Last, but by no means least, in queerguru’s pick of LGBT movies for 2015, here is part four : the very best lesbian films of the year seen through the eyes of a queer man.
1) A Girl At My Door : This rather wonderful introspective psychological thriller unfolds at very measured pace with a pitch-perfect nuanced performance as Yeong-nam by Doona Bae (better known to us for ‘Cloud Atlas’ and ‘Sense8’). It is an inspired first feature from Korean writer/director July Jung who is fearless in tackling many social issues that seem even more catastrophic in such a small close knit community like this, but she does so in a restrained and well-thought out manner and is careful not to just let it all simply lapse into melodrama. It’s an extremely impressive debut from a country that rarely tackles story lines where the protagonist is LGBT, and deservedly so she picked up three nominations for her efforts when the movie premiered at Cannes Film Festival including one for a coveted Queer Palm Award.
2) Liz In September : This rather wonderful drama set on a glorious Venezuelan beach has the remarkable advantage of having the beautiful Patricia Velasquez (best known for ‘The Mummy’ movies and ‘The L Word’ on TV) as it’s rather stunning star. As Liz the womanizer and good-time girl, she is cool and somewhat serene, and it is immensely rewarding watching her transition to someone who is so surprised and delighted to have fallen in love like this. Her crucial central perfect performance acts as an anchor for this wonderful ensemble of women who fill the screen so delightfully. Even with the inevitably sad ending, the journey to reach that point is such a rich and joyous one.
3). Tig : It’s not unusual for comedians to use their stand up routines as a substitute for a session with their therapists as they use their audience to unburden all their woes too. Tig Notaro however went much further than most when she went on stage to do her usual act one night in the Largo Club in L.A. and she simply blurted out to the somewhat startled packed crowd ‘I have cancer!’ What followed in the next hour was one unprecedented remarkable set where Tig brought everyone up to date with her extraordinary turn of events. This is heartbreaking documentary of her roller-coaster life in the following year which had to get a great deal worse before it could even start to get better. But it does and you can eventually put your Kleenexes away.
4) All About E : is an intriguing Australian lesbian movie that ticks a lot of boxes as it is an energetic crime-caper road movie with a beautiful exotic looking heroine with a very romantic streak that has some very sensual girl-on-girl action. This impressive first feature film from writer/director Louise Wadley which packs a lot in, plays really well mainly due to convincing performances of the two female leads Mandahla Rose and Julia Billington who really sizzle together particular in their scenes of intimacy which is a marked highlight of the story.
5) The Summer of Sangaile : This second feature from Lithuanian filmmaker Alanté Kavaïté is achingly beautiful with it’s lush country landscapes which seems the perfect setting for this gentle coming-of-age story. She captures the sheer innocence of these two young girls who although they come from different sides of the tracks and have opposing personalities, still seem a perfect match. The graphic scenes of intimacy between the two of them have elicited some ill-founded comparisons with the very explicit ‘Blue is the Warmest Color’. The Summer of Sangaile is much more innocent on so any levels, and all the better for it too.
6) Portrait of A Serial Monogamist : There is nothing more sadistically funny than watching the opening scenes of a movie witnessing the protagonist dumping her girlfriend of five years. She is just the last new recruit into the ever expanding group of ‘exes’ that Elsie has managed to accumulate over the years. This rather delightful dramady written and directed by newbie filmmakers Christina Zeidler and John Mitchell has more than its fair share of comedy thanks mainly to a spirited performance by Diane Flacks as the complex and confused Elsie. She is charming and quick-witted enough to (almost) get away with her rather shabby treatment of other people in her life with her funny barbed comments made straight to camera.
7) Of Girls and Horses : Everyone, including the horses, gets ‘found” in this very gentle lyrical coming-of-age tale which is quite a change from German filmmaker Monika Treut who usually opts for much tougher topics for her movies. The pace is slow and unhurried leaving time to soak up the both the rather wonderful countryside, but also the young girl’s awakening when they both discover what seems to have been the missing element in both their lives so far. First class performances from both young leads Ceci Schmitz-Chuh and Alissa Wilms. The horses were pretty good too.
8) A Gay Girl in Damascus : The Amina Profile : Sandra Bagaria a French Canadian Jewish girl from Montreal went online looking for love. She thinks she truck gold when she hooked up with a Syrian/American lesbian called Amina who is currently living in Damascus. What follows in this fascinating documentary is an extraordinary true tale of deception that went way beyond the usual ‘enhancing’ of one’s online profile to snag a partner, into something that had serious and somewhat scary political connotations and so much more.
