestic bliss is put to the test. Pregnant with humor and warmth, THE BABY FORMULA is a fresh take on what makes a family.
AFTER-PARTY: THE BOULEVARD LOUNGE, 1114 N. Crescent Heights, West Hollywood

Motherland (Sat, Jul 18th 9:00pm, [...]

Outfest 2009: CHEF’S SPECIAL, PTOWN DIARIES, Daniel Craig

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Saturday, July 18. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Chef’s Special / Fuera de Carta (Sat, Jul 18th 11:00am, DGA 1)
(Spain, 2008, 111 mins)
In Spanish with English subtitles
video
Directed By: Nacho G. Velilla
SCR: Nacho G. Velilla, Oriol Capel, Antonio Sanchez & David Sanchez
Gay type-A-plus chef Maxi (Javier Cámara, TALK TO HER) is too busy trying to run his chic restaurant and dreaming of a write-up in the Michelin guide to have a personal life. But when his estranged wife dies – leaving him two kids to raise – and a gorgeous Argentine soccer player (Benjamín Vicuña) moves in next door, Maxi may have to change the menu. This tasty Spanish comedy [...]

Outfest 2009: Gay Shorts, AND THEN CAME LOLA, HOLLYWOOD JE T’AIME, BOY

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Friday, July 17. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Steam by Eldar Rapaport (top); Vandals by Simon Steuri (middle); El Abuelo by Dino Dinco (bottom)

Safe Words (Fri, Jul 17th 7:00pm, FAIRFAX 1)
Shorts
Program Running Time is 92 min
Steam
Directed By: Eldar Rapaport
USA, 2009, 16 min
Moving between anxiety, reflection and fear, two strangers try to make sense of their predicament…stuck in a steam room. Heat increasing, they need to get out but can’t find the door. What is this place and how did they get here‾
The Island
Directed By: Trevor Anderson
Canada, 2009, 5 min
The filmmaker considers, with the help of animation, a piece of fan mail he received.
Vandals
[...]

Outfest 2009: MISSISSIPPI DAMNED, LUCKY BASTARD, FIONA’S SCRIPT

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Tuesday, July 14. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Ghosted (Tue, Jul 14th 7:00pm, LAEMMLE MONICA)
(Germany , Taiwan, 2009, 89 mins)
In English, Gernan, Mandarin with English subtitles
35mm
Directed By: Monika Treut
SCR: Astrid Stroner & Monika Treut
Legendary filmmaker Monika Treut (SEDUCTION: THE CRUEL WOMAN, FEMALE MISBEHAVIOR) returns to Outfest with a deftly crafted, mysterious love story. Sophie, a Hamburg-based visual artist, is haunted by the unexplained death of her beautiful Taiwanese girlfriend, Ai-ling. As Sophie attempts to come to terms with her grief, she encounters new intrigue when she meets Mei-Li, a relentless journalist who seems just as obsessed with uncovering the truth about Ai-ling as she is with seducing Sophie.

Make [...]

Outfest 2009: MR. RIGHT, CHOOSING CHILDREN, LION’S DEN, ANDER

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Monday, July 13. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Mr. Right (Mon, Jul 13th 7:00pm, FAIRFAX 1)
(UK, 2009, 95 mins)
video
World Premiere
Directed By: Jacqueline Morris
SCR: David Morris
What do a TV producer, a rugby player, two actors, a model and an artist have in common? Find out in MR. RIGHT, a delightful relationship dramedy from the brother/sister team of writer David Morris and director Jacqui Morris. As the boys hook up, break up and make up, they must get past the drama in order to find true happiness. A sentimental, sexy trip through London’s gay enclave Soho, MR. RIGHT just might be the one!

Lion’s Den (Mon, Jul 13th 7:00pm, LAEMMLE MONICA)
(Argentina, [...]

Outfest 2009: Bisex Shorts, John Hurt, RAGING SUN, RAGING SKY

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Sunday, July 12. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Bi-Definition by Kai Salim (top); Mano-a-Mano by Todd Strauss-Schulson (middle); Clearing the Air by David Morgasen (bottom)

Shorts Program: The Bro Job (Sun, Jul 12th 11:30am, DGA 1)
Program Running Time is 92 min
A Mate
Directed By: Teemu Nikki
Finland, 2007, 7 min
Pera wants to try something kinky in the bathroom, so he asks his mate to help him. However, Pera’s wife comes home a bit too soon.
The Watch
Directed By: Marco Berger
Argentina, 2008, 15 min
Two young men find a surprise connection during an impromptu sleepover.
Mano-A-Mano
Directed By: Todd Strauss-Schulson
USA, 2008, 5 min
Two dudes go head to head [...]

Outfest 2009: PRODIGAL SONS, GIVE ME YOUR HAND, BEFORE STONEWALL

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Saturday, July 11. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Before Stonewall (Sat, Jul 11th Noon, REDCAT)
(USA, 1984, 87 mins)
16mm
Directed By: Greta Schiller
From the sexual experimentation of the Roaring Twenties, to the scapegoating of homosexuals during the McCarthy era, to the development of the early homophile rights movement, BEFORE STONEWALL presents a unique portrait of the history of the U.S. homosexual experience. Using filmed recollections and a wealth of archival material from both the mass media’s portrayal of homosexuality and from the gay subculture’s own documentation, the film traces the social, political, and cultural development of the lesbian and gay community. The film features such notables [...]

Outfest 2009: Boys’ Shorts, TRAINING RULES, LION’S DEN, AMERICAN PRIMITIVE

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Saturday, July 11. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Teddy by Christopher Banks (top); Steeling Magnolias by The Vasco Brothers (middle); James by Connor Clements (bottom)

Boys’ Shorts (Sat, Jul 11th 11:00am, DGA 1)
Program Running Time is 96 min
Dish
Directed By: Brian Harris Krinsky
USA, 2009, 16 min
Emo kids Israel and Louie walk around their east Los Angeles neighborhood dishing about their high school classmates. After listening to Louie boast about his sexual escapades, Israel decides he has some catching up to do.
Teddy
Directed By: Christopher Banks
New Zealand, 2009, 13 min
Tony, a dyed-in-the-wool Londoner, travels 10,000 miles to rural New Zealand [...]

Philadelphia QFest 2009

And Then Came Lola (top); Doris Day, Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk (middle); Raging Sun, Raging Sky (bottom)

The Philadelphia QFest kicks off tomorrow, July 9, with a tribute to Chad Allen, followed by a screening of Jason Bushman’s Hollywood, je t’aime, in which Allen is excellent as a pothead drug dealer who befriends a Frenchman roaming around Los Angeles.
Among the other highlights of Philadelphia’s QFest are:

Tribute to Sharon Gless, followed by a screening of Hannah Free.
Doris Day Day featuring a screening of Pillow Talk, Day’s first pairing with Rock Hudson, and the film that earned the actress her only Academy Award nomination. Pillow Talk will be preceded by the new German documentary What a Difference a Day Made: [...]

Outfest 2009: HANNAH FREE, MISCONCEPTIONS, COLLEGE BOYS LIVE, “Makin’ Moves”

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Friday, July 10. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Hannah Free (Fri, Jul 10th 7:00pm, DGA 1)
(USA, 2009, 88 mins) World Premiere
Directed By: Wendy Jo Carlton; scr: Claudia Allen
Romantic, touching and poignant, HANNAH FREE eloquently depicts a lifelong love affair between two very different women. Hannah (played as an older woman by the remarkable Sharon Gless) is adventurous and rebellious, while Rachel is content with a traditional small town life. They tell the stories of their lives – from mouth-watering apple pie to clandestine sex in the barn, from adventurous travels to an unbearable marriage, from a world war to deep family denial. Through a history spanning nearly 70 years, their love is the [...]

Outfest 2009: LA MISSION

Outfest 2009 kicks off with the Opening Night Gala screening of writer-director Peter Bratt’s La Mission on Thursday, July 9, at 8:00 pm at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Starring Benjamin Bratt (above), Jeremy Ray Valdez, and Erika Alexander, La Mission tells the story of a tough ex-con attempting to come to grips with the fact that his teenage son is gay. Ticket prices range from $50 to $150.
Both Benjamin Bratt and Peter Bratt are expected to attend the screening, which will be preceded by a tribute to filmmaker Don Roos and followed by a party (open to all ticketholders) at Club 740.
The synopsis below is from Outfest:
"In San Francisco’s Mission District, reformed inmate [...]

Jason Bushman Interview II

Jason Bushman Interview – Part I
My favorite line in the movie has to do with the un-specialness of nonstop sunshine. You show a very deglamorized — i.e., very real — Los Angeles in Hollywood, je t’aime, e.g., people riding buses, homeless people in the streets, dingy motels, etc. Since you’ve referred to Hollywood, je t’aime as your "love letter" to LA, were you ever tempted to glamorize the place?
What I love about Los Angeles isn’t the glamour, and glamour doesn’t turn me on. I live in Silver Lake, and I only ever go to Beverly Hills when I have to, for business or a doctor’s appointment. (That’s not to say the Eastside doesn’t have it’s own bobo snobbiness, but [...]

HOLLYWOOD, JE T’AIME: Q&A with Jason Bushman

Writer-director Jason Bushman’s feature-film debut, Hollywood, je t’aime was recently screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival. The tale of a Frenchman befriended by a handful of social outcasts while looking for Hollywood stardom, Hollywood je t’aime turned out to be a quirky, funny, touching revelation. The good news is that those who missed the film at LAFF will now get the chance to check it out at Outfest, where it’ll be screened on Friday, July 17, at 8:30 at the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood.
In Hollywood, je t’aime Eric Debets plays Jérôme Beaunez (pronounced "Bea-nie" by a clueless casting director), a befuddled blend of Jacques Tati, Buster Keaton, and Adrien Brody. ("Beaunez" literally means "Beautiful Nose.") After being dumped by [...]

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Jason Bushman Interview IIChicago Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009Philadelphia QFest 2009Outfest 2009: Panels & Special ScreeningsOut on Film 2009: Atlanta’s Gay & Lesbian Film FestivalOutfest 2009: Gay Shorts, AND THEN CAME LOLA, HOLLYWOOD JE T’AIME, BOY