Bil Browning (The Bilerico Project founder)
Bil Browning
“I have two favorites actually.
1) Torch Song Trilogy – This was the first gay movie I saw. It made a thunderous impact when I realized that there was actually a gay culture to be part of. I immediately went out seeking more like me.
2) Silverlake Life: The View From Here – This quiet and stunning documentary launched my activist career. Watching the slow death of both men and feeling the overpowering sadness that permeates the film made a huge impact. I was outraged at what they’d suffered and knew I’d spend my life in pursuit of social justice for the LGBT community.”
Bil Browning is founder and editor of the GLAAD AWARD nominated, The Bilerico Project, the web’s largest LGBTQ group blog with dozens of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and genderqueer contributors. Known for intelligent political and cultural commentary, the site’s carefully selected contributors have helped to shape the LGBT movement for years – both on and off line.
“Hunky shirtless military school boys” Opening February 10 in New York
Matt Doyle and Seth Numrich by Alexander Wagner
The acclaimed gay drama, PRIVATE ROMEO will open at New York’s Cinema Village next month (February 10th). Those lucky enough to have seen this amazing military school gay riff on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet during its LGBT film festival run have raved about the film’s terrific cast (which includes War Horse stars Seth Numrich and Matt Doyle as the titular lovers). To wit — a pair of choice pull-quotes:
“Come for the hunky military school boys, often shirtless, but stay for an excellent adaptation of a venerable classic and a beautiful gay love story. MUST SEE.” — Lincoln Madison, Film Queen
“For bringing fresh life to a timeless love story and infusing each moment with a 21st century immediacy that balances naked passion with longing, and delivering it all with brilliant coherence, the Outfest 2011 Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film goes to the entire cast of PRIVATE ROMEO.” — 2011 Outfest Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film
For more information and to watch the trailer, visit http://www.privateromeothemovie.com.
Park City 2012: The QueerDance Preview
Keep The Lights On
Once again, movie lovers and industry insiders will be gathering in Park City, Utah this month for the annual independent film orgy known as the Sundance Film Festival (January 19-29) with additional action unspooling at the longstanding alternative event known as Slamdance (January 20-26).
The LGBT offerings for 2012 look to be slimmer than in years past but here’s a sneak peek at some of the titles debuting in Park City that you’ll be wanting to keep an eye out for at your local LGBT film festival this year. Caveat: I have not actually seen any of these films except one (My Best Day which I heartily recommend).
At Sundance:
From out gay writer-director Ira Sachs (The Delta, Forty Shades of Blue) comes the autobiographical romantic drama, Keep The Lights On. Set in the late ’90s against a New York City backdrop this is the lone gay feature in the highly competitive U.S. Dramatic Competition.
The U.S. Documentary Competition hosts the premiere of two exciting new films: Love Free or Die, a portrait of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson and How To Survive a Plague, an overview of ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) that promises to be a heartrending and inspiring testament to the heroic activists of the era. Kirby Dick’s latest film, The Invisible War also includes one lesbian interviewee as it investigates the problem of rape within the U.S. military.
The World Dramatic competition showcases the British coming-of-age drama, My Brother The Devil as well as Young & Wild, a Chilean feature about a bisexual teenage girl in Santiago.
My Best Day
A pair of lesbian features premiere in the NEXT section: from Aurora Guerrero the highly-anticipated Los Angeles Latina lesbian love story, Mosquita y Mari and from Erin Greenwell (Big Dreams in Little Hope) a terrifically quirky and cinematic ensemble comedy-drama, My Best Day which stars the wonderful Ashlie Atkinson as a lesbian janitor who spends the 4th of July helping her straight girl friend find her long lost father.
In the New Frontier section actor-director Terence Nance presents his feature, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty which explores his desire for a woman he has just met but is described by the Sundance press office as being of LGBT interest.
The Documentary Premieres section includes an exciting new project from portrait photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. About Face explores the lives and careers of such super models as Cheryl Tiegs, Jerry Hall, Christie Brinkley and Marisa Berenson as it looks back at the fashion world of the 80s.
In the Premieres section look out for Elijah Wood‘s gay character in Celeste and Jesse Forever as well as Justin Long playing gay in For A Good Time, Call (by gay filmmaker Jamie Travis). Lastly, in the festival’s Spotlight section Your Sister’s Sister features a lead lesbian character played by Rosemary DeWitt.
Titles of interest in the Shorts category (according to the helpful folks at the Sundance press office) include: Dol (First Birthday), Fourplay: Tampa, The Thing and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.
Slamdance:
Kelly
Looks like there are only two films of interest this year at Slamdance. James Stenson‘s Kelly, a documentary portrait of a troubled and struggling rural transgender teen in Los Angeles. And the provocative German drama, Heavy Girls (Dicke Maedchen) about a man who lives with his elderly mother and becomes involved with his mother’s male caregiver.
There are always lots of panels, discussions and other programming for festival attendees in Park City. As they have for the past several years, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will be doing several days of programming around the opening weekend of the festival — including panel discussions and a filmmaker lounge. Here are links to details about three exciting panels: Funding through Social Media,
Keep the Lights On,
Love Free or Die. Be sure to visit GLAAD.org for additional panels and events.
Also check in on the Outfest Facebook page to see if and when the annual Outfest Queer Brunch is announced (details were not available at press time). And that’s the sneak peek at Park City for 2012!
In the crowd sourcing spirit: Please post in the comments field below if you hear of additional LGBT-interest films or have other info to share.
(Cross-posted on AfterEllen.com, Bilerico.com and QMovieBlog.com)
Jeremy Hooper (blogger, Good As You)
Good As You blogger Jeremy Hooper (pictured above left with husband Andrew Shulman) has an excellent selection for us this week:
My favorite LGBT film is a documentary from 1977 called Word Is Out. I love it for its quiet fire. There are no quick edits, carefully orchestrated casting, or manipulated moments of drama, which are all so de rigueur today. Essentially, the filmmakers point the camera and let the twenty six subjects tell their own stories. Through that simple setup comes unfakeable passion. It’s as if the participants — all products of the early 20th century and at least one born in the late 19th — are cleansing themselves of years of bottled-up feelings. As both an activist and an observer, I hold deep respect and appreciation for the preserved catharses.
Surely you’re already well aware of Jeremy’s blog at GoodAsYou.org!
(Cross-posted at Bilerico.com)
Rave Review for New Lesbian Swedish Romance, KISS ME
“[KISS ME] With Every Heartbeat manages to excel on every level, while also delivering a strong message about the LGBT community — they live, love, feel, experience, and are just like the heterosexuals of the world, and their representation on film needs not be any different.”
via FilmFracture.
Look for a 2012 release of KISS ME from Wolfe, and click thru here for more details.
Michelangelo Signorile (radio host and blogger)
“I’m going to be predicable and name one that is among everyone’s favorite, but I honestly can watch BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN over and over again — and I have! Beyond the performances and the weepy love story, it’s just a beautiful film and even more so on the big screen. Thank you Ang Lee!”
Michelangelo Signorile is host of The Michelangelo Signorile Show on SiriusXM 108, 2-6 ET weekdays. And also Editor-at-Large for Huffington Post Gay Voices. You can find him on Twitter at: @MSignorile.
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK 2 — Best Lesbian Gift DVD Spotlight
HBO’s star-studded triptych drama, If These Walls Could Talk 2 remains one of the best mainstream portrayals of lesbian lives on screen. Featuring great lesbian characters brought to life by Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Stone, Chloe Sevigny, Vanessa Redgrave, Michelle Williams, Natasha Lyonne and Marian Seldes — the DVD is on sale at Wolfe for the holiday season for just $8.96 and makes an excellent (and very reasonably priced gift) for the lucky lesbian in your life. Here’s an excerpt from the AfterEllen.com rave review of the film:
“If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) focuses on lesbian lives in three different eras/segments over a forty year period, framed within a single house. This is a thoughtful, issue-driven drama about some of the challenges lesbians face, and the change in cultural attitudes over time towards women who love women.
It’s also a rare opportunity to see good acting, writing, and production quality in a lesbian-themed film…
Overall, the casting and direction of this production is stellar, the writing makes the characters all seem very genuine to the experiences they portray, and the production values are professional and of the caliber you’d expect from HBO. This movie is a necessary addition to any queer film library — just make sure you have a tissue handy when you watch.”
Click thru to order If These Walls Could Talk 2 from Wolfe Video now.
WHOLE NEW THING — Best Gay Gift DVD Spotlight
Amnon Buchbinder‘s wonderful gay coming of age film, WHOLE NEW THING is now on sale at WolfeVideo.com for just $8.95 — a great gift for the holidays. Here’s Chicago Reader film critic Albert Williams‘s glowing 2005 review:
“This wry, tender 2005 Canadian comedy puts a fresh spin on the theme of adolescent sexual awakening. Its protagonist, an intellectually precocious 13-year-old, develops a crush on his middle-aged gay English teacher, whose attempts to deflect the boy’s advances without wounding his blossoming spirit lead the man to confront his own emotional isolation. Shot by director Amnon Buchbinder in snowy rural Nova Scotia, the film features subtle, honest performances by Daniel MacIvor (who also cowrote the screenplay) as the perplexed prof and engaging newcomer Aaron Webber as the sensitive student.”
Watch the trailer and order your DVD of WHOLE NEW THING right now from WolfeVideo.com.
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