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click
here for 2005 festival calender
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2005
Features |
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Mysterious
Skin - Friday May 27, 7:00 PM (opening
gala)
USA, 2004, 99 MIN
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Gregg Araki
STARRING: Brady Corbet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elisabeth Shue,
Mary Lynn
Rajskub, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jeffrey Licon, Lisa Long, Bill
Sage
“The summer I was eight years old, five hours disappeared
from my life. Five hours, lost, gone without a trace...”
These are the words of Brian Lackey (Brady Corbet), a troubled
18 year-old, growing up in the stiflingly small town of Hutchinson,
Kansas. Plagued by nightmares, Brian believes that he may have
been the victim of an alien abduction. Local Neil McCormick (Joseph
Gordon Levitt) however, is the ultimate beautiful outsider. With
a loving but promiscuous mother (Elisabeth Shue), Neil is wise
beyond his years and curious about his developing sexuality, having
found what he perceived to be love from his Little League baseball
coach (played by Hal Hartley veteran Bill Sage) at a very early
age.
Now, ten years later, Neil is a teenage hustler, nonchalant about
the dangerous path his life is taking. Neil’s pursuit of
love leads him to New York City, while Brian’s voyage of
self discovery leads him to Neil – who helps him to unlock
the dark secrets of their past.
Based
on the acclaimed novel by Scott Heim, Mysterious Skin explores
the hearts and minds of two very different boys who come to find
that the key to their future happiness lies in the exorcism of
their collective demons.
OFFICIAL SELECTION:
2005 19th London Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Sundance Film Festival
2004 Toronto International Film Festival
2004 Venice International Film Festival |
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Bear
Cub (Cacharro) - Tuesday May 31, 7 PM
SPAIN, 2004, 99 MIN (SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES)
DIRECTOR: Miguel Albaladejo
SCREENPLAY: Miguel Albaladejo & Salvador García
STARRING: José Luis García-Pérez, David Castillo,
Empar Ferrer, Elviara Lindo
The hibernation period for lovers of quality gay-themedSpanish cinema
is over. Running the emotional gamut fromfrisky humor to heartrending
melodrama, this tender embrace of a movie tells the story of the
unlikely bond that forms between two very different, equally engaging
individuals. Pedro, a successful dentist in his thirties, is also
a promiscuous commitment-phobe unable to develop a lasting relationship
beyond anonymous roadside encounters and group sex with his circle
of bear buddies. Against his better judgment, he agrees to take
care of Bernardo, his precocious 9-year-old nephew whom he hardly
knows, while his hippie older sister Violeta goes on a “sightseeing”
trip to India with her shady new boyfriend. Pedro attempts to be
cordial and accommodating to the mop-topped tyke, but this parenting
thing doesn’t seem to suit him. On top of everything, he begins
to get harassed by Doña Teresa, the boy’s paternal
grandmother, who thinks the home of a practicing homosexual is no
place for her grandson. And
then, an unexpected turn of events forces Pedro to contemplate the
possibility of caring for Bernardo for much longer than he anticipated.
– Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
AWARDS:
Winner Best Feature, Out Takes, Dallas Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Best Film from Europe (Golden Zenith Award) 2004 Montreal World
Film Festival |
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Beautiful
Boxer - Sunday May 29, 9:30 PM
THAILAND, 2003, 118 MIN
DIRECTOR: Ekachai Uekrongtham
SCREENWRITER: Ekachai Uekrongtham & Desmond Sim Kim Jin
IN THAI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
STARRING: Nukkid Boonthong, Parinya Charoenphol, Sorapong Chatree,Yuka
Hyodo, Kyoko Inoue, Keagan Kang, Erik Markus Schuetz, Sitiporn Niyom,
Orn-Anong Panyawong, Asanee Suwan
Based on the true story of Thailand’s famed transgender kickboxer,
Beautiful Boxer is a poignant action drama that punches straight
into the heart and mind of a boy who fights like a man so he can
become a woman. Believing he’s a girl trapped in a boy’s
body since childhood, Parinya Charoenphol (affectionately known
as Nong Toom in Thailand) sets out to master the most masculine
and lethal sport of Muay Thai (Thai boxing) to earn a living and
to achieve his ultimate goal of total femininity.
Touching, funny and packed with breathtaking Thai kickboxing sequences,
Beautiful Boxer traces Nong Toom’s childhood, his teenage
life as a traveling monk, and his grueling days in boxing camps.
AWARDS:
Winner Grand Prix, Brussels International Film Festival 2004
Winner Grand Prix, Montreal Image + Nation Festival 2004
Winner Best Film, 19th Torino Festival Internazionale Film Festival
2004
Winner Best Film, 18th Milano International Lesbian & Gay Film
Festival 2004
Winner Best Narrative Feature (HBO Audience Award), Seattle Lesbian
&
Gay Film Festival |
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Clara’s
Summer - Saturday May 28, 7:00 PM
FRANCE, 2002, 86 MIN
DIRECTOR: Patrick Grandperret
IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
Clara and Zoë are best friends spending the holiday at a lush
seaside summer camp. Zoë has one thing on her mind: losing
her virginity… and Sebastien is just the boy to help her.
Soon Zoë is hanging out with the cool kids and Clara is left
behind. But when Zoë finds out Sebastien is just using her
to inflate his reputation, she flees from his insensitive embrace
and turns to Clara. In the meantime
Clara has looked elsewhere for friendship and meets Sonia, a sophisticated
and self-confident beauty who is open with her bisexuality. When
late-night talks lead to something more between the two girls, Clara
begins to accept her blossoming sexuality and embarks on a journey
of selfawareness. A sensuous coming-of-age tale for all, Clara’s
Summer is a tender and very real portrayal of adolescence
with all of its pressures, desires, and new discoveries. –
Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS:
2004 Scottsdale International Film Festival
2005 Outfest Los Angeles Film Festival
2005 Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Reel Affirmations Washington DC Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Brussels Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Inside Out,Toronto Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Image + Nation, Montreal Gay and Lesbian Film Festiva |
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D.E.B.S.
- Monday May 30, 9:30 PM
USA, 2004, 91 MIN
DIRECTOR: Angela Robinson
STARRING: Jordana Brewster, Sara Foster, Devon Aoki, Meagan Good,
Jill Ritchie, Michael Clarke Duncan
Hidden within the S.A.T. is a secret test that studies not a girl’s
reading or mathematics skill, but her potential to perform duties
within the realm of espionage, like deception, physical combat and
if needed, murder.Those who score high enough on this secret scale
are recruited to join a secret academy where they will be trained
to become spies in a paramilitary group they call... D.E.B.S. This
film focuses on four of these plaid-skirted debutantes as they’re
recruited and engage in their first mission, which is an effort
to rescue one
of their cohorts who has been kidnapped by the D.E.B.S.’ lesbian
nemesis who calls herself Lucy in the Sky...
Based on the short film of the same name that was screened at last
year’s Fairy Tales. It was also a huge hit at Sundance and
winner of the Reader Jury Award at the Berlin International Film
Festival 2004. It’s hard to go wrong with hot lesbians in
schoolgirl uniforms. |
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Ethan
Mao - Saturday May 28, 9:30 PM
CANADA/USA, 2004, 87 MIN
DIRECTOR: Quentin Lee
STARRING: Jun Hee Lee, Jerry Hernandez, Julia Nickson, Raymond Ma,
David Tran, Kevin Kleinberg
Booted out of his house for being gay, Ethan Mao, 18, survives on
the street as a hustler selling sex to older men. He meets Remigio,
19, a drug dealer and hustler, who befriends Ethan and takes him
in.
After being tipped off by his younger brother that his family is
going on a day trip on Thanksgiving Day, Ethan asks Remigio for
a ride to his family house to get some of his belongings. In what
turns out to be a life-changing decision, he persuadesRemigio to
help break into his parents home. When Ethan’s parents return
home unexpectedly, he turns a bad situation into a worse one by
taking them hostage.
In the ensuing drama Ethan, his family and Remigio are forced to
confront unresolved conflicts and feelings long kept secret.
This coming of age tale successfully blends elements of family drama,
romance and thriller into one tightly wound package.
AWARDS:
Winner of Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the 20th Turin
Lesbian & Gay Film Festival |
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The
Raspberry Reich - Thursday June 2, 9:30 PM
CANADA/GERMANY, 2004, 90 MIN
DIRECTOR: Bruce LaBruce
WARNING: This film contains explicit sexual content. No one under
18 will be admitted.
Is
heterosexuality the opiate of the masses? Is the missionary position
a vice? Do you know how to decorate an apartment around a Che
Guevara poster without sacrificing minimalist chic? If you can
answer yes to any of these questions, there may just be a place
for you in the Raspberry Reich, unified Berlin’s trendiest
terrorist crusade/lifestyle choice.
Gleefully defined as a “porno-political-palooza” by
Canadian filmmaker Bruce LaBruce (Super 8-1/2, Hustler White),
Raspberry Reich is about modern leftist Germans taking on the
politics of the extreme left-wing movements of the 1970s and refashioning
it to fit contemporary times. The leader of the Reich is Gudrum
(Susanne Sachsse), who models herself on Gudrun Ensslin –
one of the main members of the Baader-Meinhof Gang (Red Army Faction).The
politics aggressively and passionately states that heterosexual
monogamy is a bourgeois construct to be destroyed for a true revolution
to ensue.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS: 18th Singapore International Film Festival;
Sundance Film Festival;Toronto International Film Festival |
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The
Road to Love - Monday May 30, 7:00 PM
FRANCE, 2003, 70 MIN
DIRECTOR: Rémi Lange
IN FRENCH AND ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
Slow-burning and smart, French director Rémi Lange’s
The Road to Love (Tarik El Hob) is a romantic tale of self-discovery
that also offers a fascinating historical take on homosexuality
in northern Africa.
French-Algerian sociology student Karim is having trouble finding
interviewees for his term project, a video documentary on homosexual
relationships in Islamic cultures. As his research progresses,
he meets Farid, a handsome flight attendant. In Farid, Karim believes
he has found an ideal subject for his film... but he soon begins
to admire more than just Farid’s insight.When Karim learns
that some cultures have accepted and encouraged same-sex unions,
he finally begins to face his own sexuality.
Set in scenic locales from Paris to Marseilles to Amsterdam (with
a brief detour to Jean Genet’s grave in Larache, Morocco),
The Road to Love is a shrewd and sensual tale of enchantment and
desire.
AWARDS:
Winner Best Feature, Seattle 2003 Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Freedom Award, OutFest, Los Angeles |
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Show
Me - Wednesday June 1, 7:00 PM
CANADA, 2004, 97 MIN
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Cassandra Nicolaou
STARRING: Katharine Isabelle, Michelle Nolden, Kett Turton, Gabriel
Hogan,Allegra Fulton
How far would you go to escape the ties that bind?
When two squeegee kids descend upon Sarah and her luxury sedan,
the fuse is lit on a tense cat-and-mouse tale of captors and captives.
Sarah is forced at knife-point to continue her trip to an isolated
cottage where the twisted trio bait and entice one another in a
reckless search for truth. Show Me plunges us into a maze of mystery,
desire, memory and self-sacrifice.
Cassandra Nicolaou’s most recent short film Interviews with
My Next Girlfriend screened at Fairy Tales in the past, and has
been a particular favourite of both audiences and critics, picking
up 11 festival awards and a 2003 Gemini nomination for Best Short
Program.
Nicolaou is a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Directors’
Lab. Show Me is her first feature film.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS:
2005 Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
2005 Frameline San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film
Festival
2005 Newfest, New York Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Los Angeles Gay And Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival
2004 Vancouver International Film Festival |
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My
Summer of Love - Thursday June 2, 7:00 PM (closing
night gala)
UK, 2004, 86 MIN
DIRECTOR: Pawel Pawlikowski
STARRING: Natalie Press, Emily Blunt, and Paddy Considine
In the dry heat of a Yorkshire summer, two 16-year-old girls meet
and become friends despite the obvious differences in their backgrounds
(Mona is local, working-class, clever and restless;Tamsin is moneyed,
well-educated and cynical), and the increasingly disturbing presence
of Mona’s older brother Phil, a born-again Fundamentalist
Christian, singlemindedly intent on salvation at any cost. With
its note-perfect performances, its dreamy visual style and air of
languid eroticism, this is British cinema at its most sophisticated
and superb.
– Edinburgh International Film Festival |
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