A Gay Friendly Guide to the 2009 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival
Gay Parents, Gay Musicals--Even Zombies!
It must be film festival time again. The selection of films for the 12th anniversary of the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival is finalized. This year, like past years, the offerings are very diverse and include comedies, dramas, musicals, and as previously mentioned, even a Zombie flick.
While this article will highlight the LGBT films, it is important to mention that this years Country Spotlight: Japan sidebar includes the 2009 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, Departures, as well as the Best Animated Short La Maison en Petits Cubes, which is part of the Animated Shorts Program. Speaking of animation, the second sidebar offers a variety of animated films that are sure to enlighten as well as entertain. The Regional Showcase will once again highlight films and filmmakers that are working in or making films about the region, this year including some films with LGBT interest.
What follows are descriptions of those films that are of interest to LGBT audiences enjoy!
FEATURES
And Then Came Lola: Time is running out, and Lola has only one chance to salvage a job and save her relationship with new girlfriend, Casey. Wait, make it three chances. With the fast-paced, colorful, fragmented style of the epic German film Run Lola Run, this time-bending tale chronicles the tempestuous journey of a commitment-phobic photographer, Lola. Typically immune to the lesbian ways of the U-Haul, Lola discovers that she might have finally found someone worth slowing down for. But not now. Now Lola is late. Lola has to run! Navigating San Francisco like a treacherous video game, Lola has mere minutes to tame the domineering meter maid, avoid the canine-wielding park chick, grab the photos, sidestep the ex, and deliver the proofs to the bar where girlfriend Casey is meeting with a prospective client (and her ex), the euro-hottie Danielle. Thrust on a relationship crash course, Lola grows ever more determined to deliver, and claim her girlfriend from the potential rival. Lola sprints, bikes, hitches rides, and flirts her way through the streets and back rooms of San Francisco. With an exhilarating climax and pumping pop/rock lesbian soundtrack, And Then Came Lola is the fun-filled lesbian rom-com of 2009.
Baby Love (Comme les autres): This highly romantic comedy-drama explores one mans insistent need to become a father and its toll on his relationships. French style and wit permeate this wonderful tale of gay parenting in which pediatrician Manu yearns for a child of his own, but his partner Philippe will have nothing to do with it, content in his child-free life. But despite Philippes objections, Manu attempts to adopt a child. In a country where same-sex civil unions are legal but gay marriage and adoption are not, the agency turns down Manus request to adopt. When Philippe finds out that Manu acted behind his back, they separate. Unconcerned about anything but finding a woman to act as a surrogate and provide him with a child, Manu seeks the attention of Fina, an illegal Argentine, eventually marrying her for the benefit of each. As their life together begins to assume the domesticity of a traditional married couple, complications surrounding the prospect of having a child arise, causing Manu to rely on Philippes assistance. This once-comedic story turns decidedly dramatic as emotions surge and relationships are tested.
The Big Gay Musical: Paul and Eddie have just begun previews for the new Off-Broadway musical Adam & Steve: Just the Way God Made Em. Their lives strangely mirror the characters they are playing; Paul is looking for the perfect man and Eddie is dealing with how his sexuality and faith can mix. After yet another disastrous dating experience, Paul has an epiphany. He is done dating and just wants to be a slut like the sexy chorus boys that share his dressing room. Eddie has to tell his parents that hes gay and is starring in a show that calls the Bible the Breeders Informational Book of Living Examples. Eddie comes out to his family and Paul goes on the internet. Eddies parents are destroyed by the news and Paul cant even have a good one-night stand. But after musical numbers with scantly-clad tap dancing angels, a retelling of Genesis, tele-evangelists, a camp that attempts to turn gay kids straight, and a bunch of show tunes, everyone realizes that life gets better once they accept who they really are: just the way God made em!
The Fish Child (El Nino Pez): Unassuming and pretty Lala (Ins Efron), a teenager from the most exclusive suburban neighborhood in Buenos Aires, is madly in love with Guayi (Mariela Vitale), her family's gorgeous 20-year-old Paraguayan maid. The two dream of living together in Paraguay and begin to steal and sell all they can get their hands on to fund their escape. But when their risky plan goes terribly wrong, Guayi disappears and is taken into custody for a crime she did not commit. Desperate, Lala will stop at nothing to be with Guayi again even if it means unraveling the secrets of her dark, hidden past. Likened to a bold Argentine Thelma and Louise, Luca Puenzos follow-up to her multiple award-winning XXY wraps a passionate love story in the arms of a pulsating thriller. Puenzo adapts her own novel of the same name with precision, beautifully aligning the content with its new form. This compelling, gritty, and involved love story is ambitious work and asserts Puenzo as a rising talent. The sultry Efron and Vitale supply fully charged performances, giving The Fish Child a unique power and depth.
Fruit Fly: Composer and co-star of the indie hit Colma: The Musical, H.P. Mendoza returns with his directorial debut, Fruit Fly, an hysterical new musical about finding yourself and finding your (chosen) family. Fruit Fly tells the story of Bethesda, a Filipina performance artist searching for her identity and struggling to establish her career. Upon arriving in San Francisco, Bethesda moves into an artist commune and quickly befriends the eclectic group of gay, lesbian, and straight housemates who have made a sort of rag-tag family there. In the musical tradition and to hilarious effect the characters reflect on their lives, speak their minds and open their hearts through the films 19 original songs (Fag Hag, Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay and We Are the Hags, just to name a few) and ranging from synthesized pop and modernized go-go/surf rock to traditional-musical waltz, power ballads, and classic rock all composed by Mendoza. Pop to its core, and more fun than you can shake a stick at, Fruit Fly is a fun, frolicking and sparkly (of course) musical love letter to San Francisco, or whatever place you call home. Hannah Free (5)Starring Sharon Gless (Queer as Folk, Cagney & Lacey) in a tremendous performance, Hannah Free tells the story of a decades-long love affair between Hannah an adventurous, butch lesbian with gruff charm and Rachel, a pristine, married homemaker with a religious upbringing. Set in a present day nursing home, Hannah is forbidden from seeing the Rachel, due to her not being family. Through a series of flashbacks and past incarnations that Hannah imagines in her old age, the viewer is treated to the passionate beginnings of their relationship, which was both tumultuous and enduring. Hannah manages to convey the introspection that comes with age, while still being spunky and sharp. Though Hannah is out and unashamed while Rachel is much more reserved, both characters are revealed to be courageous in entirely different ways. The film easily questions matters of same-sex partners rights, the definition of family, and the difficulties surrounding seeing your loved ones become old and fragile. Together from childhood, Rachel and Hannah's relationship is multi-layered and poignant sometimes an entire lifetime isn't long enough to be with the person you love.
Out of the Blue (La Surprise): The French have a knack for doing melodrama well, a fact evident in Out of the Blue. The film perfectly captures the exhaustion and exhilaration of true love, adds a healthy dose of reality and just a dollop of good old fashioned French sensibility. Marion is an attractive middle-aged mother and wife who makes the bold move of leaving her unappreciative jerk of a husband and starting over in a search for the unknown element that was previously missing from her life. Independent but terrified, Marion's world changes quickly when she encounters a beautiful dancer who makes her feel alive for the first time and a casual friendship starts to look much more serious, much to the dismay of not only the husband, but her daughter as well. Skillfully acted and beautifully filmed, Out of the Blue is an endearing inspiration to anyone looking to start over.
Patrik Age 1.5: Director Ella Lemhagen's dramatic comedy, hinges on a bureaucratic blunder. After facing much discrimination in their quest to adopt a child, Swedish gay couple Goran and Sven finally appear to be cleared to take possession of an 18-month-old boy named Patrik. However, due to a misplaced punctuation mark, the 1.5-year-old turns out to be 15-and a homophobe with a violent criminal record to boot. This sitcom-like plot point is transformed in Lemhagen's hands into an intelligent rumination on tolerance and gradual understanding in a country that has been surprisingly slow to accept the idea of same-sex couples adoption. Initially, all involved are displeased about the situation, especially Sven, who has also had his share of youthful run-ins with the law and knows the violence Patrik is capable of unleashing. The couple eventually coax positive qualities out of Patrik that go deeper than the teens initial disgust about having to live with homos. With strong performances by all involved, Patrik Age 1.5 is a sensitive, quietly funny, and surprisingly affecting take on the theme of a same-sex couples raising an adopted child.
To Faro (Mein Freund aus Faro): Melanie met Jenny and fell in love. But Jenny thinks Melanie is Miguel. Sounds strange? Melanie lives with her father, her older brother Knut and his girlfriend Viki and works in a food-packing plant. She looks, dresses and acts like a boy, and people frequently take her for one, like the slightly younger Jenny, who falls in love with her. At the same time, Melanie is faking a relationship for her family's sake with a colleague, a Portuguese man named Nuno. This tale of the obliquity (sexual and otherwise) of adolescence is a tender and beautiful film about youth, and the sadness, loneliness and confusion that go with it. Its heroine is an odd but charismatic character who has yet to fully resolve her sexuality and gender. The tender magic and the atmosphere of mystery and expectation so typical of the protagonists age make for a powerful cinematic experience reminiscent of the dilemma faced by the protagonists of Boys Don't Cry but without the tragic and violent conclusion.
Zombies of Mass Destruction: An idyllic island town is under attack by that most invasive of pests: zombies! Port Gamble is being overrun with brain-eaters, and the people seem powerless to stave them off. But wait, a rag-tag band of rebels is trying to turn the tide and push the invading hoards of undead back. It sounds familiar, sure, but this time stereotypes are on parade (and parody) in a retake on the zom-com (zombie comedy) thriller. We have the full complement of cinematic shorthand, including the closeted small town boy who has gone to the city and returns with his pushy boyfriend in tow; the angry, hard-working, heavy-accented, immigrant from a Muslim country who is overprotective of his beautiful daughter; the hippie peacenik environmentalist; the fire and brimstone reverend who hates everything youd expect him to, and many more. Enter the zombies. Gore abounds (really abounds) and the current events-based hits keep coming. There is a send up of every zombie movie cliche and no subculture escapes unscathed. Zombies of Mass Destruction is a political zomedy that is a treat for all fans of FUNGORIA (fun and gore).
DOCUMENTARIES
Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement: Through the lens of documentarians Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir comes the true tale of two stunning, smart, vivacious women, whose endearing love story unfolds amid the historical backdrop of the Stonewall riots in the 1960(s) and continues over 43 years, including the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, and the emergence of the Marriage Equality Movement. Engaged not only in their personal relationship, but in the larger social, civil and legal recognition of love, Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer share their journey of possibilities and of actualized dreams...of hope and of change...that will inspire and challenge all who view the film to look within their own hearts and likewise raise their voices for equality. Through still images, interviews, and live action, the story of Edie and Thea, demonstrates the best of the human heart, and reminds each of us to embrace who we are and what we have and to make the most of it. The film is more than a story about two people; it is the story of life and commitment, of humanity and equality. Plays with: Downstream (Im Fluss): For decades, two 70-year-old Swiss ladies have been walking along with each other. In summertime, their daily ritual is to swim down the river that flows through their home town. As the current carries them down the river, they meditate on friendship, love and becoming older.
Off and Running: Avery is a typical Brooklyn teen living in an atypical, United Nations-style melting pot. Her adoptive parents are white Jewish lesbians, her younger brother is Korean, her older brother is mixed-race, and she is black. Though her family is loving, she cant quite quell her curiosity about her biological African-American roots. The decision to contact her birth mother sparks a complicated exploration of race and identity. As Averys self-awareness increases, the question of racial identity takes center-stage. The more she searches for answers about her biological family, the more emotionally charged and distant from her current family she becomes. She maintains her position on the school track team, but drops out of high school and eventually leaves home. Averys constant displacement whether it was at her Jewish elementary school, or among black friends, or even at home informs her very difficult journey, objectively documented by director Nicole Opper. Most impressive is Opper's poised camera, able to capture honest and articulate conversations between Avery and her incredibly attentive brother Rafi. Off and Running is a unique and very American coming-of-age story that delves into the psyche of race through a fresh and careful dissection of a family's struggle.
Prodigal Sons: Filmmaker Kimberly Reed dives headfirst into an unflinching portrait of her family that is absolutely engrossing and marks her coming-out, in more ways than one. Returning home to a small town in Montana for her high school reunion, Reed hopes for reconciliation with her long-estranged adopted brother. But along the way Prodigal Sons uncovers stunning revelations, including a blood relationship with Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, intense sibling rivalries and unforeseeable twists of plot and gender. Reeds rare access delicately reveals not only the family's most private moments, but also an epic scope as the film travels from Montana to Croatia, from jail cell to football field, from deaths to births. Reeds compassionate vrite style of film making captures the lives of her family in such an organic way that their exceptional and challenging stories puncture the surface of our expectations. Questions of sexual orientation, identity, severe trauma and family love are effortlessly explored as the subjects freely open up their lives to the camera. Raw, emotional and provocative, Prodigal Sons offers a moving, illuminating examination of one family's struggle to come to terms with its past and present. Its sure to open both your mind and your heart.
Training Rules and Claiming the Title: Gay Olympics on Trial: Social justice issues have long been the mainstay of ethnic and religious minorities, but LGBT groups and individuals are not without their examples. In these two amazing documentaries we examine the way courts have looked upon this community through different, yet somewhat similar, battles with discrimination.
Training Rules: Rene Portland had three well-known public rules during her 26 years coaching basketball at Pennsylvania State University no drinking, no drugs and no lesbians. Training Rules examines how a wealthy athletic department, enabled by the silence of a complacent university, allowed talented athletes, thought to be gay, to be dismissed from their college team. The film follows the lawsuit filed in 2006 against Portland and Penn State by student athlete Jennifer Harris. This high-profile case ignited the world of womens collegiate sports. It inspired the discussions so sorely needed to end discrimination based on sexual orientation that pervades all organized sport. Plays with: Claiming the Title: Gay Olympics on Trial which explores the additional homophobic hurdle on the already arduous road to athletic excellence. When a gay athletic group started the Gay Olympic Games in the mid-80s, the U.S. Olympic Committee sued for use of the Olympic name and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Local residents Nan Hunter and Chai Feldblum provide insight into the pivotal roles they each play in the unfolding drama.
10% SHORTS
A Day at the Beach: When Buff Brad and Shapely Sally settled down to enjoy a sunny quiet day at the beach, they could not have imagined how spicy their day would turn out to be! Politically correct seagulls, gorgeous lifeguards and Brazilian music will be a perfect setting for love at first sight. Boy Meets Boy (2): A not-so auspicious meeting provides the catalyst for this dazzlingly inventive tale (no dialogue with the exception of one musical number) of a young man who finds himself attracted to forbidden fruit or is he? Clouded: In this debut by director Ajae Clearway, a classic coming-of-age story takes on a powerful turn when Sean's struggle to know who he really is exposes the lie that goes to the core of his being, his family, his relationship with his father and his future as a man. The Island: As the director walks through the snow, he is inspired by a nasty e-mail he received from an anonymous fan who suggested that all you faggots should be shipped off to an island. He begins to think that the idea of a tropical homo utopia doesn't sound like a bad idea. Falling For Caroline: To win the girl of her dreams, a klutzy young woman must overcome a wardrobe malfunction and the bad lesbian habit of over-processing. James: When James realizes long buried secrets can lead to poor family relations, he feels its time to confide a secret of his own to his only friend. Make A Mate: A lonely woman finds a magical shop where she can choose the ingredients to make a mate in this very creative, animated fantasy film. Little BFF's (1): Two children play with their dolls (Miley Cyrus and her BFF Mandy) to explain what Gay means in this sick puppet animation cavalcade of perversions. Evelyn Everyone: Evelyn Everyone is stuck, single and lonely. On her thirty-third birthday she makes a final bid for love in the online world of Second Life. But as Eve immerses herself in this world, she realizes that her fantasy lover may not be who she initially imagined. Second Guessing Grandma: Ed suffers the worst kind of Jewish guilt at the hands of his grandma when he comes out to her. You'll be charmed by this humorous and intimate portrait of a tight-knit family.
REGIONAL
Out In The Silence [Regional Connection: Washington, DC Filmmakers]Out in the Silence captures the remarkable chain of events that unfold when the announcement of filmmaker Joe Wilson's wedding to another man ignites a firestorm of controversy in his small Pennsylvania hometown. Drawn back by a plea for help from the mother of a gay teen being tormented at school, Wilson's journey dramatically illustrates the universal challenges of being an outsider in a conservative environment and the transformation that is possible when those who have long been constrained by a traditional code of silence summon the courage to break it. [NOTE: A discussion on youth issues, with the filmmakers Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer, and Gail Jackson, CAMP Rehoboth Youth Coordinator, will follow after the screening.]
Pop Star on Ice [Regional connection: Champion Figure Skater Johnny Weir trained in Newark, Dela., and Wayne, New Jersey]: Pop Star on Ice is an unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of outspoken Olympian and three-time US Figure Skating National Champion Johnny Weir. When Johnny fails to win a medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics, the media turns on him and he feels the backlash. Love him or hate him, Johnny is one of the most talented skaters of all time, but talent alone does not make a champion. Johnny's complicated relationship with his longtime coach Priscilla Hill and his struggle to reach the top of the sport takes us from small town Delaware his training home to competitions, shopping sprees, fashion shows and personal appearances around the world. The inspiration for Jon Heder's character in the box office smash Blades of Glory, Johnny seeks to balance his larger-than-life persona with the constraints of his sport.
Philly Shorts: Tremble & Spark: In a depraved and seedy underpass, a ruby-lipped beauty is brutally strangled. Enter gutsy detective Charlie Forest (Cathy DeBuono, Out at the Wedding) who plays hardball with sexy vixen Veronica Anderson (Jessica Graham, 2 Minutes Later) to uncover the truth and ultimately solve the crime in this lurid Philadelphia film noir. Looking For: A woman tries out the Last Resort dating service and winds up on a hilarious string of dates with losers including a text-messaging-obsessed hipster, a French woman who tries to give her a stray cat and a professional dominatrix. Little does she know her ideal match was, the whole time, right in front of her.
And there's more!
The Country Spotlight: Japan sidebar will feature a few styles of Japanese film, and also introduce you to several cultural traditions. In the Big Tent, you will have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of unique presentations. The Japanese Tea Ceremony: A ceremonial preparation and presentation of the powdered green tea known as matcha. Observers will be enthralled by the beauty of the artistic performance. Sake Tasting: Enjoy a sampling of the tasty, Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice through a brewing process. Learn how sake is made, how it became a world beverage, and the current status of the sake industry in Japan. Japanese Folk Dance Performance and Workshop: Suzume Odori, also known as the Sparrow Dance, is performed with vibrant, dynamic present-day movements, accompanied by Japanese taiko drums, flutes and bells. You can enjoy watching this creative performance, or if your legs need a work-out, you can learn the basic steps and join the dancers.
This years Festival is offering a full range of choices. Be sure to read thoroughly, plan well, and prepare for a wonderful five-day film festival experience!