It’s time to OUTSHINE again. QUEERGURU has a very soft spot for The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Fest as not only is this our winter hometown, but also it started in 1998 the same year our Brit Editor-In-Chief landed in Miami Beach for the very first time some 25 years ago.
The festival reflects the large local queer community offering an exciting program, that is so culturally diverse and that embraces the whole LGBTQ+ spectrum. It’s one that is guided by its mission to inspire, entertain and educate that offer historical and contemporary perspectives on the LGBTQ+ experience.
Outshine is the largest Festival of its kind in South Florida and now has the majority of its program accessible online throughout the whole of the State. Queerguru are therefore very proud Media Sponsors of this exhilarating 10-day event and we have been fortunate enough to preview all the movies.
This then is OUR TOP PICKS OF MUST-SEE FILMS.
It’s not surprising to learn that BIG BOYS, the debut feature film of Corey Sherman, is based on an incident in his own life, as it has such a convincing authenticity to it. In fact, the premise of his heartwarming tale of a confused teen coming to terms with his burgeoning sexuality is something that most of us gay men can relate to on a personal level.
Big Boys is the tale of 14-year-old overweight Jamie (Isaac Krasner) who is a bit of a geek and verges on being shy around others. Whilst other boys his age may be splitting their attention between sports and girls, he is just obsessed with developing his culinary skills. He is on the verge of going on his annual camping trip with his older brother Will (Taj Cross) who he tolerates and their twenty-something cousin Allie (Dora Madison) who is extremely fond of. However, his mother shares the news that not only is Allie now dating but her new boyfriend Dan (David Johnson III) is coming on the trip too. It doesn’t sit well with Jamie at all, but that will soon change.
“Do you know what the phrase ‘Fight or Flight’ means?” asks gay Geordie PE teacher Jean (Rosy McEwen) of her teenage students at the beginning of the brilliant new drama Blue Jean. It is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It’s obviously on Jean’s mind as she navigates life as a queer teacher in a northeastern secondary school during bleak late 1980s Thatcher-era England in the shadow of controversial new anti-gay legislation, clause 28 of the Local Authorities Act.
Writer and Director Georgina Oakley has created a future British classic with her thought-provoking debut Blue Jean. It’s very hard to authentically recreate the 1980s in the film but the attention to detail in the production, set design, costumes, and script here is flawless. She also manages to combine humor and poignancy in equal measure. The casting is impeccable, especially that of Rosy McEwan and Lucy Halliday, both of whom deliver amazing performances.
Nancy Buirski’s excellent documentary “Desperate Souls, Dark City And The Legend Of Midnight Cowboy” was the perfect excuse to re-think about not just how Midnight Cowboy made such an impact on the world in general but also on me in particular. The time was 1965 and this was British filmmaker John Schlesinger’s fifth movie and the first one he made in the US. This story of two hustlers living on the fringe of the bad side of New York City was so quintessentially American it surprised many people to learn of the Scheslinger’s heritage.
Midnight Cowboy and Sunday Bloody Sunday are both groundbreaking movies and Buriski does them both a great service by discussing the major effects they had on our culture then and now. I will never forget when Midnight Cowboy came out and how mesmerized I was by every minute detail of the film. Then later by the time Sunday Bloody Sunday came out, I had finally come out too.
This compelling film is a must-see not just for die-hard Schlesinger fans but for anyone curious to know how the 1960s/70s impacted our journeys to arrive at the present day.
Drifter ls a film that leaves you thinking ‘where is this going?’ for the first 60 minutes of its 79-minute length. Moritz (Lorenz Hochhuth) moves to Berlin to be with his boyfriend. He stands out. When his boyfriend dumps him there are plenty of other people who are interested. Those people are all citizens of bohemian, clubbing, sexually liberated, artsy Berlin. Achingly and effortlessly cool. Moritz flits aimlessly between moments that capture this free living spirit. He snorts ketamine on the beach with an Only Fans star and his female partner. He rescues someone from a G-induced stupor by sticking a finger of speed up their ass. He dances in a shower with a dozen other people, high as a rainbow. He has sex with a bisexual couple. He performs BDSM humiliation acts on a willing paying customer.
This is a tale of someone moving from being the outsider to the insider because of the things they have done and the things they have seen. Unmissable.
EISMAYER is a compelling military queer love story based on real life. Indoors at a military center, young white men lined up are asked for their names, each one says his surname loudly, among all, the most outstanding is Bosnian Mario Falak. They are all recruiting for a six tough months period at the cream of the crop, The Fourth Guards Company of the Austrian Army where Charles Eismayer is in charge as Sergeant Major, a hard man with an iron fist that loves discipline and to command. In some sequences of the movie, there is a fair reminder of him in relation to the authoritarian Sergeant Hartman (Stanely Kubrick´s Full Metal Jacket)
Charles has a secret. He has been conscious of being gay since his childhood, back then his mother told him: just don’t talk about it, it will pass. But that is all about to change now that Mario has arrived.
Queerguru’s Janet Prolman raved about ESTHER NEWTON MADE ME GAY a new film by Jean Carlomusto. This portrait of Esther Newton unveils a living, breathing human being, masculine of center, femme-loving, dog-loving, brilliant and articulate woman who is now over 80 and participated fully in the screenings and events. Esther’s family, poodles, and former and current girlfriends add richness to the texture, so much so that her partner, Holly Hughes, when asked about what it was like to be involved in a film about her real life, quipped, “At some point I had to ask how many more exes we were going to excavate.” If you aren’t familiar with Esther Newton, you should be. Regardless of what stripe of the rainbow flag you represent, Esther is an essential part of your history.
Golden Delicious: The title of Jason Karman’s debut feature film is also the name of the family restaurant in the movie but it could almost pass as a critique too on this charming coming-of-age story. 17-year-old Jake (Cardi Wong) in his final High School Year who was being pressured by his father to take up basketball (which he loathed) and by his pushy girlfriend Valerie (Parmiss Sehat) to give up his virginity (which he had no intention of parting with). He had no idea what he wanted and he got even more confused when Aleks (Chris Carson) a hot jock who was openly gay, moved in next door. His drama is the real core of the story and we get the full anguish of a teenager so completely scared of his peers at school, and his family, as he tries so valiantly to come to terms with his true identity.
In Bed is an exciting psychological erotic thriller by director Nitzan Gilady. Handsome Guy (Israel Ogalbo) and his best friend Joy (Moran Rosenblatt) are having fun at Tel Aviv Pride when suddenly gunshot scatters the crowd and they have to flee for cover. They make it back to Guy’s apartment where they find a shell-shocked Dan (Dean Miroshnikov), a fellow Pride parader, sitting on the stairs outside in a state of distress. They invite him in to calm down.
In Bed takes a deep dive into the role party drugs, especially harder drugs such as GHB and Crystal Meth, can play in shaping a queer night of fun. Rosenblatt and Miroshnikov give very strong performances Their on-screen chemistry is hot and believable as they get high, become horny as fuck, relax their values, lose their grip on reality and eventually succumb to paranoia and lose control. A tense, fast-paced, unpredictable trip into gay party culture.
Lie WIth Me, based on the novel by Philippe Besson, has a wistful charm that sits with you long after the film is over. It’s a tale about nostalgia, love and heartbreaking loss that begs you to feel nothing but kindness to all its characters.
Stephane Belcourt (Guillame de Tonquedec) is reluctantly visiting his small hometown as a brand ambassador for a cognac company. He is an acclaimed writer who occasionally turns his hand to commercial jobs in between his novels. He is surprised to realize that one of his hosts is Lucas Andrieu (Victor Belmondo) the son of his first lover Thomas Andrieu (Julien de Saint Jean) . It brings back a flood of painful memories. At 17 years old Stephane stands out at school as obviously different, though not yet out as gay. He has a secret crush on Thomas who is one of the handsome cool kids. Stephane is overwhelmed when Thomas plucks him out and initiates a series of secret, sexual rendezvous. Their love is joyful and passionate but Thomas insists that it never be spoken about or acknowledged. When Thomas breaks it off, without explanation or warning, Stephane is left with questions that seem destined never to be answered
Despite the tragedy at its heart, the film rejects mawkishness. In parts, it is even very funny. The character’s pain reveals their humanity in all its absurd messiness. Guillaume de Tonquedec portrays the writer Stephane as equally capable of saying the toe-curlingly wrong thing as he is of achieving sublime prose. This adds to the idea at the heart of the movie that life can be brought back into balance. In the case of director Olivier Peyon’s charming Lie With Me the balance is achieved by finally being able to see life through someone else’s eyes.
It’s completely impossible not to be swept away by filmmaker Lisa Cortes’s enthusiastic admiration for Little Richard the undisputed King of Rock’ n Roll (the title that Elvis mistakenly thought was his). Little R is a charismatic fireball whose roller coaster life on and off the stage had so many highs before it reverted back to being a convoluted mess again. He was a troubled genius who was so good at liberating other people by example but he could never liberate himself.
This long overdue documentary will make you fall in love with this unlikely Queer icon with the same passion as the likes of his major fans such as Mike Jagger, David Bowie, Paul McCartney etc. Totally Unmissable
OUTshine Film Fest begins on 4/20 and will end on 4/30 To see the whole program and book tickets check out https://outshinefilm.com/
for full reviews of over 1500 queer films check out www.queerguru.com and whilst you are there be sure to subscribe to get all the latest raves and rants on queer cinema …best of all its FREE
Labels: 2023, film festival, Miami, Must See Movies, OUTshine, Top Picks
