4th Queer Lion Award Winner

No surprise that a gay interest film won the fourth Queer Lion, as the only lesbian interest film in the selection seems like a not so-positive portrait of lesbianism; but is a pleasant surprise to learn that the winner film is from Argentina. Winner comes from Orizzonti sidebar.

Queer Lion: En el Futuro (In The Future), Mauro Andrizzi, Argentina

Tonight -probably right now- many are celebrating at the party that followed the award ceremony. I really hope that next year the selection will be more balanced -interest wise. To read the announcement at the official site go here.

See you next year.

4th Queer Lion Awards Lineup

These are the films that will be competing for the Queer Lion.

Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky, USA (lesbian interest) - Main Competition
Capo Dio Monte, Pappi Corsicato, Italy (documentary about gay artist) - Venice Days -Spazio Aperto
Drei (Three), Tom Tykwer, Germany (gay interest) - Main Competition
En el Futuro, Mauro Andrizzi, Argentina (gay interest) - Orizzonti -
Et in Terra Pax, Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini, Italy (gay interest)- Venice Days
Happy Few, Antony Cordier, France (gay interest) - Main Competition
Lisetta Carmi, A Soul on the Road, Daniele Segre, Italy (sort of gay interest?) - Venice Days (Italian Portraits and Landscapes)
Potiche, Fracois Ozon, Frace (gay interest) (Must be seen) - Main Competition
La Solitudine dei Numeri Primi (The Solitude of Prime Numbers), Saverio Costanzo, Italy, Germany and France (gay interest) - Main Competition
The Tempest, Julie Taymor, USA Closing Film (first is Taymor, second Helen Mirren, THIRD Mirren plays Prospera that in the original Shakespeare play is a man and here is a 'virile woman', must be seen)- Out of Competition
Sposerò Nichi Vendola, Andrea Constantino, Italy (gay interest) - Controcampo Italiano (Short Film)

As expected there is only one really lesbian interest as The Tempest I'm doubting will have any specific interest, but will be interesting watching Helen Mirren playing the role. Also think that Potiche is in the considered films because is Ozon as was described as being totally 'queer' because the actresses. Will check for more info about the genre as news start to appear.

To check information and photos for each film go here where you can also browse the other related activities. Award ceremony will be on September 10th.

4th Queer Lion Award News

Been checking everyday for news and today found that the list will be available next Monday, August 23 finally. Let's hope that this year there will be more diversity, but from the films I have been able to identify in the main competition seems that will be as always with gay interest films as a majority.

Sigh.

67th Venice International Film Festival Lineup

Today feels like a holiday as have some free time to write in the blog and what better than to post the lineup of the second most important festival in the world, La Biennale.

From September 1st to the 11th the fest will run in Venezia and definitively I'll be watching if RAI International broadcast the event as the opening film is Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan with a great cast and to my surprise a little lesbian interest in the story.

Here are the films in the Main International Competition.

Attenberg, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece
Balada Triste de Trompeta (A Sad Trumpet Balad), Alex de la Iglesia, Spain and France
Barney's Version, Richard J. Lewis, Canada and Italy
Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky, USA (lesbian interest)
The Ditch, Wang Bing, Hong Kong, France and Belgium (was the surprise film!)
Di Renjie Zhi tongtian Diguo (Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame), Hark Tsui, China (with Tony Leung Ka Fai)
Drei (Three), Tom Tykwer, Germany (gay interest)
Essential Killing, Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland, Norway, Hungary, and Ireland (with Emmanuelle Seigner)
Happy Few, Antony Cordier, France (gay interest)
Jusan-Nin No Shikaku (13 Assasins), Takashi Miike, Japan (with Kôji Yakusho)
Meek's Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt, USA
Miral, Julian Schnabel, USA, France, Italy and Israel (Most awaited, must be seen -of course)
Noi Credevamo, Mario Martone, Italy and France (with Toni Servillo!)
Noruwei No Mori ノルウェイの森 (Norwegian Wood), Anh Hung Tran, Japan
La Passione, Carlo Mazzacurati, Italy
La Pecora Nera, Ascanio Celestini, Italy
Ovsyanki Овсянки (Silent Souls), Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russia
Post Mortem, Pablo Larraín, Chile, Mexico and Germany
Potiche, Fracois Ozon, France (Must be seen)
Promises Written in Water, Vincent Gallo, USA
Road To Nowhere, Monte Hellman, USA
La Solitudine dei Numeri Primi (The Solitude of Prime Numbers), Saverio Costanzo, Italy, Germany and France (gay interest)
Somewhere, Sofia Coppola, USA
Vénus Noire (Black Venus), Abdellatif Kechiche, France

Main Competition Jury
President: Quentin Tarantino
Guillermo Arriaga, director/screenwriter, Mexico
Ingeborga Dapkunaite, actress, Lithuania
Arnaud Despelchin, director/screenwriter, France
Danny Elfman, musician/composer, USA
Luca Guadagnino, director/screenwriter, Italy
Gabriele Salvatore, director/screenwriter, Italy

Very impressive lineup with well-established directors like Schnabel, Ozon and others like Sofia Coppola, Larrain, Skolimowski, Reichardt among others. My first impression is that this lineup is NOT similar to the -now- infamous Cannes 2010 lineup.

Up-to-today the official site has only the list, but soon will have information about each film. To check the complete list go here.

If the competition lineup is impressive just check the also impressive long list that makes the Out of Competition Official Selection.

1960, Gabrielle Salvatores, Italy
A Letter to Elia, Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones, USA (documentary)
All Inclusive 3D, Naddia Ranocchi and David Zamagni, Italy and Austria
Dante Ferretti - Production Designer, Gianfranco Giagni, Italy (documentary)
Gorbaciof, Stefano Incerti, Italy
I'm Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, USA
Jianyu (Reign of Assassins), John Woo and Su Chao Pin (Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement)
Jingwu Fengyun Chen Zhen (Legent of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen), Andrew Lau, China and Hong Kong (Opening Night Tribute to Bruce Lee)
Last Movie, Dennis Hopper, USA, 1971
Lope, Andrucha Waddington, Spain and Brazil (with Sonia Braga... hmm)
Machete, Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis, USA Midnight Opening Film (yes, will watch no matter how gross could be)
Niente Paura - Come Siamo Come Eravamo e le Canzoni di Luciano Ligabue, Piergiorgio Gay, Italy (documentary)
Notizie Degli Scavi, Emidio Greco, Italy
Passione, John Turturro, Italy
Prezit Svuj Zivot (Surviving Life), Jan Svankmajer, Czech Republic and Slovakia
La Prima Volta a Venezia, Antonello Sarno, Italy ( with Toni Servillo and only 43')
Raavanan, Mani Ratman, India (short name Raavan - Of course must be seen for me with Aish) will screen the Tamil version and as an Out of Competition Event the Hindi version
Sei Venezia, Carlo Mazzacurati, Italy
Senritsu Meikyu 3D (The Shock Labyrinth: Extreme), Japan
Sorrelle Mai, Marco Bellocchio, Italy
Taikong Xia 3D (Space Guy), Yuan Zhang, China (animation short)
That Girl in Yellow Boots, Anurag Kashyap, India
The Tempest, Julie Taymor, USA Closing Film (first is Taymor, second is with Helen Mirren, must be seen)
The Town, Ben Affleck, USA
Tungngaan 3D (The Child's Eye 3D), Oxide Pang and Danny Pang, China and Hong Kong
L'Ultimo Gattopardo: Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo, Giuseppe Tornatore (documentary)
Vallanzasca - Gli Angeli del Male, Michele Placido, Italy
Vittorio Racconta Gassman - Una Vita da Mattatore, Giancarlo Scarchilli, Italy (documentary) (I'm interested) Yes, there will a tribute to Vittorio Gassman.
Yongxin Tiao (Showtime) Stanley Kwan, China (with Tony Leung Ka Fai)
Zebraman, Takashi Miike, Japan, 2004
Zebraman: Zebra City No Gyakushu (Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City), Takashi Miike, Japan

To check the list go here.

I'll wait for the official site to have films information to list the Orizzonti section as right now ALL (shorts, feature films, experimental films, etc) are together. But for starters here are the opening and closing fims

Opening Film: La Belle Endormie, Catherine Breillat, France
Closing Film: Ok-hui-ui yeonghwa (Oki's Movie), Hong Sang-soo, Korea

The Orizzonti section will have four new awards:

Orizzonti Award to full-length (long and very long feature films)
Special Jury Orizzonti Prize (ditto)
Orizzonti Award (short films)
Orizzonti Award (medium-length films)

The renewed Orizzonti section absorbed the CortoCortissimo and Special Events sections, so I'm really curious to find out how they will manage this section and obviously the "new trends" feature films that will screen.

Shirin Neshat will chair the Jury of the Orizzonti section and none other than Fatih Akin will chair the Luigi De Laurentiis Award given to a debut film, an award that gives US$100,000 to be shared by the director and producers - no ex aequo (tie) is permitted.

Other sections in the fest this year are ControCampo Italiano with new trends in Italian Cinema and Italian Comedy a retrospective section on Italian comedy from 1910 to 1988.

If you thought that August is a lousy summer month for movies please think again as in a few days (after the 15) the Berlinale will start to pour us with lots of information about movies as well as events from fest that starts on September 1st.

Last but not least please don't forget that this fest has the Queer Lion Award and for starters I'm almost sure that Aronofsky's Black Swan is in the list of films competing for this award, hope there are many more that we will learn as soon as they publish the list or when I research each film in the fest.

Bravo! La Biennale ha iniziato!!

To watch available trailers ONLY for films in main competition go Movie On Companion.

63rd Locarno Film Festival Lineup

Yesterday the fest opened with the premiere of much awaited (by me) of Benoit Jacquot's Au fond des Bois (Deep in the Woods) starring none other than Isild Le Besco, who also directed a film in the main international competition.

Today the International Competition opened and here are the films in competition.

Bas-Fonds, Isild Le Besco, France (lesbian interest and first time that I see in a fest: Not suitable for those under 18!! yep, will be heavy!)
Beli Beli Svet (White White World), Oleg Novkovic, Serbia, Germany and Sweden
Beyond The Steppes, Vanja d'Alcantara, Belgium and Poland
Cold Weather, Aaron Katz, USA
Curling, Denis Cote, Canada
Han Jia (Winter Vacation), Li Hong qi, China
Homme Au Bain, Christophe Honoré, France (Gay interest, again not suitable for those under 18)
Im Alter von Ellen (At Ellen's Age), Pia Marais, Germany (story seems interesting)
Karamay, Xu Xin, China (Documentary) (must be very hard to watch)
L.A. Zombie, Bruce LaBruce, USA, Germany and France (obviously gay interest and the no under 18 notice, lol! yep, been reading about this film that has been called 'pornography')
La Petite Chambre, Stéphanie Chuatand and Véronique Reymond, Switzerland and Luxembourg
Luz Nas Trevas - A Volta Do Bandido Da Luz Vermelha (Light in Darkness - The Return of Red Light Bandit), Helena Ignez and Icaro C. Martins, Brazil
Morgen, Marian Crisan, Romania, France and Hungary (yes will watch)
Periferic, Bogdan George Apetri, Romania and Austria (Yes, Must Be Seen for me)
Pietro, Daniele Gaglianone, Italy
Saç (Hair), Tayfun Pirselimoglu, Turkey and Greece
Songs of Love and Hate, Katalin Gödrös, Switzerland
Womb, Benedek Fliegauf, Germany, Hungary and France

To check the list and read information about the films go here and select Films & Screening Schedule then Concorso Internanazionale, film info is in English. Some films have trailers or scene videos. Have to say that there are some quite strange and weird stories in some movies, just the synopsis made me gasp when reading, some absolutely will have to see them just to find how the filmmaker dealt with the story.

There is also the Cineasti del Presente Competition (Filmmakers of the Present Competition) dedicated to emerging directors from the world; check the films in the competition section. The shorts competition Pardi di Domani (Leopards of Tomorrow) has up to 40 minutes shorts by directors who haven't yet made feature films and has an award for international filmmakers and another for Swiss filmmakers.

The fest runs until August 14 and will be checking for the winners as soon as they're published.

Outfest 2010

Yesterday the fest had the award ceremony and the most amazing thing is that a lesbian interest film won the top award,something that's not really common so I hope the film is good. Here are some of the winners

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding U.S. Dramatic Feature Film: A Marine Story by Ned Farr

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film: Debra Weber in A Marine Story by Ned Farr

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Dramatic Feature Film: The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, James Kent, UK

To check all award winners go here.

This year the fest site went digital with their film guide (is here) and honestly was not easy to read, but I was able to discover one lesbian interest film that totally called my attention and it's new to the blog. Take a look.

La Robe du Soir (The Evening Dress), Myriam Aziza, France, 2009 Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Frameline 34

With many shorts and three new to the blog movies the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival will run from June 17 to 27 and here are the 'new' lesbian interest films.

A Marine Story, Ned Farr, USA, 2010 (with The Gymnast Dreya Weber a story of lesbians in uniform)
Elena Undone, Nicole Conn, USA, 2010 (Heavy drama)
We Have To Stop Now, Robyn Dettman, USA, 2009 (Another comedy with Jill Bennett and Cathy De Buono)

To check the list of all movies, shorts and documentaries (101 in total) with lesbian interest go here. To check the same but with gay interest go here (120 titles).

1st Queer Palm (Off) Cannes Winner

No surprises for me as it was obvious that a more gay interest film had to win the first Queer Palm (LOL!), so here is the winner that comes from the Midnight Screenings.

Queer Palm: Kaboom, Gregg Araki, USA and France, 2010

Still, the good news are that the film 'hero' is bisexual and his best friend is lesbian, so I'm giving the film the benefit of doubt. Here is a copy and paste of what Franck Finance-Madureira mentions about Jury reasons to select this film.

"Kaboom est un film complètement queer: le héros est bisexuel et sa meilleure amie est lesbienne, tout cela ne pose absolument aucun problème et la sexualité est au centre même du film, une sexualité fluide et libre qui a beaucoup séduit les membres du jury. Les jurés ont beaucoup échangé sur les quatre très bons films qui se dégageaient des sélections cannoises: Kaboom, Les Amours imaginaires, Cuchillo de Palo, et Tournée que nous avons trouvé aussi vraiment queer."

So finally we learned the films they considered for the award and I'm surprised not to find in this list Picco, so maybe is not gay interest but maybe it is under different criteria (I'll find out when I'm able to watch it).

Read the official announcement at Yagg, available only in French.

Queer Palm at 2010 Cannes

Is not part of the official festival (yet) but if Berlinale has its Teddy Awards and Venice has its Queer Lion, why not Cannes? Absolute truth. Let's hope that the initiative becomes -in the near future- part of the official festival but remember that both German and Italian festivals took many years to accept the 'idea' of including such an award at their respective fests. Still is very good news for me as definitively has to stimulate filmmakers to further improve the genre.

Here is a brief summary of the recent news and if you read French please check the article here and watch the below video with an interview to Franck Finance-Madureira, the award organizer. The 'parents' of this award are film directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau.

"On Saturday, May 22 the Queer Palme will be awarded to a film -in competition in any of the selections and parallel sections- for its contribution to LGBT issues."

This is the Jury that will decide the winning film this year.

Benoît Arnulf - Director of Nice Gay and Lesbian festival
Florence Ben Sadoun - Premiere Magazine
Romain Charbon - Cinema reporter
Mike Goodridge - Director of Screen International
Xavier Leherpeur - Cinema reporter
Ivan Mitfiot - Lyon Gay and Lesbian festival
Pascale Ourbih - President of Chéries-chéris, Paris festival
Brian Robinson - Programmer of London Gay and Lesbian festival

To learn more about this incipient award check the official site here available only in French. As soon as they have any kind of info about the films that are considered I'll post the list, but from what I learned from all the films most (if not all) will be gay interest. Sigh.

The video has now English subtitles. Merci Yagg!

2010 Tribeca Award Winners

Award Winner in *RED. To check winners in all categories go here.

I was checking the films in the fest and there are two in competitition that definitively are Must Be Seen for me. But this year they are doing something exceptional they'll bring the fest online for Premium Passholders across the USA.

On April 23, the fest will launch Tribeca Film Festival Virtual Premium, an 8-day full Festival experience. Passholders will have access to 8 feature films and over 15 short films, plus live red carpets, live panels and live filmmakers Q&As.

I just hope that eventually an event like this one is open to the citizens of the world! Torn down mental barriers, do business worldwide!

If you have access to the Virtual experience I suggest you do not miss Elvis & Madona by Marcelo Laffitte, Brazil, 2010 that's a 'little' lesbian interest.

Anyway the fest will run from April 21 to May 2 and here are the films in the World Narrative Feature Competition.

Buried Land, Geoffrey Aland Rhodes and Steven Eastwood, Bosnia and Herzegovina, UK, and USA, 2009
*Dog Pound, Kim Chapiron, Canada and France, 2009 - Best New Narrative Filmaker
Gainsbourg, Je t'Aime... Moin Non Plus, Joann Sfar, France, 2009
*Mine Vaganti (Loose Cannons), Ferzan Ozpetek, Italy, 2010 (Ozpetek is MUST BE SEEN! - Gay Interest) - Special Jury Mention
Lucky Life, Lee Isaac Chung, USA, 2010
My Brothers, Paul Fraser, Ireland, 2010
Open House, Andrew Paquin, USA, 20100
Paju, Park Chan-ok, South Korea, 2009
Snap, Carmel Winters, Ireland, 2010
*Die Fremde (When We Leave), Feo Aladag, Germany, 2010 (Interesting) Winner of the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature
Keshtzarhaye Sepid (The White Meadows), Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2009 (Must Be Seen!!!)
William Vincent, Jay Anania, USA, 2010

To read about each movie go here as well as to browse the fest to check the complete program.

A Single Man

What a BEAUTIFUL movie! Beautiful, beautiful. The esthetic is perfect. The use of light and color absolutely dreamy and enhances what you will feel from the scenes. This is a movie about feelings, your feelings, the ample range of feelings you will feel while watching.

I could go on and on talking about the few handheld camera takes to shake whatever was happening, the amazing compositions, the absolutely fantastic storytelling with a pace that goes slow, slowish, faster, back to slowish, slow and so on. Tom Ford successfully plays with all resources to make his audience feel.

To think that Ford could provoke Colin Firth to do perhaps his best ever performance, he's not mesmerizing, he's above mesmerizing with those facial expressions and the body language makes you feel like if you were there close to him and if you extend your hand you will touch him. Glorious performance. Bravo!

Yes Julianne Moore is here and her role fits her like a hand to a glove, she should do more of this kind of roles set in the '50/60s. But also a pleasant surprise while briefly seeing Erin Daniels, she should do more films.

I don't have to talk about the costumes after all is Tom Ford so you can imagine what you'll be able to see; but have to talk again about the film esthetic with absolutely beautiful and so 50/60's sets, surroundings, cars, makeup, people... and the playing with tint, the color and light saturation, the sad greyish and the taupe melting into sepia-ish... awesome!

On purpose never read about the story and I strongly recommend you don't. You'll eventually start to guess probably right, but it's not a movie about destination is about the voyage and what a strongly felt voyage. Suffice to let you know that the story is about one day in the life of George, an English Professor living in Los Angeles area.

I cried, I smiled, I laughed. I was sad, all right, and happy. I felt everything. It was wonderful. Love the film that personally believe is superior -as a film- to Brokeback Mountain. More complete cinema experience. Yes, I'm still waiting for a lesbian interest film that so esthetically can provoke me such a torrent of intense feelings.

Absolutely must be seen and yes, this is a keeper and goes into my collection to revisit now and then. Strongly recommend you do not skip this film as is truly a great American film about love, any love; but also about life, anybody's life.

BIG ENJOY!!!

Watch trailer here.

Note: Love this movie poster that says a lot more about the movie than any other I saw in the net, don't know if is official, but after watching the film absolutely suits the movie better.

12th Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Tomorrow the fest will start and will run until May 2nd. For a very refreshing change the fest has a couple of very interesting comedies/drama as well as some interesting shorts. The following films are new to the blog.

The Four-Faced Liar, Jacob Chase, USA, 2010
Leading Ladies, Erika and Daniel Beahm, USA, 2010
My Normal, Irving Schwartz, USA, 2009

To read about the films that this year are equally gay and lesbian interest (for a change) go here.

Check trailers @ Movie On Companion

24th BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

Running from March 17 to 31, the fest has many interesting films but maybe the most interesting is the film that opened the festival, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister by James Kent that had the world premiere at the fest but will be broadcast this winter by BBC Two.

The fest has (as usual) lots of gay and not much lesbian interest films. If you want to browse the site to check the films please go here.

New films that have become must be seen are Quanto dura o Amor? (Paulista) from Brazil and Warriors of Love from Sweden/Denmark.

24th Teddy Awards at the 60th Berlinale

Well this award deserves a post so here are the winners for this year.

Best Feature Film: The Kids Are All Right, Lisa Cholodenko, USA, 2010 (Lesbian Interest with Julianne Moore and Annette Benning)
Teddy Jury Award: Open, Jake Yuzna, USA, 2009

Best Documentary: La bocca del lupo (The Mouth of the Wolf), Pietro Marcello, Italy, 2009
Siegessäule Readers Award: Postcard to Daddy, Michael Stock, Germany, 2010

Best Short Film: The Feast of Stephen, James Franco, USA, 2009 (yes, is the actor)

Special Teddy Award: Werner Schroeter

The French-German TV broadcaster ARTE recorded the ceremony and will air today, February 20th at 11:10pm. rbb TV will rebroadcast the show tomorrow February 21st at 11:30pm.

To read info about all films in competition and watch some trailers or clips go here or here.

There were not many lesbian interest films this year and it's somehow surprising that one won, but it's quite understandable with the casting and the director credentials. Definitively a must be seen for me even when the story is not really that interesting for me.

Cheers!

Marketing Movies - Update

So seems that's America where marketing reflects their society. Please check the trailer that was recently released in UK, surely and clearly sells a gay drama.



--end of update--

Marketing can make or kill a movie and now that we are in Oscar season strange things start to happen like for example what a distributor is doing to the movie A Single Man that recently released a second trailer that totally removes the gayness from the plot. Take a look at both trailers.

Trailer issued by Tom Ford's production company



Trailer issued by the distributor



So, what do you think??? Isn't terrible what marketing can do??? Did you noticed that in the second trailer they removed Colin's character two lovers actors names from the credits?! And if you watch the second trailer in Youtube and read the info you will notice that it does not say a thing about this movie being totally gay.

I don't think that issuing a de-gaying trailer will help the film with the homophobic Academy members, meaning, will not increase or decrease its chances. Colin Firth already has buzz for best actor, so perhaps they are trying to get buzz for Moore like they claim in the trailer. Haven't seen the film but if they are trying to break the Brokeback Mountain Oscar curse, it will not be by pretending that this film is not gay.

Sigh.

J'ai tué ma mere (I Killed My Mother)

Very exhausting and emotional film that I believe will touch hard many whiled others will not stand it. No idea what will happen to you, but me touched me deep like if I was watching my own life even when nothing shown is similar to my experiences, except the dysfunctional love/hate relationship with mother and the wide differences between each generation and education. The film is full with angst, loud screaming fights, strong words, sweetness, mother/child love expressions, and great humor. Xavier Dolan’s oeuvre (wrote the script when he was 16-years-old, directed, plays the lead role, and produced) is quite impressive for his young age (20 years-old) but the story inspired in his own life is one that only a young person could write with so much realism and accuracy that transcends age and nationality frontiers to become universal, if you’re a single child living with a single parent.

The story tells about the love/hate relationship between 17’ish-years-old Hubert Minel (Xavier Dolan), and his mother Chantale (Anne Dorval) with Hubert keeping silent about his personal life, disliking everything his mother does or says which represents the opposite of what he has become. He tries to remember when they were best friends and does his best to make amends. But it’s impossible, they have become incompatible.

Hubert is gay, but to me that’s secondary in the story and is not the reason for them being not compatible. Still, there are enough scenes to make this film of gay interest. But this film is and should be totally mainstream as his homosexuality is inconsequential to how the story evolves and I even believe that is the source to facilitate humor in the film.

As a film is impressive for a first timer. It’s not perfect and you can see the imperfections, but you can also see how attention to details is paid, very nice framing in many scenes, great use of black/white close-ups, writing in the screen and performances tempo are worth mentioning. Sometimes visuals are so great that totally distracts you from the intense narrative but also recreation of lower-middle class Quebec lifestyle is so realistic that visuals blew my mind.

As most of us recall the film is Canada’s submission to the Oscar’s, won three awards at 2009 Cannes plus has been collecting many more honors . I believe that this film is too strong for Academy members, but I would not be surprised if it makes it to the short list.

I really liked this movie but have to admit that is a hard to watch movie because is an intense drama. Still I do believe that is so mainstream that many will enjoy it and here we have another 2009 Cannes winner that is more mainstream than what they usually showcase.

I do recommend this movie as a must be seen film with a budget under US$1 million and a first time filmmaker that suggests will be around to continue making great films after being a child actor.

Enjoy!!!

Watch Trailer @ Movie On Companion

15th Chéries-Chéris Festival de Films Gays Lesbiens Trans & +++ de Paris

If you live in Paris, nearby or planning a trip next November I suggest you do not miss this fest that has a very complete program for the one week it will run. There are no new to the blog lesbian interest movies, but if you go will have the opportunity to watch movies like To Faro, Ghosted, Drool, Senza Fine, Society, The Other War, and Bandaged. Also most interesting is the Shorts program.

If you feel like checking the catalog go here and just to browse the films go here.

2010 Oscar (Gay) News

I really enjoyed reading this article so I’m sharing the entire article, but if you feel like reading the article at indieWire please go here.

For Your Consideration: Oscar’s Gay Tendencies
by Peter Knegt

A lot has gone down for the gays since “Brokeback Mountain”‘s cries-of-homophobia inducing loss for Oscar’s biggest prize four years ago, both in Hollywood and in America as a whole. And with another award season upon us, we’re again faced with another big gay contender. Following last year’s eight-time nominated “Milk,” Tom Ford’s “A Single Man” is set to begin its Weinstein Company-orchestrated push for gold any day now. Even if, like “Brokeback,” the phrase “universal story of love and loss” gets thrown around endlessly in “Single Man”‘s regard (and it will), it remains that the film depicts gay love and gay loss, and last time I checked - a good chunk of America sees a difference. And while “A Single Man” is likely to be nowhere near the Oscar juggernaut “Brokeback” or even “Milk” was, the way Hollywood and the Academy react to it might give us a good perception on how far we’ve come.

While at this point it’s a challenge to really make predictions for this year’s awards with any sort of certainly, Colin Firth seems like “A Single Man”‘s best bet at major contention. His startling turn as a suicidal gay man mourning the loss of his long-term lover seemed to win over even the film’s many detractors when it descended on Venice and Toronto last month. And when I consider Firth’s potential win, there’s one thing that really stands out to me when picturing it: After Sean Penn’s last year for “Milk,” the Academy would be handing back-to-back best actor statuettes to depictions of gay men.

It wouldn’t really be that shocking. It’s actually been a intensely gay decade for the Oscars in terms of acting awards. If Firth were to win, he’d join Penn, Phillip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote,” 2005), Charlize Theron (“Monster, 2003), and, though less explicitly, Nicole Kidman (“The Hours,” 2002) as the fifth lead acting award given to the depicition of a gay person this decade. That’s a quarter of the overall awards, a much higher percentage than there are actual gay people. And while that’s definitely progressive in a certain sense, I’m weary of championing an organization for simply giving Oscars to a bunch of heterosexuals for playing gay characters. Especially when that same organization refused its biggest prize to “Brokeback Mountain” in an act of arguable homophobia and definite cinematic injustice.

However, I do have to hand it to the Oscars in its post-“Brokeback” years. Not for honoring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, but for actually honoring openly gay people. While they have yet to award an even semi-openly gay actor (and no, Jodie Foster and Kevin Spacey don’t retroactively count), they have had a gay host (I speak of Ellen deGeneres, in case you thought I was being cheeky with regard to last year’s host), a gay screenwriting winner (“Milk”‘s Dustin Lance Black), and last year, two of its five director nominees were, yep, gay (and one was even making a film about gays). What’s more, “Hairspray” director Adam Shankman is coming in to co-produce the ceremony this year, following Bill Condon as the second gay Oscar maestro in a row. Oscar was always a gay icon, it just seems like all of a sudden he’s in on the joke.

This year could also find as many as three best pictures helmed by gay men. In addition to “A Single Man,” there’s Rob Marshall’s “Nine,” and Lee Daniels’ “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” the latter of which also features a major gay character. What I think is really interesting here - and what speaks volumes to social systems in behind-the-scenes Hollywood - is Lee Daniels’s prospective nomination. If he gets nominated for best director, it would be much more monumental because he is African-American than it would be because he is openly gay. And this opens up a completely different can of socially injust worms than this article is prepared to properly contexualize.

But in brief… The 2000s have seen scores of African-Americans take home acting Oscars. Six wins and seventeen nominations - with a good likelihood of additions coming this year. In terms of wins, this is more than was received in total prior to this decade. Quite disturbingly, “Precious” would be the first best picture nominee ever directed by an African-American, and Daniels only the second black best director nominee. Gays, on the other hand, have received nearly a dozen best director nominations. But let’s keep in mind the fact that all of them have been men, and all of them have been white. In fact, there have been more nominations for gay men for best director than all non-male and non-white people combined.

It’s difficult to really let any trend at the Oscars really speak as a representation of the Oscars themselves. Because in a way, the Oscars just represent the American film industry. It’s a complex set of politics to simplify in a sentence, but I think it’s reasonable to suggest that in the Hollywood power hierachy, as long as you’re a white male (and let’s face it, straight-acting), being gay is not as much of a disadvantage as say, being female or black.

But let’s bring it back to “A Single Man.” While perhaps the least likely of the three gay-helmed films to get a picture nod, the film offers the most in terms of any sort of real social connotation for acceptance of gays in the mainstream. Like “Milk” before it, “A Single Man” would be a film with gay content directed by an actual homosexual. While films with gay content and films directed by gays have, as noted, made it to Oscar’s shortlist before - the list of films in which those two collide has been much more limited. Because while the Oscars, and Hollywood, seem more than willing to let gay, white men into their director’s club, it’s a whole other story if they are directing films about actual gays. And as nice as it is when they do, I’d just like to see the day when “A Single Latina Lesbian” makes the shortlist.

--end--

Lol! So much gay and so little lesbian… When? When? When? (it’s going to happen).

Sigh.

October 2009 LGBT Festivals

We know that in October not only the Awards Season starts but also with Autumn in most parts of the world film festivals happen more often. For example there are 8 festivals that are opening just today. The LGBT interest festivals are no exception and during the month the following fests will take place.

Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Film Festival – Out on Film

Clip! Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (in Albuquerque and Santa Fe)

Reel Affirmations: International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (in Washington D.C.)

Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

Copenhagen Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Pittsburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

Hamburg International Lesbian and Gay Film festival

Mezipatra – Czech GLBT Film Festival

LESGAICINEMAD: Madrid Lesbian and Gay Film Festival . To watch some trailers from this year fest go here.

Each fest name is a link to their official site and I’m sure there has to be more genre festivals opening this month, but those are enough for today.

As you can imagine the above festivals screen almost the same movies and perhaps the one that could have new movies is the Madrid fest but they do not have their full program published; the lesbian interest films are known to the blog with one exception that you will find in the trailers blog. Still there are a lot of “new” shorts that if you visit the fest sites will find them.

So enjoy reading about movies in the fest sites and no surprise… there are a lot of new gay interest films, sigh!

Queer Lisboa 13 Award Winners

From September 18 to 26 the fest run in Lisbon and here are the award winners.

Best Feature Film: Ander, Roberto Castón, Spain, 2009
According to the jury, the film “defies youth- and urban-centred fashion and challenges stereotypes of rural life, offering instead a hopeful and courageous alternative to traditional patterns of behaviour.” Ander, which portrays the sexual tension and desire between a solitary middle-aged Basque farmer and a younger Peruvian immigrant, was also referenced for the way it explores “the growing solidarity between its well-developed characters, weaving together their stories in touching, poignant and subtle ways.”

Special Mention: Rabioso Sol, Rabioso Cielo, Julián Hernández, Mexico, 2009
“for offering the viewer a 3-hour experience of pure cinema, in which strong emotions are generated by the movement of the images and the actors, like in a dance”.

Best Actress: Mina Orfanou in Strella, Panos H. Koutras, Greece, 2009
“for her intense and touching performance.” Highlighting that “the energy and physical commitment she puts into her role brings this modern Greek tragedy to life. She goes from joy to desperation, evidencing a wide range of emotion and offering the audience a brilliant portrayal of a transsexual woman with deep emotional conflicts.”

Best Actor: Josean Bengoetxa in Ander, Roberto Castón, Spain, 2009
“for his truthful, intense and always convincing performance” in Ander, by Roberto Castón, in which by “bravely exposing his body, he brings to the screen the vulnerability of a person painstakingly trying to find himself".

Best Documentary: Fig Trees, John Greyson, Canada 2009
“HIV/AIDS and access to treatment is important for everyone, and not least our community; an issue which nowadays has become unfashionable. The jury chose Fig Trees because it gives visibility to this important subject. The rich and complex filmmaking demands the audience’s involvement with its clever combination of classical formal elements, which come together in a very impressive way.”

Special Mention: Verliebt, Verzopft, Verwegen, Katharina Lampert and Cordula Thym, Austria, 2009
“a well-crafted first film offering a glimpse of our past via an optimistic portrait of older lesbians and their lives.”

Best Short Film: Yo Solo Miro, Gorka Cornejo, Spain, 2008

If you feel like checking all the movies, documentaries and shorts in the festival please go here.