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Our
Community Seen: The 4th Annual Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Trans Film
Festival
Cinema
21
616
NW 21st Ave., 242-0818
Fridays-Saturdays,
Oct. 13-15,
Oct. 20-22
$7 for
single tickets, $40 for half-festival pass, $75 for full-festival
pass.
Check
out the website at www.sensory
perceptions.org
Advance
tickets and scheduling information can be found at In Other
Words, 3734 SE Hawthorne Blvd.; Gai Pied, 2544 NE Broadway;
and Balloons on Broadway, 531 SW Broadway.
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The annual Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Trans Film Festival returns for
its fourth year with cans of queer celluloid worth seeing.
The following schedule includes a number of reviews of the
films WW has had a chance to view.
Friday, October 13:
7 pm--What's Cooking
9 pm--The much-anticipated boy film The Broken
Hearts Club
Saturday, October 14:
A mini-festival of short indie films.
2 pm--A Boy Named Sue and Two Brides and
a Scalpel
4 pm--Sparked! and A Luv Tale
7 pm--Chutney Popcorn
9 pm--Urbania
This tough, intricate and heartbreakingly romantic film
deserves a multiplex release. Based on David Reitz's play
Urban Folk Tales, Jon Shear's film delves into the
life of Charlie (the excellent Dan Futterman) and the long
night of his soul. Urbania is a revenge tragedy trapped
in a labyrinth of dream and memory, though redemption is
the work's theme. Skillfully edited, the film plays as an
intriguing mystery, though Shear's attempt to weave urban
myths into the story frequently diverts the piece's narrative
drive. But the cast is exceptional: Alan Cumming (Titus),
Matthew Keeslar (The Last Days of Disco), Lothaire
Bleuteau (Jesus of Montreal) and the great "Fassbenderaktor"
Barbara Sukowa. This is the film to see. (SS)
Sunday, October 15:
3 pm--Godass
5 pm--Paragraph 175
The latest documentary from the makers of The Celluloid
Closet perfectly complements Aimee and Jaguar
(see below). Named for the notorious anti-homosexual clause
in German law, Paragraph 175 interviews seven people
(six men and one woman) who survived the brutal Nazi application
of the law. Now in their 80s and 90s, these last few brave
but memory-burdened elders recount their lives with stories
that are filled with as much humor and acts of generosity
as horror and bitterness. The film is narrated by Rupert
Everett. (SS)
9 pm--Water Drops on
Burning Rocks
French director François Ozon is quickly making
an international reputation for himself. His latest film
is based on an unproduced play written by filmmaker Rainer
Werner Fassbinder when he was 19 that explores the psychosexual
dynamics of a couple. But Ozon's film also serves as a homage
to Fassbinder, even incorporating elements of Fassbinder's
In a Year of 13 Moons into the screenplay. The action
is placed within the confines of a flat owned by a 50-year-old
insurance agent, Leopold (Bernard Giraudeau of Ridicule).
After a night's trawling, Leopold brings the 19-year-old
Franz (Malik Zidi) back for a nightcap that lasts six months.
Having seduced the wan youth, Leopold holds him in the grip
of a sexual slavery that's later extended to include Franz's
former girlfriend, Anna, and Leopold's transsexual former
wife, Vera (the great American indie actor Anna Thomson
of I Shot Andy Warhol). Shot in a stark, flat light
in the Agfa-bled colors favored by Fassbinder, Ozon's mordant
view of coupledom would have made the master proud. (SS)
Friday, October 20:
7 pm--Aimee and Jaguar
Based on a true story, this high-style German film recounts
the doomed romance between the wife of a Nazi soldier and
an intrepid young Jewish woman working with the resistance.
And ach! These Berlin women knew how to party! We
get to view the decline of the last days of Berlin's famed
decadence in the indefatigable spirit of one woman and her
co-dependent shiksa lover. Dramatic without being too melodramatic,
this film is a nice complement to the actual documentary
that was making the rounds a few years ago based on the
surviving Gentile partner's memories. One thing to note:
These women have nice haircuts, even as bombs are dropping.
(CBB)
9 pm--Gypsy Boys: A looooong (or so it seemed
before we turned it off halfway), soap-opera-ish story about
the awful things gay guys can do.
Saturday, October 21:
1:30 pm--Ballot Measure 9
4 pm--Eban and Charley: Local music maven
Chris Monlux produced this film that thoughtfully approaches
the dynamics of man/boy love and presents it dramatically
as the last taboo.
7 pm--Girl's Shorts
9 pm--Boy's Shorts
Sunday, October 22:
3 pm--Get Your Stuff
This is a mind-numbingly trite film that seems to have
as its central theme, "Gays are people too." Wealthy Phil
and Eric lead the high life in Beverly Hills, but nothing
would make their home more complete than a little tyke to
play two-headed Dad for. But before they can find the perfect
sprog to rear, they're given two troubled preteen boys to
foster. Sharing and caring ensues as the Beverly Hillnellies
try to teach the boys that homo begins with "home." Then
thrown into the mix is the little lads' gin-tanked mother,
who comes to fetch her brood. Mom's got a few lessons to
learn about the meaning of family too, and, well, you can
guess where the film's heading a good hour before it does.
With a soundtrack that would have embarrassed the makers
of Roller Boogie, the film is amateurish from title
to credits. (SS)
5 pm--Gendernauts
As with many documentaries, the one thing that bogs down
this examination of transgendered folks cold chillin' in
San Francisco is the unnecessary insertion of the director
into the story. People, unless the film has absolutely everything
to do with you, please stay out! Isn't it enough that your
name is listed in the credits? Sheesh. Sorry about that
rant... anyway, there's some really fascinating folks in
this one, but it could use a bit more focus. It seems as
though female-to-male transsexuals make up the one group
we don't ever hear enough from, and those who get time onscreen
here are truly interesting. Too bad the movie isn't more
about them specifically. (CBB)
7 pm--I'm the One That I Want, a film based
on Margaret Cho's recent autobiographical stage show.
9 pm--Closing Night Party at the Gypsy.
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