We were going to list our Top Ten Picks at MiFo’s forthcoming Fort Lauderdale Festival, but the programmers have excelled themselves this time around and we cannot whittle it down to less than 12 ‘must see ‘ films. (And no, it doesn’t include James Franco’s latest gay role in King Cobra which had us yawning in parts …..).
1) Paris O5 : 59 Theo & Hugo It is somewhat of a totally unexpected revelation when the explicit sex that lasts a full 20 minutes at the start of this extraordinarily wonderful new French queer movie, and surprisingly then turns into this rather tender and delightful tale of love-at-first-sight between these two cute young guys. This remarkably fresh and completely enchanting film deservedly picked an Audience Favorite Teddy Award at the prestigious Berlinale Film Festival.
2) Strike A Pose : When Madonna embarked on her iconic Blond Ambition World Tour she recruited seven amazing male dancers who were masters of the hot new trend of voguing. They formed a tight-knit clique with her recognizing that for them this was the biggest career break of their young lives, but they in turn were adding this whole layer of incredible sexiness and street credibility that helped take Madonna’s performance up to a whole new level. Now 25 years later they look back on this time and how their lives have turned out since.
3) Political Animals : is one of the best LGBT documentaries of 2016 and tells the remarkable story of four extraordinary women who were the very first openly gay legislators in California. These brave pioneers had to contend with fierce and hostile opposition that often got very personal and nasty, but nevertheless managed to author Bills that started to change the lives of LGBT people and our community at large. It’s a compelling story that not just details an important part of recent LGBT history, but reminds us how so very indebted we are so are to these phenomenal and selfless visionary women.
4) Being 17 : Veteran French filmmaker André Téchiné may be the wrong side of 70 now but he shows in his latest movie that he still has a very firm grasp of the sensibilities of teenage boys coming of age. This is the story of two strikingly different high-school boys living in the French Pyrenees. They are both young men of few words and although they have a problem discussing how they feel, there is obviously a great deal of sexual tension just lying beneath the surface. Hate in this case, covers love, and when Damien eventually finds the courage to speak up, he tells Tom “I don’t know if I am into guys, or just you”. Being 17 is nothing less than a superb coming-of-age story that is completely riveting to the very last frame.
5) Tomcat : This shocking and rather provocative movie from Austrian actor turned director Klaus Händl deservedly won the prestigious Teddy Award for Best LGBT Feature Film at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. When the movie opens life seems positively picture-book perfect for a couple, and Stefan (Lukas Turtur) is a french horn player in the orchestra that his partner Andreas (Philipp Hochmair) manages. Even when not having sex, the pair are an extremely tactile couple and seem to spend most of their time hanging out the house completely naked. However all this blissful happiness abruptly ends one day when Stefan has an uncharacteristic sudden outburst of violent anger with very grave consequences, which leads to a totally appalled and confused Andreas just shutting Stefan out of his life for all intents and purposes. Be warned the violence is particularly upsetting, and you will need a strong will to get beyond it.
6) Lazy Eye : In Tim Kirkman’s new riveting heart-tugging drama 40 year old Dean’s slightly stagnated life is thrown a curve ball when totally out of the blue he receives an email from Alex the man who broke his heart when he walked out 15 years ago and totally disappeared. Dean is very intrigued as Alex was the biggest love of his life, and even though he has moved on, he just cannot help but think how his life may have turned out if he had stayed. He just has to find out.
7) Retake : For his feature film debut Nick Corporon chose to co-write and direct a road movie with a difference. True having a lonely middle-aged gay man pay for the services of a young hustler to accompany him is hardly new, but the journey they undertake together makes this intriguing resourceful wee drama a very suspenseful edgy thriller.
8) Real Boy : Any documentary that makes a contribution to the continuing transgender dialogue is important, but when it is as poignant and compelling as ‘Real Boy’, then it can play a significant role in nurturing more understanding and acceptance both within the community and society at large. Queer filmmaker Shaleece Haas‘s subject is a disarmingly charming young teenage musician Bennett Wallace who she starts following when he takes his very first steps of beginning to take testosterone. His is a warm, wonderful uplifting story and so full of hope, and is about transitioning in a way that anyone could relate too.
9) Summertime : Set in 1971 this is the story of a closeted French farm girl going to Paris and falling in love with a ‘fast’ city girl. Directed and co-written by filmmaker Catherine Corsini this rather splendid romantic tear-jerker benefits from the performance of the very enigmatic Cecile De France who is also exceptionally beautifully which is a very big asset in a movie which has far more than its fair share of very explicit nudity .
10) Forbidden : Undocumented & Queer in Rural America : Openly gay Moises Serrano is 24 years old. He has lived in North Carolina for the past 22 1/2 years and is as American as apple pie. Except that he is not. His parents smuggled him and his two sisters across the Mexican border when he was just a baby, and he has been treated by the US Authorities as an undocumented resident ever since. Moises, at a great personal risk, helped establish El Cambio, an organization committed to immigrant and migrant rights in North Carolina. Then there was no stopping him in as he found himself giving keynote speeches in schools, to community groups, local business leaders, city councils etc etc. Forbidden is one of those wonderful feel-good movies that makes you appreciate that as long as there are Moises Serrano’s in the world, there is hope for all of us.
11) AWOL : the only chance that Joey (Lola Kirke) has of improving her life choices is by enlisting in the Army. They at least will not only let her see the world but also fund her entry into college too. She is a recent high school graduate in a economically depressed small Pennsylvania town, and with jobs extremely scarce, she gets low-paying work with a dairy farmer looking after his herd of cattle and helping out at his ice cream stand. Then one night she gets picked up by Rayna (Breeda Wool) an attractive and flirtatious woman who is probably twice her age, and her life is never quite the same again.
12) Fair Haven : 19 year old James’s (Michael Grant) reward for his long stint at a gay conversion therapy course run by religious zealots is to greeted by his father (Tom Wopat) who forced him to go there in the first place, and is told that all his college fund money has gone. All that remains is a dead end farm job and an ex-boyfriend he is trying to resist, but a couple of awkward dates with the Pastor’s daughter soon makes him re-think his life. This well-meaning movie from newbie director Kerstin Karlhuber is an interesting take on the whole conversion therapy subject, although asides from a few flashbacks, the focus here is not on the treatment itself but of its effects afterwards.
For full reviews of all these movies (and most other LGBT films) check out https:// queerguru.com.
For further information on the Festival and to book tickets http://mifofilm.com/
MiFo Fort Lauderdale OCTOBER 7th – 16th 2016
Labels: 2016, culture, film festival, Top Picks
