April 10, 2014
The Boston LGBT Film Fest is in full-swing.
Here's the schedule with descriptions of the films being shown at various venues throughout the area from Wednesday, Apr. 9 through Saturday, Apr. 12.
And to check on news on the Festival,
Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2014 @ 6:30 p.m; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Yariv Mozer
Israel 2013; Hebrew with English Subtitles/82 minutes
In this intelligent and emotional Israeli film set in 1989 Tel Aviv, Boaz is a linguistics student committed to his loving girlfriend, Noa. But soon Boaz is questioning his life when he begins receiving a series of obsessive love letters from another man. They expose the inner world of their author, who is deeply closeted - and knows plenty about him, including Boaz's past attraction to other men.
Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2014 @ 7:00 p.m; Museum Of Fine Arts - Alfond Auditorium
Director: Simo Halinen
Finland 2013; Finnish with English Subtitles/95 minutes
Maarit is a beautiful, intelligent and sexy woman - who used to be a man. She is estranged from the daughter she fathered and from her previous life. When she meets and falls in love with Sami - soccer coach, teacher and family man - she finally feels like she can 'fit in' somewhere. But Sami is soon put to the test. Sami is forced to confront his own deeply hidden prejudices. And as for Maarit, with or without Sami, she has to step into a brave new world where only she can determine her sense of belonging.
Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2014 @ 7:00 p.m; Coolidge Corner Theatre
Runtime: 95 minutes
Love is all around you in this selection of shorts. Whether its love's first glimmer, love lost, or finally having the courage to love yourself, you will be feeling the love and enjoying some sweet treats. The program includes:
"Ad Occhi Chiusi." Directed by Lisa Riccardi. Italy. 15 min
Cupcakes. Directed by The Cambridge Film Consortium. UK. 4 min
"Closet." Directed by Christopher Gore. UK. 11 min
"Broken." Directed by Ilay Roy. USA. 21 min
"In My Skin." Directed by Alejandro Rodriguez. USA. 13 min
"Crushed." Directed by Nadia Casey. Canada. 7 min
"Transparent." Directed by Ricardo Lorenzo. USA. 10 min
"Lolo." Directed by Charlotte Hauser. USA. 14 min
Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2014 @ 8:30 p.m; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Hamano Sachi
Japan 2011; Japanese with English Subtitles/102 minutes
Based on a true story, "Yoshiko and Yuriko" relates the journey and great love affair of Yoshiko, who was a renowned translator of Russian literature and drama, and Yuriko, who was a feminist novelist and great activist of the post-war democratic literature movement. The two women shared a strong attraction to each other from their first meeting and enjoyed a powerful love affair. Yoshiko reveals that she's an out lesbian, while Yuriko is married to a well known scholar - a situation she can't walk away from with ease.
Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2014 @ 8:30 p.m; Brattle Theatre
Directors: Allison Berg, Fran�ois Keraudren
USA 2013/100 minutes
John Wojtowicz took pride in being a pervert. Coming of age in the 1960s, his libido was excessive even by standards of the era, with multiple wives and lovers. In Aug. 1972, he attempted to rob a bank to finance his lover's sex-reassignment surgery. This resulted in a hostage situation that was broadcast on TV. Three years later Al Pacino portrayed his crime in "Dog Day Afternoon," which had a profound influence on Wojtowicz. When he emerged from prison, he was known as "The Dog."
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2014 @ 7:00 p.m; Coolidge Corner Theatre
Director: Jim Tushinski
USA 2013/93 minutes
An outspoken and articulate artist in a turbulent, passionate time, Wakefield Poole didn't think of himself as a pornographer. He was a filmmaker who used his dance and theater background to create beautiful, erotic art films that challenged the mind. Many agreed. To others, though, Poole just made dirty movies. "I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole" tells the story of this sometimes overlooked gay liberation and independent filmmaking pioneer. (Courtesy of Filmmaker.)
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2014 @ 7:30 p.m; Museum Of Fine Arts - Remis Auditorium
Director: Kate Johnston, Shauna MacDonald
Canada 2013/87 minutes
Tru is a bed-hopping lesbian who cannot commit. Restless by nature and wounded by the past, she seems to live from mattress to mattress, bobbing along through life with no anchor. She meets Alice, an older beautiful widow, who has come to visit her daughter Suzanne, a friend of Tru's. Sparks fly - Alice and Tru begin forging more than a friendship. When Suzanne witnesses an intimate moment between the two, she tries to sabotage the budding romance. It backfires as Tru Love is hard to contain.
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2014 @ 7:30/Club Cafe
Director: Matt Livadary
USA 2014/92 minutes
"Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year On The Gay Rodeo" chronicles a complete season of the International Gay Rodeo Association. Roping and riding across North America for the past 30 years, the IGRA's courageous cowboys and cowgirls brave challenges both in and out of the arena on their quest to qualify for the World Finals at the end of the season. And along the way, they'll bust every stereotype in the book.
Friday, Apr. 11, 2014 @ 6:00 p.m; Brattle Theatre
Director: Myriam Foug�re
Canada 2012; French, English with English Subtitles/63 minutes
A parallel revolution was born out of the feminist movement of the 1970's, coming to an end around 1995. Filmmaker Myriam Foug�re takes us on a journey to meet the lesbian writers, philosophers and activists who were key players in creating a revolutionary sisterhood. From Montr�al to Texas, we encounter lesbians who chose to live only among women. This marginal yet international movement is brought to life through archival footage, photographs and evocative interviews with these courageous women, many of whom are now in their seventies and eighties.
Film is preceded by:
"Letters to the Open Mind." Directed by Taylor Cole Miller. USA. 2013. 19 min
In 1956 New York, Professor Richard D. Heffner aired one of the first television programs in our nation's history about homosexuality on NBC. The airing marked the opening of a national conversation on homosexuality, and the response was electric. At a time when being gay was a felony, viewers queer and straight alike wrote in to sound off with their opinions - resulting in a colorful quilt of American voices regarding 1950s 'sex deviance.' Many of them are funny -- many more, heartbreaking. Their words reveal to us the strangeness of their time, but in so doing, reveal also the strangeness of ours, for the past is no clearer than the present and the present, no clearer than the past.
Friday, Apr. 11, 2014 @ 7:00 p.m; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Elisa Amoruso
Italy 2013; Italian with English Subtitles/70 minutes
Pino is a mechanic and an off-road racing champion, who becomes a woman named Beatrice. As a transgender, she meets Marianna, a nurse from Romania who's taking care of her old mother. A romance begins between Beatrice and Marianna - they fall in love. With both of them dressed as brides, they manage to get married in Rome while fighting established society norms and prejudices. "Off Road" is an Italian love story, traveling an un-surfaced road to become an unconventional family in a conventional country.
Friday, Apr. 11, 2014 @ 7:00 p.m; Museum Of Fine Arts - Remis Auditorium
Director: Xavier Dolan
Canada, France 2013; French with English Subtitles/105 minutes
Tom, a young advertising copywriter, travels to the country to attend his partner Guillaume's funeral. Tom is shocked to find out no one knows who he is and who he was to the deceased. Guillaume's brother quickly sets the rules for a twisted game and thereby sets the tone of this thrilling film. In order to protect the family's name and a grieving mother, Tom submits to playing the peacekeeper in a household whose obscure past bodes even greater darkness for his "trip" to the farm.
Friday, Apr. 11, 2014 @ 7:30 p.m; Brattle Theatre
Director: Anna Margarita Albelo
USA 2013/83 minutes
In this eccentric all-female comedy, charismatic filmmaker Anna faces a midlife crisis. She's just turned 40, has neither job nor girlfriend, and lives in her friend's garage. For the past few years, she's had no goals and no idea how to get what she wants. Just when she's about to throw in the towel, she meets the enchanting Katia who becomes her muse and sets her on a path of self-discovery, creativity and redemption. Adapted from Outfest.
Friday, Apr. 11, 2014 @ 9:30; Brattle Theatre
Runtime: 80 minutes
Just entering its eleventh season, CineKink is an annual film festival and national screening tour that celebrates and explores the wide diversity of sexuality. Presented by CineKink, an organization dedicated to the recognition and encouragement of sex-positive and kink-friendly depictions in film and television, works showcased by the festival range from documentary to drama, spicy to explicit - and everything in between. The program includes:
"Humain Chaleur." Directed by Christophe Predari. Belgium. 2012. 11min
"Tom's Gift." Directed by Todd Verow & Charles Lum. USA. 2013. 7 min
"Another Happy Anniversary." Directed by Miranda Bailey. USA. 2013. 21 min
"Dear Jiz." Directed by Ms. Naughty. Australia. 2013. 21 min
"Trains." Directed by Paul Deeb. USA. 2013. 10 min
"de-railed." Directed by Quinn Cassidy and Creamy Coconut. USA. 2013. 12 min
"Zucht und Ordnung." Directed by Jan Soldat. Germany. 2012. 9 min
Friday, Apr. 11, 2014 @ 9:30 p.m; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Charlie Vaughn
USA 2013/100 minutes
New girl Cassie and outcast Maggie are easily the most awkward girls in high school. Together, they decide that the way to win the hearts of the cute boys and the popular girls is to win the school talent show. But rivals Heather, Other Heather, and their popular boyfriends Brett and Dirk will stop at nothing to keep our heroes the laughing stock of the school. It's going to take makeovers, courage, and maybe even a little rapping to beat them in true 80s style.
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 @ 1:30 p.m; Museum Of Fine Arts - Remis Auditorium
Director: Thomas Allen Harris
USA 2013/92 minutes
A rich and lyrical tapestry that is both personal and epic in scope, Thomas Allen Harris's extraordinary documentary, "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (TALD)," is a unique examination of the way black photographers-and their subjects-have used the camera as a tool for social change from the time photography was invented to the present. TALD is a powerful and elegant engagement with the burden of representation and serves as a testament to the redemptive powers of creativity. (Adapted from Sundance.)
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 @ 2:00 p.m/Brattle Theatre
97 minutes
Fear weaves its way throughout this selection of shorts from around the world. From psychotic exes, stalkers, the fear of sounds and the forces closing in from outside to one's past, life, birth, death, and finding that perfect outfit, these films will make you gasp, cry and laugh in the face of fear. Program to include:
"Ratas." Directed by Jota Linares. Spain. 17 min
"Eisprung Mit Papa." Paul Ploberger. Austria. 8 min
"Tortuosidades Acusticas." Directed by Jose David Ruiz. Ecuador. 15 min
"Triedro." Directed by Werther Germondari and Maria Laura Spagnoli. Italy. 11 min
"Seuls." Directed by Sami Khadraoui. Switzerland. 17 min
"The Blue Dress." Directed by Lewis Martin Soucy. Spain. 10 min
"Lambing Season." Directed by Jeannie Donohoe. Ireland. 15 min
"Reflex." Directed by Christopher Tung. Canada. 5 min
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 @ 2:00 p.m; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
88.3 minutes
Art, politics, athletics, theater, love, loss, LIFE - these short films offer a sampling of the many facets of trans people. Join them in this program as they express themselves in ways that will leave you feeling joyous, sad, amused and even triumphant. �Program to include:
"Gender Games." Directed by Meg Smaker. USA. 9 min
"A Second Skin." Directed by Shawn Kosmerly. Canada. 10 min
"In My Skin." Directed by David Kornfeld. USA. 18 min
"You're Dead To Me." Directed by Wu Tsang. USA. 13 min
"Dear Santa." Directed by Maura Smith. USA. 10 min
"TRANS." Directed by Mark Chapman. UK 7 min
"Ink Deep." Directed by Constance Levesque. Canada. 3 min
"Teagan." Directed by Sheldon Lieberman and Igor Coric. Australia. 3 min
"How Do You Know." Directed by Ranae Barnard. USA. 4 min
"W and Z." Directed by Ronnie Almog. Israel. 15 min
"Change Over Time." Directed by Ewan Duarte. USA. 7 min
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 4:00 p.m; Brattle Theatre
Director: Anne Zohra Berrached
Germany 2013; German with English Subtitles/75 minutes
Katja and Isabella decide to have a child. However, like many lesbian couples they discover getting pregnant is difficult since (for legal reasons) most fertility clinics refuse to treat them. Help is available at one clinic, but for a price. After several expensive attempts, Katja wants to stop while Isabella refuses to give up. In a last effort, the couple purchase an "at home" insemination kit and search a "sperm donor" website. And so they begin 'casting' for a potential donor - a process that challenges both women's attempts at creating a family.
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 @ 4:00 p.m; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
90 min
Psychotic boyfriends who sing, drug dealers, married men, and that narcissistic stranger you can't resist. They are all here. All those bad boys we can't stay away from. Program to include:
"Grind." Directed by Stephen Tylor O'Connor. USA. 32 min
"Stay." Directed by Brandon Zuck. USA. 15 min
"Frank." Directed by Simon Schultz von Dratzig. USA. 14 min
"Narcissist." Directed by Eric Casaccio. USA. 17 min
"Fuck Buddies." Directed by Juanma Carrillo. 6 min
"The Disgustings." Directed by Jordan Firstman. USA. 12 min
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 @ 4:00 p.m; Museum Of Fine Arts - Remis Auditorium
Director: Abdellah Taia
France 2013; French & Arabic with English Subtitles/81 minutes
"Salvation Army" is structured in a diptych: the first episode chronicles Abdellah's teenage years, when he comes to understand, all at once, his sexuality, social codes, inhibitions, the brutality of patriarchy and the cruelty of poverty. The second half follows the young adult Abdellah as a penniless university graduate who travels on a scholarship to Geneva, where he must negotiate the treacherous sexual, racial, political, and social trappings of being a young homosexual Moroccan in Europe. (Courtesy of Toronto International Film Festival.)
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 @ 6:00 p.m; Brattle Theatre
Director: Jan Hrebejk
Czech Republic 2013; Czech with English Subtitles/97 minutes
Tereza and Radim just got married! The reception afterwards is nothing short of perfect until a mysterious young man turns up. He appears to be a friend of Radim's but no one acknowledges the stranger's presence. Secrets are revealed and the party slowly drifts into a nightmare for everyone. As the film unfolds, heroes are made and we begin to question and re-examine moral issues without passing any sort of judgment.
New England Premiere
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 @ 6:00 p.m; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Hilton Lacerda
Brazil 2013; Portuguese with English Subtitles/110 minutes
It's Brazil 1978 and the military dictatorship in power since 1964 begins to falter. Clecio Wanderley leads a theater troupe that challenges power and conventional morality with theater plays and public interferences. The troupe is strongly supported by its homosexual audiences as well as intellectuals and other artists. Wanderley's life changes when he meets Fininha, an 18 year-old boy from the country fulfilling his military service in the big city. This encounter will forever change each of their lives permanently like a tattoo on their souls.
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 @ 8:00 p.m; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Nejc Gazvoda
Slovenia, Denmark, Croatia 2013; Slovenian, Danish, English with English Subtitles/102 minutes
A technical problem makes the plane from Denmark heading to Greece land at a Slovene airport. All passengers are being taken to a hotel in Ljubljana. Among then is Iben a quiet young Danish girl. She meets Tina, who drives a shuttle as a summer job. Iben asks Tina to take her for a midnight drive around the town... Over the next day they grow closer with each woman at a different time in their life: one is hiding a big secret and the other is simply trying to find her place in the world.
World Premiere
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014 @ 8:00 p.m; Brattle Theatre
Director: Mischa Kamp
Netherlands 2014; Dutch with English Subtitles/78 minutes
"Boys" is a beautiful portrayal of first love between two teen track stars as they train for the biggest relay race of their lives. At the start, Sieger, grapples with his emerging attraction for Marc his relay teammate. As the summer progresses so does a romance between them as they swim, bike, and even kiss. With family and social pressures mounting, Sieger tries to fight the inevitable. Authentic in its portrayal of young romance, "Boys" ranks as one of the most wholesomely romantic gay teen films ever.
