The 40th Anniversary of Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival kicks off on 14th July 2022. Its an 11 day Festival with over 200 films   inclusive of feature narratives, documentaries, short films, and episodics that cover lmost the entire LGBTQ+ spevtrum. It includes a roster of festival favorites, an impressive 42 world premieres, films spanning every genre, and representing 29 countries from around the world.

The Queerguru Team usually produce our Top Ten Picks  but we are still working through this very packed program .  Here then is our first list of MUST SEE MOVIES  …. (there will be more to follow)

 

All Man: The International Male Story, is a compelling feature documentary debut of Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed that highlights a crucial part of queer history.   It may not be as serious as events like the Stonewell Riots but it most certainly plays its own role in the evolution of the queer community.

Founded by the very charismatic ex AirForceman Gene Burkard in the 1970s, when the bulk of men’s clothes were brought by wives or mothers.  In those days they were very limited choices which were both boring and totally inspiring ensuring that no men were interested in shopping at all  Except for a few of course, and when Burkard focused his catalog on all flamboyant clothes, from wild-patterned shirts and mesh tank tops to the bikini-est of bikini underwear, he hit upon the jackpot.

 

 

 

Chrissy Judy takes a poignant dive into what our friendships do for us – in particular those that involve our queer chosen families. Chrissy (Wyatt Fenner) and Judy (Todd Flaherty) are best friends and have been performing drag together for a while, mostly to rather disinterested audiences in New York City and Fire Island. They’ve both recently turned thirty years old and this milestone has triggered Chrissy into revaluating his life and priorities. He decides to quit performing drag and to move in with his boyfriend Shawn (Kiyon Spencer) who lives in Philadelphia, and transfer his day job there too. 

Todd Flaherty has written, directed, and stars in this film, which is beautifully shot in black and white. Strong art direction, cinematography, and good casting with some handsome men complement an often witty script. The overall message here is that our chosen families, although very important, alone usually won’t give us the full life we want. We need to search out and create relationships, careers, housing opportunities, and all the other elements that make up a nourishing life ourselves.

 

FRAMING AGNES. Canadian trans filmmaker Chase Joynt confidently left the recent Sundance Film Festival clutching two awards, knowing he has been successful in a rare achievement. His sophomore feature-length documentary Framing Agnes is even better than his remarkable debut No Ordinary Man which he had co-directed with Aisling Chin-Yee. 

In this new movie, Joynt gently chips away on how being transgender is so widely misunderstood mainly by our sheer ignorance.  His film continues an important message to dispel so many long help myths as it gives such dignity and grace as part of a continuing dialogue about the transgender community. RWD.

PS You may want to check out Queerguru’s interview with the filmmakers  https://queerguru.com/filmmakers-chase-joynt-and-morgan-m-page-talk-about-framing-agnes-one-of-the-very-best-queer-films-at-sundance-2022/

 

 

God Save The Queens. The 126m  dramedy introduces us to Klein/ GiGi de Janeiro (Jordan M. Green), Marmalade (Kelly Mantle), Stevie Dix (Alaska Thunderfuck)  and Rita (Laganja Estranja), four protagonists that do professional drag shows in Los Angeles for a living.  While being together at a Gurus´ retreat to relax and have therapy sessions under the stars, they recount their recent experiences, some we have watched, others we will learn via flashbacks.  

The opening scene makes a nod to  Armistead Maupin´s Tales of the City while  Klein, looking for a job, visits a house slightly similar to the one at 28 Barbary Lane, no Anna Madrigal though, instead of a racist and homophobic woman, period.  Meanwhile, Lewis, also known as Marmalade, talks to his Australian parakeet and gets ready to go out.  Stevie and Rita dress up and are in a hurry to perform, and they manifest issues with each other that must be overlooked since they do well as the Dix Royale duo.  The four characters are central to the storytelling and allow us to see them in the context of their daily life and performative selves.

 

The opening scene of Lonesome resembles a Hollywood Western as our protagonist Casey (Josh Lavery) keeps pace with the sun while running away from his reality. He dons a cowboy hat and the classic blue jeans and white T-shirt combo that immediately endow him with an eye-candy-cum-rebellious persona. His face has the sharpness as well as the vulnerability of youth. Staying true to his young age, he doesn’t miss a chance to sleep with men, even at his lowest moments. His story is that of a rural gay man making his way into the big city. However, what he lacks is hope. His only redeeming quality is his libido. Lonesome treads familiar territory but is boosted by the decadent charm of Josh Lavery and the director’s reluctance to hold back during the ‘depraved’ moments of the narrative. DL.

 

 

 

If you have ever teared up at the PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) contingent at a Pride march, bring out the handkerchiefs for this film. The Mama Bears are moms from a background of fundamentalist, conservative Christianity who face the dilemma of reconciling their profoundly anti-LGBT belief systems and communities with the reality that one of their own beloved children is gay or trans.

The film opens with a montage that includes fire and brimstone denunciations of homosexuality, a bible-reading lesbian who is struggling to “choose” heterosexuality, and a lovely little girl who is dancing in her yard, long dress and long hair flowing as she twirls. A discerning eye might spot that the little girl was born a boy, but if not, all is made clear as we are introduced to her family. Her mother, Kimberly Shappley, quotes from Ecclesiastes 3:

 

 

Manscaping : Having shaved his own head from the age of 13 this reviewer almost coughed up a furball when Queerguru’s Editor in Chief suggested that this documentary about hair was for me. Turns out this one-hour film, ostensibly about the barbershop, has more to say about the breadth of LGBTQ+ experience than you might expect. Manscaping succeeds because it introduces so many elements of the LGBTQ+ experience through a single vantage point. Racism, sexism, economic disadvantage, the struggle for self-love and acceptance are explored via hair without lecturing or condescension. 

P.S. You may also want to check out Queerguru’s interview with filmmaker Broderick Fox https://queerguru.com/broderick-fox-talks-about-manscaping-his-doc-about-three-queer-men-who-are-reimagining-the-traditional-barbershop/

 

 

 

Since  1996 when East Palace, West Palace was the first Mainland Chinese movie with an explicitly homosexual theme was released, there have been very few films to follow its lead.  Like with MONEYBOYS it is deemed too unsafe to make Chinese queer film actually in situ, so filmmakers such as Taiwan/Austrian C.B. Yi use Taiwan as a stand-in location.  C.B. Yi’s film shines a light on the less explored area of LGBTQIA+ issues in China which may surprise much of his audience.  This is a love story set against a background of survival which for many young men …… gay and straight ……is hustling.  It gives these boys born in rural villages a way out of the basic poverty-stricken their families lead. RWD

 

 

 

Nelly and Nadine is the unlikely love story between two women falling in love on Christmas Eve, 1944  The film captured me from the beginning;  a sequence of a newsreel from April 28th, 1945 shot at Malmö Harbor, Sweden,  in which a large group of women reaches freedom after German concentration camps. We see them smile and say hello to the camera, there is Nadine with her white scarf, striped uniform, and that mysterious gaze.

The film has been made with exquisite delicacy to tell a story of survival in the 20th Century.  It is also a tale of profound love and intimacy that portrays moments in Nelly & Nadine´s apartment in Caracas, Venezuela, and Sylvie´s home, a place sweeter than home in the French countryside. Magnus Gertten, the director, invites us to a rendezvous as in a family talking about people we know and love deeply. 

 

 

PAT ROCCO DARED In this colorful trip back in time, legendary queer filmmaker and trailblazing gay rights activist Pat Rocco shares his incredible life story as one of Hollywood’s original boundary-pushing pioneers. This really is a must-see film to fully understand the history of American queer culture and activism over the past 50 years. Rocco is the most famous gay person you might not have heard about before. Canadian documentary filmmaker Charlie David combines fantastic vintage footage, film clips, and interviews with Rocco and friends such as Phyllis Diller, to tell the story of Rocco, the activist, filmmaker, artist, and entertainer. RF

 

 

 

Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter” During the fourth wave of a pandemic in an indefinite time that may be the present moment, the near past, or in the coming future, there is a virus affecting the brain and memory in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This wacky surreal fictional film is directed by (Gustavo Vinagre) is a whimsical one that provides surprising situations, accurate information in a weird context, and the critical notion of capitalism and “crapitalists”. Some sequences are a nod to Pedro Almodóvar, Luchino Visconti, and Stephan Elliot.  Music and sounds are important to provide the tone.   Protagonists wear masks and spray their hands and mouths, constantly.  

 

LA's OUTFEST LGBTQ+ Film Fest 
THU, JUL 14 - JUL 25
To see the whole program and book tickets for 
person and online check out 
https://www.outfestla.org/

For the full reviews of these films and over 1500 
other queer movies check out 
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