The 40th Edition of Chicago’s REELING FILM FESTIVAL kicked off yesterday (9/22) with one of this year’s steamiest queer romances IN FROM THE SIDE.   The second oldest Fest of its kind,  prides itself on showcasing the best LGBTQ+ films and videos each year,  and has a packed schedule that covers almost the entire queer spectrum.

Queerguru has scoured the entire program and these are our
TOP PICKS OF MUST SEE MOVIES

 

8 Years.  José (Miguel Diosdado) and  David (Carlos Mestanza) had a relationship for eight years but have been apart for a 10-month period. They meet again at the volcanic island where they converged for the first time.  They plan to stay for a month, maybe for a second chance to fall in love again, but the encounter will be reduced to 4 days or a few more.

8 years since the beginning of a relationship seems like yesterday  Life goes away so quickly,  it is like a ride by the island… a trip worth to be taken indeed; listening to Pepe Bernabé and Funambulista singing ‘8 Years reprise’. 

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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 reevaluating 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.

 

 

 

El Houb (The Love) is a tense family melodrama set within the Dutch-Moroccan community in Holland. Successful young businessman Karim (Fahd Larhzaoui) and his Ghanian boyfriend Kofi (Emmanuel Boafo) are in a state of undress at Karim’s smart apartment when Karim’s father Abbas (Slimane Dazi), a postman, delivers a package and sees Karim in Kofi’s bed. Karim’s conservative, religious, family don’t know that he is gay and his father’s sight prompts Karim to decide to come out to them.

The film shows that, however tough it may seem at times, there can be an alternative to suffering in silence within a family. A genuine love story, in all senses of the word. Highly recommended.

 

 

Jimmy in Saigon. is a real standout film for me. This is a feature documentary by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Peter McDowell and executive producer Dan Savage. Peter chronicles the story of Jim, his eldest brother, a Vietnam War veteran. Jim was quite an alternative thinker and didn’t play by society’s rules. In early 1970 he dropped out of college even though that meant he was likely to be called up for the US army draft. This happened and he spent six months in Vietnam with the US army. Then, once back in the US for a few months, he surprises everyone by deciding to move back to Vietnam as a civilian, even though there is still a full-on war going on. He doesn’t give any reasons for his return to the war-torn country. What could be drawing him back to Saigon? Back in Vietnam, a year later, in 1972, when Jim was 24, he suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances whilst living in a poor part of Saigon. The family learns about Jim’s death by telegram but are not given many details re the cause of death. RF.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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/

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

Queer Arab love stories are brought to life in Egyptian film director Mohammad Shawky Hassan’s colorful new film, Bashtaalak Sa’at (Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day?).  A lively, handsome group of young queer Arab men, mostly Egyptian and Lebanese, and clad just in their underwear or less, recount their tales of love and lust amongst each other using a variety of inspired means including Arabic poetry, animation, beautiful vocal harmonies, and naked re-enactments. The result is an entertaining, playful portrayal of modern queer life and love in the eastern Mediterranean – contemporary pop culture presented with a nod to traditional Arabic storytelling. 

 

 

THE SWIMMER : Erez, a talented young Israeli swimmer, is one of five swimmers selected for a special residential training camp. The swimmers are in competition with each other and the winner will be chosen to join the Israeli Olympic swimming team. Erez (Omer Perelman) meets the beautiful, muscular Nevo (Asaf Jonas), a fellow swimmer at the camp, who slowly awakens subconscious homosexual desires in Erez. However, they both have girlfriends and also have a tough Russian swimming coach (Dima) who does not want the competitors to have friendships with each other. Dima warns Erez to stay away from Nevo, but Erez can’t help himself. Erez and Nevo hang out together at the camp when not training and Erez clumsily attempts to act upon his feelings.

 

 

Unconventional is the new queer comedy-drama series from super talented actor/writer/producer/director Kit Williamson who brought us the fantastic Eastsiders drama series. We follow queer siblings Noah (Kit Williamson) and Margot Guillory (Aubrey Peeples) and their partners Dan Charles and Elisa Slate (James Bland (also co-director and writer) and Briana Venskus) and the challenges they have to overcome as they try to start a family as thirty-somethings in today’s insecure world.

Williamson and Bland have created a very clever series that covers serious themes – including chosen families, parental control, queer hedonism, career aspirations, parenthood, drug use, monogamy v. open relationships and highly medicated individuals – as well the sheer difficulty for creative people to survive in today’s high rent, insecure societies.

 

 

 

Chicago's REELING Film  Fest will begin on 
9/22 and end on 10/8 To see the whole program 
and book tickets check out 
https://reelingfilmfest.org/

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