L.A’s OUTFEST is one of the biggest and best LGBTQ Film Festivals around the globe. Established back in 1982, the Festival is now 11 days long and is scheduled to show over 150 features and short films starting on July 18th It’s truly wonderful eclectic program covers the whole LGBTQ spectrum that entertains, educate. make you laugh and cry, provoke and move you, but never ever bores.
It would take us weeks to view the entire schedule, so we have selected 12 of our favorite new queer films that will be screening very soon, and which we think are amongst the very best of the bunch
An Almost Ordinary Summer : until two family patriarchs want to marry.
This crowd-pleaser Italian rom-com is the tale of two polar opposite families who have unwitting been brought together for a summer vacation because the two patriarchs have a secret they want to share. It’s a gentle dig at their own country where same-sex marriage is still illegal, but the issue here is not of the political consequences but how these two men who are both grandfathers can reconcile themselves, and their extended families to the reality of their relationship.
FIREFLIES : an Iranian gay man’s search for freedom
After escaping from Iran where he was persecuted for being gay, Ramin (ARASH MARANDI) mistakenly takes the wrong freighter out of the port and ends up stranded in Vera Cruz Mexico. It is hardly the vibrant city that it once was and is now decaying and demoralised like so many of people who seem to be stranded there just him This sophomore feature film by Iranian filmmaker BANI KHOSHNOUDI who lives in Mexico is a powerful tale about the difficulties of being true to oneself in what is frankly a very hostile environment. With a pitch perfect performance from Marandi as Ramin, we really feel the desperation faced by so many reluctant LGBT displaced around the globe .
From Zero to I Love You : an almost impossible love story
For his sophomore feature film as a writer/director DOUG SPEARMAN reunites with DARYL STEPHENS who not only starred in his HOT GUYS WITH GUNS debut, but who was also a co-cast member of the groundbreaking NOAHS ARC TV SERIES.
Stephens plays Pete a successful copywriter in Philadelphia who has a penchant for dating men who happen to be married to women. His latest amour is Jack Dickinson (SCOTT BAILEY) who has all the trappings of a successful marriage with a big house in the country, an art gallery-owning wife (KEILI LEFKOVITZ) , and two adorable children but he still cannot drag himself away from the occasional visit to a gay bar to look for a man.
Spearman’s script allows the men’s relationships to unfurl so naturally that although they take a roller coaster course, they thankfully avoid any hint of cliched melodrama. There are no moral judgements here in the witnessing of these two men falling in love despite the upsetting effects it may have on others. The lack of demons in the whole piece makes for a refreshing change. Kudos also as to how Jack’s conflict about coming to terms with his sexuality quite late in life like this is intelligently handled with both honesty and authenticity.
The Garden Left Behind : the struggle of an undocumented trans woman to survive
This new and completely mesmerising movie from queer Latinx filmmaker FLAVIO ALVES makes such a crucial contribution to the continuing dialogue on the transgender community. This story that traces the relationship between Tina (CARLIE GUEVARA) a young, Latina, trans woman and Eliana (MIRIAM CRUZ) her grandmother, as they navigate Tina’s transition and struggle brings home the stark reality of trying to build a life as undocumented immigrants in New York City.
Alves co-wrote the story with JOHN ROTONDO and to make it even more authentic, in a groundbreaking move, he involved 50 transgender actors and filmmakers in the process.
Gay Mens Chorus : Deep South and their message of hope
It seems like perfect timing for this new film, the debut feature from director DAVID CHARLES RODRIGUES, a Brazilian American equal-rights advocate. After a new wave of homophobia bordering on violence which the present Administration seem content to sanction, the SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS became determined to counter-balance this with a message of hope and love.
They planned a Tour in five of the deepest South Bible Belt states which have the harshest laws against homosexuals and are home to the most bigotry as well. Music has always been a great means for helping change minds and bringing a sense of calm to even conservative Christians whose historically-held views on our community have been agitated by the present unhealthy political climate.
Whether the Tour achieved all that it wanted is open to discussion. What they were extremely successful in was demonstrating that when it comes to interacting with deeply conservative people, that you have far more possibilities in changing hearts and minds by sheer visibility. The complete lack of even a hint of angry confrontation clearly showed that was a positive way open to our community in the ongoing struggle for acceptance.
JOSE : a heart wrenching coming-of-age tale from Guatemala
LI CHENG’S new drama Jose is preceded by a huge reputation after it beat out the multi Oscar nominated THE FAVOURITE to win the QUEER LION AT VENICE’S PRESTIGIOUS FILM FESTIVAL last year. It is (to our knowledge) the first LGBT movie ever to be made in Guatemala and is a tender coming-of-age story that makes a deep reaching impression that is so difficult to forget.
However It is the subtle and touching chemistry between the two protagonists that makes this movie so electrifying. They are two men who are simply content in the joy of finding each other and having a moment of unadulterated happiness away from their tough impoverished lives, even though it may never last forever.
Mr Leather: Daniel Nolasco demystifies Brazil’s leather community
DANIEL NOLASCO’s intriguing documentary “Mr. Leather” is a very affectionate profile of Brazil’s growing gay leather community. Where the film really succeeds however is demystifying the leather community to us on the outside. Not just about the S.S.C code (Sane, Safe & Consensual) but the fact that they regard homosexuality as being too closely based on heteronormality, and so they feel that is another closet they need to come out to become a leatherman and a fetishist
With a fabulous upbeat soundtrack and some very creative camerawork Nolasco not only succeeded in shedding some of the myths around the leather community, but he made it seem like something that people watching it will really want to join
The Queen : the 1968 classic Drag film lovingly restored
This wonderful sllce of LGBTQ from 1968 perfectly captures the world on NY Drag when the height of their existence was simply winning a Beauty Pageant. Thankfully this debut documentary by filmmaker FRANK SIMON has been lovingly restored this year as part of the Stonewall 50 Celebrations.
There is a wonderful sense of camaraderie amongst them all as they share stories about how they came out to the world. They know each other by their drag names, and when asked what their names were before, they all have the same answer, that there was no before. Most of them avoided the Draft for military service because of their sexuality, with one of them hilariously recounting he didn’t have to tell the Recruiting Officers he was gay, as they told him.
Queer Japan: a look at the sheer diversity of the LGBTQ community
The LA based Canadian filmmaker GRAHAM KOLBEINs set himself an impossible task with his new documentary Queer Japan. Although it is both intriguing and thoroughly entertaining it is also very obvious that 90 minutes is certainly not long enough to comprehensively cover the whole spectrum of LGBTQ culture in Japan.
Although somewhat uneven in parts, Kolbein’s glimpse at how traditional Japanese society is slowly embracing the queer community does have some fascinating glimpses into the lives of a few of the more outrageous and larger than life characters in the community.
Seahorse : The Dad Who Gave Birth
JEANIE FINLAY’S emphatic documentary about Freddy McConnell a determined Brit trans man who wants to give birth is a remarkable testament of faith by McConnell in allowing the cameras to film every part of his extraordinary journey. To avoid the story becoming the slightest bit sensationalized McConnell had assembled his own crew to be able to tell his story and then entrusted Finlay to take over. It turned out to be the perfect call.
It takes an enormous amount of courage for people like McConnell to challenge the status quo of a system that is totally geared around cis woman. He did so unapologetically and with charm and charisma, and as such gave us this film about the strength of the love and commitment of a happy family that simply by existing challenges the norm.
At the end of the journey McConnell expresses concern about his own naivete about the full physical and emotional extent of reactions. but he professed that regardless he had not one single regret. And neither did we.
For his sophomore film TREMORS, which is also the 2nd movie from Guatemala with an LGBTQ story line, the award-winning writer/director JAYRO BUSTAMANTE shows the depth of homophobia in his country
Pablo , married with children, has now been outed as gay and all his devout Evangelical relatives single-mindedly refuse to admit that this is no more than an aberrant one-off accident and that they, and God, can bully him back to a path of righteousness.
Guatemala is still the world’s 3rd most violent city and although Pablo’s family are reasonably safe living in their stockade even they cannot avoid the high moral code that society demands. Despite the fact it seems to have made them all increasingly unhappy, they seem desperately anxious to perpetuate it.
The story may have these very melodramatic layers to it but the two protagonists performances highlight their predicament in such an authentic and extremely relatable manner. They are a joy to watch despite the overwhelming sadness of the situation.
We had no idea of what to expect from this intriguing documentary on BRIAN FIRKUS aka TRIXIE MATTEL who, second time around, became a winner on RU PAUL’S DRAG RACE, albeit a rather controversial choice. Mattel is part of the current coterie of drag queens whose fame is based on their success rate on Ru Paul’s TV Show.
However through the course of the documentary it became clear that we couldn’t dismiss Firkus/Trixie as just another outrageously overdressed mannequin By allowing the cameras unlimited access, we saw him anxiously practising his craft to ensure that he really entertained the packed houses he was playing too in the US and UK. He shared how his love on country music was the one happy result of his troubled childhood. The very impressive selection of songs he writes and plays are the last thing you expect to her from the lips of a drag star. With her blonde wigs piled higher than God, and her tightly fitted sparkly pinks outfits she could easily be mistaken for Dolly Parton’s’ long lost taller sister
