Wicked Queer  Boston’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival is the 4th longest-running queer Film Festival in North America and one of the very best too. Queerguru has always enjoyed this wonderful New England event and is thrilled to be a media sponsor. Whilst the main Fest  runs in the Spring,  this year WQ has added a mini Doc Fest that kicks off on Nov 18th 

They’ve got seven great docs to share with you from November 18th to 21st. From trans-indigenous artists traveling the Amazon to the story of International Male, there’s a little something for everyone to discover.  We’ve checked them all out and here  (in alphabetical order) are

QUEERURU’S PICK OF MUST SEE MOVIES.

 

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.

 

 

Casa Susanna The award-winning queer filmmaker Sebastien Lifshitz, takes a very affectionate look at the secluded resort in the Catskills in upstate NY that in the 1950s and 60s was a discreet refuge for cross-dressing men and transgender women.   It’s an unstructured story with two of the resorts’ original visitors, now both octogenarians recalling as much as they can of what this bolt-hole meant to them.  Plus the other two taking heads, were children during the Casa’s heyday.  One of them is the grandson of the owner Marie and her cross-dressing husband, and the other is a child whose father visited the place every weekend.  She still seems to be struggling with how her father’s crossing manifested itself into making her childhood sheer hell.  Highly recommended.

 

 

 

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.  

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

Queerguru’s José Mayorga high;y recommends UÝRA – THE RISING FOREST about a trans-indigenous artist who travels through the Amazon forest. 

The Mother of the Forest and Emerson Pontes / Uýra Sodoma lead us through a fascinating narrative on nature and culture and how they have changed although some traditions prevail. Emerson is a nonbinary trans person, who lives in Manaus, Brazil. He is a descendant of indigenous women and miners, is a biologist, has a master´s degree in ecology, and as Uýra, is a performance artist with an intersected body.

We learn that Manaus wastes the most water in the country, a city with over 80% humidity, its inhabitant’s breath water, is not as clean and pure as it used to be, and since contamination is all around nowadays.  In a skillful art representation, we see in a dump, a living being agonizing,  maybe a serpent or an iguana or a person, it is Uýra´s performance.

 

 

 

 Boston's WQ: Docs 2022 Fest  will begin on 11/18 and end on 11/21 
To see the whole program and book tickets 
check out https://www.wickedqueer.org/festival/doc-fest-2022

 

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