The arrival of Labor Day for Queerguru means packing up our summer base in Provincetown on the tip of Massachusetts and head back down South to our winter base in Miami Beach.  It’s a five-day drive, but we do have the sheer joy of breaking that up by staying a while in Atlanta, Georgia, which has such a large and vibrant LGBTQ+ Community and one of the very best queer Film Fests in the US.   OUT ON FILM was established some 37 years ago,  and what started as a five-day festival has grown into an eleven-day celebration of LGBTQ stories and artists, including narrative features, documentaries, short films, and premieres.

Their mission is to provide a high-quality film festival that is diverse and inclusive, ensuring that all in our community are represented.  Some of the films that we show are meant merely for entertainment, but many others – especially the documentaries – are meant to educate and address timely issues such as discrimination and social justice, HIV/AIDS, religion, and marriage equality. 

In 2020 they became an Oscar® qualifying film festival, one of only two LGBTQ film festivals in the U.S. and one of only six LGBTQ film festivals in the world. This means that the film that wins their Jury Award for Best Drama Shorts is now eligible for consideration for the next year’s Academy Awards®.

Under director Jim Farmer‘s  leadership  they have won countless awards over the years, but what we think is possibly even more important than that to visitors like us,  is the sheer depth and warmth of their southern hopitality.  The toughest part of this Festival is always having to leave town when its over.

Anyway as is our custom here at QUEERGURU we tasked our team of reviewers to painstakingly gone through the whole program, and here is the result : QUEERGURU’S TOP PICKS OF MUST SEE MOVIES.

A NIGHT LIKE THIS :  It is the Christmas season in London, and warm comfort suits well in winter.  Yet gay actor  Lukas (Jack Brett Anderson) is standing by a bridge, and a suicide instinct is in the air. 

The film is a smart reflection on loneliness and the meaning of life by director Liam Calvert which takes hours of darkness for the two protagonists. They share their fears, insecurities, and show intimacy on the street and public places with Jack Kerouac´s quotes on meaning in between

Drive Back Home, written and directed by Michael Clowater, is a dour triumph. This character-driven road movie,starring Alan Cumming, painstakingly scrapes through layers of hurt and humanity. But it does it with a salty tenderness. The movie  is a low-key gem about resilience overcoming rejection, Its tale of homophobia is familiar yet made fresh through the characterisation. It feels like a small town story that earned the big screen.

Four Mothers, adapted from a a modern Italiann classic is heartwarming  bittersweet Irish comedy about Edward (James McArdle)  a YA author and gay man on the verge of major literary stardom.   But he has to take care of his widowed mum Alma ( the wonderful Fionnula Flanagan) who cannot speak after suffering a stroke.  And then to top it all his three gay male friends dump their elderly mums on him because they all want to head off for a dissolute Pride weekend abroad

As a long time Friend of Dorothy’s and a film buff to boot I had assumed I knew all there was to know about Dorothy Gale, but this intoxicating new documentary film by Jeffrey McHale that premiered at Tribeca Festival proved me so very wrong.  Judy Garland‘s portrayal in the 1939 classic Wizard of Oz film still makes her the iconic Dorothy of all time, but McHale doesnt just investigate the significance and deeper meaning of her role, but he also looks at all the subsequent interpretations of Frank Baum’s original book that was published in 1900.

What however is most signifcant about The Wizard of Oz is it is totally unlike another of Garland’s films A STAR IS BORN which was remade as is, another three times.  Every new take of Baum’s original story has been reimagined in modern times but still remains a wobderful tale of courage , inclusion and love.

I Was Born This Way : Through an engaging rotoscope animation, footage, vintage photographs, interviews with music legends such as Lady Gaga, Dionne Warwick, Estelle Brown, Questlove, Iris Gordy among others, starring Billy Porter and Carl Bean himself,  we learn about African American singer, activist and minister Bean and in the film we are driven through his life story and legacy.  In the decade of 1980 Carl Bean became an activist helping to deal with AIDS epidemic, and he founded  the Minority AIDS Project in LA, supporting African American men and/or burying  the dead.  His love and sense of unity materialized in him becoming a Minister and founding the  Unity Fellowship Church  “God is love and love is for everyone.”  It opened in Los Angeles in 1985, and was welcoming for lesbians, gays and bisexuals.

Decades later Lady Gaga  found inspiration in the song and made it her own Born This Way in 2011,  as we all know.

Before we let Fall start to settle in, we will need to do something to keep smiling as the summer fades. We think the new movie LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS could be the perfect antidote we need  In this animated movie introverted space princess Saira is devastated when she is unexpectedly dumped by her girlfriend Kiki for being needy. Deep in the depths of despair, Saira is thrown a lifeline when Kiki abruptly calls for help.  PS It won Best Picture Award at the Berlin Film Fest and also was voted Audience Favorite in  Sydney, Australia.

Outerlands. Elena Oxman’s compelling film is the the story of two hurt people who don’t believe they deserve any act of kindness that’s given to them. Through their unlikely relationship, they learn that everyone deserves to feel loved. Cass (Asia Kate Dillon) and their younger scene partner, Ari (Ridley Asha Bateman) give such gentle, grounded performances. Outerlands is a truly special piece of filmmaking that you really should not miss.

PLAINCLOTHES Top of our list this year of highly anticipated movies was this feature film debut of writer/director Carmen Emmi. His PLAINCLOTHES is a love story that turns into a thriller set in 1997 that reminds us of how our community was harassed and persecuted as some authorities still bore anger that homosexuality had been legalized. Starring Brit heartthrob Russell Tovey, the ‘love story’ part of Plain Clothes is both sad and sexy but it is impossible not to be totally captivated.  The sad part is that although this is set in the dark part of queer history, in this present uncertain political, it could very easily rear its ugly head again .  You may like to check out this interview Queerguru filmed with writer/director CARMEN EMMI

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