REEL AFFIRMATIONS:
Washington D.C.’s International LGBTQ Film has a Monthly Film Series called Reel Affirmations XTRA. It keeps LGBTQ images and lifestories on the foreground of the Arts and Culture scene in Washington DC BUT as an online event the movies can be viewed GLOBALLY. Currently on offer to view are two films : Irving Park and Breaking Fast
If we are queer then we are under no obligation to ape a conventional heteronormative lifestyle even if the vast majority chose to do. The documentary IRVING PARK by Greek filmmaker Panagiotis Evangelidis (Xenia) is the story of four gay men in their 60s who live together in Chicago, exploring an unconventional lifestyle of master/slave relationships. A family based on free choice and the consent to lose one’s personal freedom in favor of the desire of the Other. It’s quite an eyeopener.
Writer/director MIKE MOSALLAM’S debut feature, the enchanting BREAKING FAST, is part queer romantic comedy and part tutorial on the ups and downs of being a gay Arab Muslim living and dating in West Hollywood. Somehow the two are a good fit, so it makes us feel good that love (eventually) conquers all and we’ve learnt something new too
Mosallam said that his intention was to tell a story that speaks to the nuances of daily life and treats identity: religious, sexual, gender and otherwise, as harmonious lenses by which individuals interact with the world. He did that and make them fall in love too.
Irving Park screens 6/19 and Breaking Fast 6/25
:for all the details on how to view :https://thedccenter.org/reelaffirmations/