Film Fest Preview

9 Dead Gay Guys
"A dark comedy in the John Waters tradition, takes place in such a cartoonish, good natured universe it’s hard to imagine anyone taking offense." Variety. Riotously naughty, and un-PC, this is a madcap movie in which two "straight" Irish lads immerse themselves in London’s gay underworld and into a murder mystery. Asian-British director Lab Ky Mo’s feature debut is possibly the most offensive, and the funniest, film you’re likely to see this year.

The City of No Limits (En la ciudad sin limites)
Nominated for 5 GOYA Awards (Spanish Academy Awards) including Best Picture and winner of two (Best Supporting Actress, Geraldine Chaplin, as an icy matriarch, and Best Original Screenplay). Set in a Paris hospital, Victor follows the path of his father Max’s obsessions in this thoroughly engrossing thriller. A suspenseful and intelligently written exploration of family betrayal that builds to an emotionally powerful climax. Not totally "gay," but with a twist that makes it interesting for GLBT audiences.

Diary of a Male Porn Star
A stunning feature debut by Marco Filberti (who also stars in this film), combines one part high Italian melodrama, one part porn star expose, and mixes it up for a whole lot of fun. A documentary filmmaker researches legendary porn-star, Ricky Kandisky, who died under mysterious circumstances. The filmmaker locates Ricky’s strait-laced brother Frederico, who tells the story that unfolds of brothers slowly beginning to understand and appreciate one another. The film celebrates the joy of life, sexuality, and the understanding that people can be more than what they appear.

Gasoline (Benzina)
In a small, gas station/café in the Italian countryside, young Lenni is living a new life after rejecting her abusive bourgeois mother. She finds love with a tough sexy mechanic named Stella. Cir-cumstances lead to an explosive cat-and-mouse chase across the Italian countryside. Based on Elena Stancanelli’s popular novel, Gasoline is a thriller with fiery charm.

Goldfish Memory
"Intelligent feel-good dynamics. Mainly gay, mainly young, and mainly charming singles falling in and out of love with each other. Goldfish Memory manages to keep all its brightly colored balls in the air." Variety

According to one character’s pick-up line, people are not unlike goldfish that have a three-second memory and therefore are doomed to forever repeat their mistakes. This film is a light-hearted look at the dangers and delights of dating in contemporary Dublin. Goldfish Memory brings life to the saying, "what goes around, comes around"...and around...and around...

His Brother (Son Frere)
This is the story of two siblings, one gay, one straight, who become reacquainted as they grapple with the terminal illness of one of them who has chosen to await death in his childhood house. The film captures a nonchalance, a kind of emptiness, sluggishness, and renunciation under the summer heat. Still, this expected death is a most important event. It will bring about a cataclysm, throwing lives out of whack, without anyone being able to fight it. Award winner for Best Director, 2003 Berlinale.

Mambo Italiano
"Mambo Italiano comically explores the subtleties and complexities of a quintessential Italian family straddling the cultures, traditions, and mores of the old and new worlds." NewFest. Heralded as the gay Italian My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Emile Gaudreault’s delightful coming out farce is set in Montreal’s Little Italy. Angelo makes the unheard of decision to move out of his parents’ house. His romance with Nino, his childhood best friend turned ultra-hunky cop, is the ultimate secret kept from their tradition-bound families. Bright mambo rhythms, and an appropriately campy/tacky ‘70s look: Mambo Italiano is sure to rock your gondola.

The Nature of Nicholas
"A disturbing union of misfit childhood drama with metaphorical horror." Variety. This is a surreal fable that follows twelve-year-old Nicholas as he struggles with an obsessive attraction to his best friend, Bobby. Bobby reacts to an attempted kiss by undergoing a type of "splitting" where a ghoulish version of him is separated from his healthy self. Nicholas is immediately drawn to this gruesome Bobby, and begins to secretly take care of the creature. This film is about the purification of the individual, the self-consciousness of childhood sexuality as dictated by adults, and the dignity of any sexual orientation. This film caused the biggest stir at the summer reviews and created the best discussion of the summer. Come and see what you think.

Prey For Rock & Roll
Gina Gershon’s girl-rock pioneer Jacki is more than just cool, attracting members of both sexes. Her current band includes a talented and spunky lesbian guitarist, her lover and drummer extraordinaire and a drugged-out bassist with an abusive boyfriend. Can Jacki keep her band of misfits together long enough to get their big break, or is it time to hang up the guitar and retire? It is the universal tale of every rock band as they deal with internal struggle, the quest for success, and, most importantly, the transcendent power of music.

Secret Things (Choses Secretes)
"There’s plenty for both the eyes and the intellect to groove over in Secret Things, a taut, juicy, low-key feat of sexual and office politics filtered through helmer Jean-Claude Brisseau’s customary blend of expedient formality and all-stops-out baroque behavior." Variety. In this sexy melodrama, two gorgeous women travel down the path of social and financial success encountering a few kinky bumps in the road. This deliciously torrid guilty pleasure takes an erotic look at two women’s single-minded pursuit of success. Hopeless romantics and prudish viewers are advised to pass on this one! The rest of us will find it impossible to resist. Not a "lesbian film" in the strict sense of the word, but adventurous gals may be happy they chose this one.

Shake It All About (En Kort En Lang)
Can a happy gay couple survive one partner’s dip into the pool of romantic and sexual confusion? Find out in this delightful Danish dramedy! Jacob and Jørgen are in love and to be married. But the sleeping dragon of bisexuality is roused when Jacob begins an affair with Jørgen’s married sister-in-law. In a soap opera a twist, they are caught, and Jørgen, fleeing in sorrow/rage, gets into an automobile accident. Clearly, love can make life as grim as it can gorgeous. The solution comes quite unexpectedly in an unabashedly romantic gay finale.

Tipping The Velvet
A film version of the acclaimed novel by Sarah Waters. Set in Victorian England in the 1890s, Tipping the Velvet is a colorful, gutsy, and passionate, erotic, gender-bending love story about Nan Astley, an oyster girl from Whitstable who is drawn into a luxurious world populated by predatory lesbian socialites seeking debauchery, and spectacle.

Two Tales of Men in Love: Kiki & Tiger
Tiger is a German-bred Serb. His closest friend is Kosovo Albanian Kiki, who’s in the country illegally. Not only do they have to deal with the distrust and loathing between their compatriots, but Kiki doesn’t seem to notice just how much Tiger feels for him.

Yossi & Jagger
Based on a true story, this moving feature by Eytan Fox, offers a gripping, emotional story of Yossi and Jagger, two young Israeli army officers stationed on a remote outpost in Lebanon. A fateful, late-night ambush, leads them to a cataclysmic climax. Yossi & Jagger insightfully depicts courage of different stripes.

Yes Nurse, No Nurse (Ja Zuster, Nee Zuster)
"The 1960s-retro set design and choreography give the tradition of the great Hollywood musicals a camp, contemporary twist. There are shades of Jean Paul Gaultier in the gay chic design and costumes, and the pink screen splits and tinted postcard tableaux." Screen International. A strutting bleached-blonde burglar with a bubble butt, who sings to his pet pigeons, just comes with the territory at Nurse Klivia’s Rest Home, where the residents aren’t necessarily old—they’re just a little different.

10% Shorts: The Best Gay and Lesbian Shorts
Odd little ditties and quirky stories coexist alongside some powerful, thought provoking films. Kiss and Tell asks the age old question. Have you ever kissed a girl? You will find the answers quite amusing. Masturbation: Putting the Fun into Self-Loving. If only the educational films of the 50’s (which this modeled after) were as informative. Give or Take an Inch. A family of queer brothers and sisters face the question of what is "normal"? Seventy tells the tale of two life-long friends who share the same birthday. Today, on their seventieth birthday, they have a most interesting gift exchange. Starcrossed. To woo her horoscope obsessed co- worker, Sophie secretly takes a job as an astrologer. Bobbycrush. A dreamlike gem, Bobby, who has an unrequited crush on Dylan, lives in a world where almost anything can happen. D.E.B.S. A troupe of siren-like schoolgirls is trained to be dangerous action heroes, but one of the girls is hiding a secret. Fairies follows Timothy, who is constantly teased for being different than the rest of his classmates. With the help of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an inspiring teacher, a vivid musical dream and tons of glitter—he finds a way to fit in.

Shock It To Me Cinema
is chock full of zany films that would be of interest to GLBT audiences that enjoy stepping outside of the "normal" festival film experience. Evil is a horror film that was filmed by a local director and shot in Ellendale, Delaware, and has a main character who is gay. Craze stars Jack Palance as a bi-sexual antiques dealer who believes human sacrifices to an African Idol is the reason for his good fortune. The shorts program 25 New Faces in Independent Film contain the shorts Terminal Bar and Stranged and Charmed. Both have plots heavy with GLBT themes. Finally Steven’s Sin and its Mormon love story with a gay angle will be part of Around the World Shorts.

The festival will open November 5th with a one-time only screening of the multi-award winning Winged Migration at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. Open Bar and complimentary popcorn are included in addition to opening night ceremonies. Closing night will be November 9 at 8:30 in The Big Tent where the Audience Awards will be announced. For further information check out the festival website at www.rehobothfilm.com or call 302-645-9095. HAPPY FESTIVAL!