(Complacent Present) .... Fragile Future

The annual GFEST – Gaywise FESTival has always been one of our favorite LGBTQI events in London. This year although so many of us in our community are enjoying more tolerance and acceptance than any other time in our history as Laws are changed and opinions alter, there is a whole part of the world where, for just being queer, people still face unimaginable horrors, and even death. So the GFEST quite rightly acknowledges that with this year’s theme (Complacent Present) …. Fragile Future

From 9th November – 21st November they have an exhilarating and packed schedule that covers Visual Arts, Performance and Film. As is our wont, we have taken a look at just the cinematic program which, as always, is made up of some extremely original and highly individual films.

The Surface is a first full-length feature from Michael J Saul, and is a well-intentioned wee drama about a young gay man’s search for some sort of family, but be warned it does move at such a laconic pace that its actually tough to keep being invested in its outcome at times.

We actually preferred the rather superb and wildly eclectic selection of shorts which includes Unconditional by actor turned director Kent Igleheart and which is a touching story of Bradley a black gay teenager who is literally thrown out on to the streets of Atlanta one cold Thanksgiving Day by his deeply religious family who refuse to accept his sexuality. It’s a known fact that kids like him have 48 hours in these situations before they start the spiral downhill. The question is, will Bradley manage to survive and come through?

Rule of Thumb from Israeli filmmaker Almog Gurevich tackles an aspect of gay life that is rarely talked about. It is the story of a young man who moves out of his parent’s home to navigate his new found sexual freedom in Tel Aviv’s gay scene. Life however is not so great on his own as his struggle with bulimia starts to ruin everything for him.

Nerdesin Askim? (Where Are You My Love?) is a tragic tale that reflects how tough life still is for transgenders in Turkey which has one the highest hate crime records against LGBT people in the whole of Europe.

Polari is a fascinating and funny movie from filmmakers Brian Fairbairn and Karl Eccleston about this old-fashioned form of English slang that was first used at the beginning of the last century by fairground and circus people, prostitutes, beggars and other outsiders. It was later picked up gay actors and chorus boys and became a part of the London gay scene in the days when homosexuality was still a crime in the early 1960’s.

For information, venues and tickets http://www.gaywisefestival.org.uk/