Chicago’s REELING FILM FESTIVAL is the second longest runnug LGBTQ film festval of its kind , and is a major cultural draw for people all over the Midwest. With its 37th Edition just about to start, we have scanned our way through the very exciting and diverse program that covers so much of the LGBTQ spectrum. Here then are Queerguru’s TOP PICKS (in alphabetical order) that we think will leave you reeling
Bittersweet Waters: being in love and being true to oneself in rural Mexico. Chicago based JESÚS CANCHOLA SÁNCHEZ’S hauntingly beautiful film is one of the most impressive LGBTQ feature film debuts we have seen in a very long time.. Most of the credit goes to Sánchez who not only wrote and directed it, but he also produced and starred in it too. As the title hints, this is a bittersweet love story of two gay men who live in a tiny village in the Mexican countryside. It’s the kind of place where everyone not only knows your name, but also insists of having a nose in your business too. So being openly gay in this traditional and conservative backwater is not an option.
The two men have such a perfect chemistry with each other that makes their passion and their commitment to each other so very real indeed. This is after all neither a gay story, or an anti-straight story, it is simply a beautiful told love story that so deserves to have a happy ever after ending.
Cubby: how a closeted Midwesterner lied his way inti a new life in NY. This is a rather bizarre coming-of-age comic drama that demands your patience watching it as it is not the easiest of films to relate too. It’s the feature film debut of its creator/director/producer and star MARK BLANE, who plays immature 26-year-old Mark, and it starts as he is driving with his mother cross-country to start a new life in New York. It definitely stretches one’s patience on more than one occasion. However the joy (!) of being a film critic is that we are required to see the whole movie to the very last frame, and in this case, it turns out to be a blessing as the ending was one of the best parts.
Darkroom : Drops of Death : the story of a gay serial killer : This is the latest movie fro, veteran filmmaker ROSA VON PRAUNHEIM who is also Germany’s most famous gay activist It is a very gripping drama loosely adapted on one of the most notorious gay serial killers whose story played out in the German media for several months when it broke a few years ago. It’s a taut tight thriller that in von Praunheim’s experienced hands avoids any sensationalising of the crimes but at the same time also has you completely engaged to the very last frame.
From Zero To I Love You : For his sophomore feature film as a writer/director DOUG SPEARMAN reunites with DARYL STEPHENS who not only starred in his HOT GUYS WITH GUNS debut, but who was also a co-cast member of the groundbreaking NOAHS ARC TV SERIES. Stephens plays Pete a successful copywriter in Philadelphia who has a penchant for dating men who happen to be married to women. His latest amour is Jack Dickinson (SCOTT BAILEY) who has all the trappings of a successful marriage with a big house in the country, an art gallery-owning wife (KEILI LEFKOVITZ) , and two adorable children but he still cannot drag himself away from the occasional visit to a gay bar to look for a man.
The fact that this thoroughly entertaining movie is so compelling owes a great deal to the chemistry of the talented lead actors who actually sizzle together in their performances on the screen. It is also the positivity that Spearman packs into his story that makes this movie a sheer joy to watch
Leonard Soloway”s Broadway : the story of a theatrical legend that we have never heard of. This very affectionate profile is of a disarmingly charming octogenarian Broadway legend that no-one outside of the theater world has ever heard of. Including us. This better-late-than-ever documentary on LEONARD SOLOWAY the producer/general manager of over 100 shows that garnered over 40 Tony Awards and 60 Tony Nominations is a sheer delight from the opening credits to the final scenes. There are no show business exposes or in fact much fine detail on Soloway’s personal life, but what we do get is a look at one of the old fashioned gentleman producers that epitomises a golden age that has long past.
Broadway producer MANNY AZENBERG jokes “If you get to a certain age and you are still coherent, then you should a documentary on them” but if anyone deserves for his story to be shared, then it’s definitely Leonard Soloway, the like of which we will never see again
SELL BY : or how to keep a relationship together. Money, or rather the inequality of it between two partners in a relationship can so often be a dealbreaker. Especially in a relationship where the passion has waned and where minor differences now seem like major obstacles, which when left untendered start to create insurmountable problems .
This feature film writing/directing debut from out gay actor MIKE DOYLE is an intriguing contemporary take on the pitfalls of a securing a romantic urban relationship where financial success is still considered a major factor. The fact that the two main protagonists are gay is really not that an issue. as the ‘closet’ that Adam has to come out if is one of self-acceptance. With the talented ensemble cast giving pitch perfect performances under Doyle’s gentle guiding hand, this makes for a thoroughly entertaining romantic comedy
The Blonde One : a sensual romance from gay Argentinian auteur Marco Berger. When Juan’s brother moves out of his apartment in a Buenos Aires suburb he must find a roommate to replace him. He settles for Gabriel …… who he dubs the Blonde One ….. who is a colleague at the Woodworking shop where they are both employed. The two men couldn’t be more different as Juan is quite a party animal always filling the apartment with his drinking buddies and a whole stream of girls who end up in his bed. Gabo (as he is called) is quiet and subdued and seemingly friendless and the only highlight is life is going to his family home where his parents are bringing up his young daughter
Argentinian Gay auteur Berger with a string of very successful moves to his name again shows his remarkable talent for sheer homoeroticism but also the skillful way he allows this sensual and touching relationship to unfold at such a gentle place. Thanks also to his two lead actors compelling and very touching performances we get totally immersed in their relationship even though there is always the uncertainty it will not survive when its discovered by the outside.
The Garden Left Behind This new and completely mesmerising movie from queer Latinx filmmaker FLAVIO ALVES makes such a crucial contribution to the continuing dialogue on the transgender community. This story that traces the relationship between Tina (CARLIE GUEVARA) a young, Latina, trans woman and Eliana (MIRIAM CRUZ) her grandmother, as they navigate Tina’s transition and struggle brings home the stark reality of trying to build a life as undocumented immigrants in New York City.Alves co-wrote the story with JOHN ROTONDO and to make it even more authentic, in a groundbreaking move, he involved 50 transgender actors and filmmakers in the process.
The Shiny Shrimps : The best thing in speedos between here and Mykonos. The Shiny Shrimps, so named because the tail is the best part of the shrimp to eat and everything shiny is just better, are a failing and not fabulous group of French swimming misfits. Despite reservations about pink washing they jump at the chance to have rugged Olympic athlete Matthias Le Goff (NICOLAS GOB) as their coach. Straight Le Goff, on the edge of retirement, is reluctantly trying to redeem himself after a homophobic rant at a pushy interviewer ostracizes him from the French national swim team.
The cast are great. The humanity of their emotions, the comic touch and the simplicity of the script means that reading the subtitles is effortless.
SEPTEMBER 19-29, 2019
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