PRECEDED BY:
Coming Out Monologue by Pam Rocker
& The Arrival SHORT
CLICK HERE for details

Filmmaker in Attendance; Q & A to follow

A fascinating glimpse into the lives of LGBT people in a predominantly Catholic country. Blattangelus follows two connected stories in a seamless narrative about faith and love in Mexico City. The film begins with the story of Mauro and Juan, a couple who are happily preparing to get married at the Metropolitan Community Reconciliation Church. The Church is presided over by Jorge Sosa, a devoted and fascinating authority figure who we first meet in the Gay Pride parade in Mexico City.

Sosa carries the film with the force of his personality and his belief in creating a place of worship and respect for people of all orientations. In fact, he calls his church an “oasis”, a place where the LGBT community can worship, receive health information as well as be bolstered by Sosa’s fiery rebuttal of the politics and hierarchy of the Vatican Church. The joy of Mauro and Juan’s wedding at the Metropolitan Community Reconciliation Church speaks volumes to the power of love and the unifying factor of a strong community of faith that includes all people. (MJ)

Filmmaker Araceli Santana in attendance

PRECEDED BY:
Coming Out Monologue performance by Alyssa Kelle & Lesbian Speed Dating SHORT

CLICK HERE for details

Recontextualizing classic B-movie science fiction, this romantic comedy follows the unlikely romance between Jane, a shy greeting card store employee who has not as yet found luck in love, and Zoinx, the woman Jane does not realize is from outer-space. Zoinx has been sent away from her planet to Earth, along with other sister-aliens in a program to get their hearts broken so they can rid themselves of their “big feelings” and save the ozone layer on their planet.

Meanwhile, two government agents, or “Men In Black”, are closely tracking Jane and the aliens while harboring their own secrets. Will the star-crossed pair of sweethearts find happiness on earth or will it end up being out of this world? (JD) (MJ)

CLICK HERE to check out all of the SHORTS in this program!

CLICK HERE to check out all of the SHORTS in this program!

CLICK HERE to check out all of the SHORTS in this program!

It’s a wrap! Our participants in the 2012 Youth Queer Media Program have completed their productions and are premiering them at the festival.

The Youth Queer Media Program participants have been working since January 2012 to complete their short films ranging in genre from drama, art videos, live dance / animation hybrids and high end PSA’s. Fairy Tales couldn’t be prouder of the accomplishments of the program participants: Madeleine Hardy, Matthew McKinney, Jesse McMann Sparvier, Sasha Krioutchkova, Zac Slams*, Elijah Sweetgrass and Sydney Switzer.

The Youth Queer Media Program’s main focus is for youth to have a voice and presence at our film festival, but also for youth to create a broader range of work, with more potential to receive distribution in film festivals, and broadcast on television and the internet. The youth are involved in every aspect of production for their pieces; this year there was an added emphasis on providing more mentorship and more opportunities for professional development. We are pleased that there were such strong works created and also that this program attracted financial support from our funding partners: First Calgary Financial and the Rosza Foundation. Both partners have long history in supporting projects that enrich their communities and cities.

The YQMP participants took part in three workshops: Pre-Production with Sandi Somers; Production with Phil Bowen; and Post-Production with Kyle Whitehead. The participants wrote, shot, edited, and did the sound for their short films. The works they’ve created are stunning and demonstrate the participants’ strong, clear visions and voices. We present the World Premieres of their works at the festival with a Q & A after the films screen so the audience can meet the talent behind the cameras! The final component of the program is finding distribution for the films so the program participants’ work finds a wider audience. No doubt that you’ll be hearing more from Madeleine, Matthew, Jesse, Sasha, Zac and Sydney!!

We kick off the festival celebration by inviting you to join us at the posh Kensington Ballroom at the Marriott Calgary Downtown.

Come as your favourite queer film icon and pay tribute to all those who have gone before us, as Vito Russo did in his seminal book and documentary The Celluloid Closet. Celebrate queer cultural influences by dressing up as your favourite star: will it be Marlene Dietrich in Morocco? Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk? Judy Garland in…? well, anything, we suppose. Have fun dressing up, guessing who your fellow guests are and socializing while enjoying the Marriott’s fine food. Cash bar at the event.

Coming Out Monologue Performances!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Dolceore will perform her piece My Name's Susan, Not Lesbian, 
 

 

 

 

 

 

and Mary-Lou Ditta will perform Be A Hero, written by Dana.

 

 

 

 

 

Advance tickets for the screening and after-party are $20 and can be purchased through the advance ticket sales box office now.
Tickets available at the Screening &/or Party $25; Film only: $10; Party Only: $20 (cash only) and take your chances!

This event is a fundraiser for Fairytales Presentation Society. Plaza Passes DO NOT get you into FAVE FRUITY FILM ICONS

 

CLICK HERE to check out all of the SHORTS in this program!

GLAM ROCK Closing Party (with Special Musical Guests)

Location: The Good Life Community Bike Shop | 148-10 St. NW



Featuring a glammed-up performance by Calgary's DEADHORSE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a super awesome dance party set with DJ Jay Fraid

 

 

 

 

 

AND our last
Coming Out Monologue Performance of the festival!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyle Nylund will be performing his piece My Big Gay Life.

Going Down in LA-LA Land is a no holds barred look at Hollywood, our celebrity-crazed culture, and the gay porn and male escort industries. This movie is mostly comedic, sometimes dramatic and sad, and always very sexy.

Adam leaves his life in New York, searching for an acting career in Hollywood. Despite Adam’s best intentions and the level-headed career advice of his best friend Candy, things go from bad to worse as his attempts to find adoration, fame, and fortune lead him into the underworld of gay porn. Things look pretty dire for Adam until he meets the love of his life, a closeted star, and both must make some hard decisions. Will Adam's story have a happy ending? Come enjoy a sexy, gritty and intelligent film and find out! (GF) (MJ)

Gun Hilll Road is a tense and tender portrayal of a family struggling to adjust after husband and father Enrique returns home after three years in prison. Set in the Bronx, the film asks questions about gender and sexuality amongst a prejudiced street mentality that influences the characters’ lives. Enrique comes home to find his expectations of his teenage son Michael shattered. Expecting to find a budding street tough, Enrique finds instead a sensitive person who is exploring a new identity as Vanessa. Beautiful but so young and vulnerable, Vanessa must navigate an increasingly hostile home life as well as the romantic pitfalls of being a transgendered woman in a rough environment. In the middle of Enrique and Vanessa/Michael is wife and mother Angela, who tries to keep the family together while grappling with her own emotional needs and secrets.

Gun Hill Road is the assured debut feature from director Rashaad Ernesto Green, and he gets incredible performances from his cast of veteran actors and new talents. It’s also the first film for visual artist Harmony Santana who is stunning as Michael/Vanessa. A touching and powerful film that navigates the difficult emotional terrain of the characters in a story packed with imagination, humour and respect. Not to be missed!  (MJ)

This film is an inspiring story of addiction and recovery in the grunge rock scene from a queer perspective. Hits So Hard is the life story (so far) of lesbian musician Patty Schemel, who gained fame as Hole’s drummer during the Seattle grunge movement in the early 90’s. The film documents her triumphs and struggles in a scene rife with addiction and hard rock living.

Hits So Hard may refer to Schemel’s incredible talent on the drums, but it can also refer to the film itself, an unflinchingly honest retelling of an artist’s life. Schemel’s perspective on some brutal events is open and honest, and often charmingly funny. During the film’s Q & A at the BFI London Gay & Lesbian Schemel quipped that she may embark on a new career as a stand-up comedian after this film.

Audiences will receive a back stage pass into the male-dominated world of rock, where musicians give Patty Schemel props for her drumming, and also for making it back from the dark side. With previously unseen archival footage of Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain (who Patty lived with in LA), and interviews with members of Hole, Faith No More, Veruca Salt, Luscious Jackson and the Go-Gos. (JD) (MJ)

FOLLOWED BY:
Baldguy (Skallamann) SHORT
CLICK HERE for details

Jobriath enlivened the glam rock scene in the 1970s. He was slickly marketed and promoted as “The American Bowie” and called himself “the true fairy of rock and roll”. This fascinating documentary follows Jobraith’s rise from small town America through his success in the musical Hair, his meteoric rise as a flamboyant glam rock mystery man, and his flaming crash into oblivion a short time later.

Jobriath was the first out gay rock star. Despite his immense musical talent, Jobriath was “too gay ”, and “too sexual” for his time. His flamboyance and outrageousness even made the gay community of the 1970s squirm. This was the era of plaid shirts, leather, and macho gay men, and Jobriath was the antithesis of that ideal. After being humiliated on national TV and then abandoned by his manager and record label, Jobriath began the process of recreating himself as a New York cabaret singer.

Sadly, Jobriath was also the first openly gay rock star to die of AIDS. However, his music has lived on to influence countless musicians—including Morrisey, The Pet Shop Boys, Siouxsie Sioux, Gary Numan, Marc Almond and Joe Elliot of Def Leppard—and a small but loyal fan base kept his legacy alive. This documentary gives Jobraith his due, reinstating him in the context of rock history, and may even lead to a larger-scale revival of his music. Narrated by Henry Rollins. (GF) (MJ)

Filmmakers in Attendance; Q & A after the screening

In Joshua Tree, 1951, actor James Preston moodily and sensually portrays iconic screen star James Dean in his early years, before his fame in East of Eden and Rebel without a Cause. Stylishly shot in black-and-white on 35mm film, this much-anticipated film takes us into Dean’s 20th year as he creates a persona from the raw material of his Los Angeles life with the wealthy, influential and beautiful people of post-war Hollywood.

Preston’s Dean alternates between intimacy and detachment while exploring his sexuality with men and women. The stark and surreal desert of Joshua Tree characterizes the raw need of Dean to blossom, a need that causes him to take on Hollywood characteristics and use others for his own purposes, such as a past-her-prime starlet, his male roommate, and movie industry men-of-power.

Director Mishory confronts the speculations around Dean’s sexuality and weaves a time-shifting story of a man refashioning himself from his “outsider” mid-western roots into a sought-after actor. It is a compelling fictionalized biography made more poignant by knowing that James Dean died tragically a mere four years later. Mishory’s complex and sensitive portrait of James Dean speculates upon and redefines this unblemished, tragic icon. (TM)

Director Matthew Mishory and Producer/Actor Edward Singletary, Jr. in Attendance

Mia and Frida meet each other for the first time at their respective parents' engagement party. Mia has a tense relationship with her father and has not visited him in years, but she arrives with an announcement of her own: she and her longtime boyfriend Tim are engaged. At first everything seems perfect, two happy couples, a potential reconciliation with her father, but then Mia’s and Frida’s eyes meet across the room and sparks fly. As Mia and Frida get to know one another, strong emotions begin to stir between them. Their relationship will turn everything upside down for everyone close to them with dramatic consequences creating a beautifully crafted first date movie.

One of the most anticipated lesbian romances of the film festival, with strong performances and stirring cinematography. (JD) (MJ)

From Script To Screen is a frank and revealing discussion with CHERYL DUNYE (The Watermelon Woman, Stranger Inside, My Baby’s Daddy, The Owls, Mommy is Coming) about the realities every filmmaker faces whatever the budget, offering a rare insider's look at how a movie comes to fruition. Whether you have just completed your first script or are well into the filmmaking process, this master class will give insight and encouragement that could lead to finding the best way to bring your project to the screen.

** Please note you must register in advance for the workshop and that space is limited. Workshop is $50 in advance for everyone (click Buy Tickets)  If there is space left it will be $75 at the door**

 

Bio:
Cheryl Dunye is a director, screenwriter, and filmmaker whose work explores issues of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.
Her work is characteristically postmodern in the self-referential disclosing of Dunye's role as both actor and director. Combining intensely personal accounts with humor, Dunye's films and videos are engaging and provocative, revealing the complexities and struggles she has faced, as well as her happiness and pride, in being an African-American lesbian.

Cheryl Dunye, who graduated with an MFA from Rutgers University, has been a video art practitioner for well over a decade. Dunye serves on the Directors Guild of America's Independent Council and on the advisory board for New York's Independent Film Project's Gordon Parks Award. She was also a mentor for IFP/ West Project Involve and a board member of Los Angeles OUTFEST.

PHOTO CREDIT: Romy Suskin

Filmmaker Matthew Mishory's work has been shown at major film festivals and art galleries around the world (from London to New York to Reykjavik to São Paulo), and his short film Delphinium: A Childhood Portrait of Derek Jarman has been permanently installed in the British Film Institute's National Film Archive in the special collection Beautiful Things. Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean is his feature film debut. The picture had its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival and is already winning praise for its lush visuals and poetic lyricism.

The writer/director will be screening clips from his work in this comprehensive artist talk and speaking about both his creative process and his experiences making a break-through feature. Matthew will specifically discuss his passion for light, composition, and filmic textures (especially super8) and how they are informed by his love of art and cinema history. Also included in the talk will be a discussion of collaboration. Matthew's producer and partner in their production company Iconoclastic Features, Edward Singletary, Jr., will also be in attendance.

PRECEDED BY:
Coming Out Monologue by Brianne Langille
CLICK HERE for details

Melting Away is a heartfelt, emotionally evocative story about family, and it captures the power of love to transcend hatred, shame, and fear. After discovering women’s clothing in Assaf’s, room, Shlomo cruelly locks Assaf out of their family home, with the grudging consent of his wife, Gallia. Assaf is forced to survive on the street, and disappears from his parent’s life—rarely talked about, but never forgotten.

Four years later, Gallia secretly searches for Assaf in the hope that father and son can reunite before Shlomo’s impending death from cancer. Instead of finding Assaf, the private detective she hires finds Anna, a beautiful transgendered woman who supports herself by performing in a gay nightclub. Despite her anger at being rejected by her parents, Anna re-establishes a relationship with her father by posing as a private nurse hired to care for Shlomo. Over time the relationship between nurse and patient grows, despite the truths that are withheld from Shlomo, Gallia and Shlomo’s brother, who keeps making advances on the pretty nurse despite her constant rebuffs. The drama builds as Anna and her family negotiate their feelings as the truth starts to be revealed. The film’s final moments are some of the most affecting scenes ever experienced in cinema. It’s a brilliant film that will leave no viewer untouched.

This powerful drama was conceived in response to the brutal shootings in a Tel Aviv queer youth centre in 2009. Many parents of these youth refused to visit their children in the hospital after discovering that they were part of the queer community. This is Israel’s first feature film with transgendered characters. (GF)(MJ)

Preceded by short film Just the Tip, click here for details

Filmmaker in attendance; Q & A to follow the film

Stylish and warm rarely inhabit the same film, but Men to Kiss encapsulates great cinematography and the heart-warming story of two people who were meant to be together despite having little in common. Tobi and Ernie are as opposite as people can be: one is a responsible banker, the other is a balloon-wearing free spirit. Yet, sparks fly when they meet and an indestructible bond is forged—until Ernie’s best friend Uta comes to visit, determined to break them up and have Ernie to herself.

Both Tobi and Ernie are forced to confront themselves and their relationship, as their colourful group of friends get involved to keep Tobi and Ernie together while getting rid of Uta. It’s not an easy task but it is funny, as the stakes get higher, the capers get more dangerously sublime. (MJ)

Producer / Writer / Actor Frank Christian Marx in attendance

 

Filmmaker in Attendance: Q & A to follow

From the acclaimed creator of The Watermelon Woman comes a ground-breaking film that pushes the boundaries in all the right ways. Cheryl Dunye’s Mommy is Coming is a raunchy comedy of errors that takes on the last taboo in female sexuality: mommy issues.

Bored with their sex lives, our two heroines stumble into the seedy underbelly of Berlin’s queer kink scene. They embark on a stimulating and surprising journey of self-discovery; that is, until Mommy comes to town and then a whole new level of surprise comes into play.

Explicit sexuality, original story and side-splitting fun in a film unlike any other the lesbian community has seen. (JD)

Director / Writer / Actor Cheryl Dunye in attendance


KINK AFTER PARTY Beginning at 11 pm at The Calgary Eagle 424 8th Ave SE:

After Mommy Is Coming, join us in the East Village for a specially created event. Featuring kink demonstrations and performances from Lady Seraphina, Burlesque Burn, and The Fake Mustache Drag King Troupe. All experience levels welcome, come down to learn about kink from people in your community in a safe, respectful environment.

Come get your hands on our equipment!

 

Mosquita y Mari, a coming of age story, focuses on a gentle friendship between two Chicana teen girls in east Los Angeles. When straight-A student Yolanda – aka Mosquita - decides to help struggling tough girl, Mari, with her homework, an intense attraction evolves. Both young actors’ strong performances bring us into the midst of their delicate dance of self-discovery and sexual awakening. Growing up in immigrant households, both have only known loyalty to family. Lost in their private world of unspoken affection, lingering gazes, and heart-felt confessions of uncertain futures, Yolanda's grades begin to slip while Mari's focus drifts away from her duties at a new job. Pressures at their homes collide with their relationship, driving it to the edge, forcing them to choose between their obligations to others and staying true to each other.

With her wonderfully accessible story, exceptionally talented young filmmaker, Aurora Guerrero, rightfully asserts herself as a promising new voice in the independent film world. She has created an assured feature debut that puts the Chicana experience firmly on the cinematic map with its brief moments of simple but memorable cinematographic magic, and its images of the Mexican-American immigrant experience. (TM)

North Sea Texas is a cinematographically beautiful and heartfelt gay coming of age story that lyrically captures the ecstasy and agony of first love that looks destined for heartbreak.

Pim, a lonely gay adolescent, lives in a tiny town on the Belgium coast with his single mother, ex-beauty queen Yvette. Sadly, Yvette’s primary love is not for Pim, but for her accordion and any man who will shower her with attention. Pim copes with his loneliness and isolation by drawing and fantasizing - first of princesses and beauty queens, and later of handsome boy-next-door Gino. Gino’s mother has kindly offered Pim refuge from maternal neglect, while Gino’s sister’s crush on Pim threatens to reveal the true nature of the boys’ relationship.

Shot in Flanders, the characters are carefully and sensitively portrayed in a story that will warm the most jaded heart. North Sea Texas is the much-anticipated debut feature film from international festival favourite Bavo Defurne. The director’s short films have won awards around the world, so this feature is the result of a master filmmaker expanding his scope. A film that frees the dreamer in all of us. (GF) 

Panelist Biographies: Click Here

Romeos places us in contemporary Cologne, Germany within straight and GLBT cultures. The story centres on Lukas, a 19 year old FTM doing his compulsory community service. Secrets and tensions abound as this young man is forced to live in the female dorm, a situation disconcerting to many. His lesbian friend, Ine, and new friends, bring him into the city’s gay life where he meets Fabio, a cocky, dark-haired, extremely good looking gay hunk who beds whomever he pleases.


While a story of transitioning, Romeos is also a coming of age story dealing with universal issues such as relationships, trust, and just fitting in. Lukas is played by actor Rick Okon in a nuanced performance that brilliantly reveals his mindsets around friends, family, and relationships, as well as, of course, his emerging gender and sexual identities. Successfully filmed without cliché, Romeos evolves into a well-told story of developing friendships, love, and sexual awakenings. Guaranteed to be accessible and interesting for all audiences, no one will go home untouched by Lukas and the events of his life. (TM)

FOLLOWED BY:
QUEER ACTIVISM HERE NOW Panel 
CLICK HERE for details

ACT UP for 20 years has been one of the most influential and dynamic activist organizations in North America. Directly influencing media response to the AIDS epidemic, born of a grass roots generation banding together to force change in the world around them. United in Anger: A History of ACT UP is an inspiring documentary about the birth and life of this AIDS activist movement from the perspective of the people in the trenches fighting the epidemic. Utilizing oral histories of members of ACT UP, as well as rare archival footage, the film depicts the efforts of ACT UP as it battles corporate greed, social indifference, and government neglect. (JD)

 

We start off the festival with a documentary of a pioneering cultural advocate and film critic who paved the way for the films programmed at this year’s festival.

Vito Russo grew up as a passionate film aficionado during the restrictive 1950’s and 60’s, dreaming about Rock Hudson and seeing past the restrictions of the Hays Production Code to find hidden meanings with a queer subtext in the era’s films.

In the aftermath of Stonewall in 1969, 23-year old Vito became politicized, and in the process, found his life’s path: becoming a formidable cultural critic and passionate LGBT advocate. With great personal drive, he spent years writing The Celluloid Closet, the first book to critique Hollywood’s portrayals of gays on screen. The manuscript was rejected by over 16 publishers until Harper & Row picked it up. The Celluloid Closet became an instant best-seller upon the book’s release, spawning a documentary of the same name produced by Lily Tomlin, and a subsequent 1987 reprint of the book. Vito went on to influence culture throughout his lifetime, broadening cinematic criticism and academic study to include LGBT perspectives.

Simultaneously, Vito worked in New York’s queer community, advocating for change and inclusion. Vito participated with the newly formed ACT UP organization during the AIDS epidemic to better conditions for those afflicted with AIDS, the disease that would eventually silence his voice. Although his life was cut short by the disease, it couldn’t prevent his continuing influence on our culture.  (MJ)

In honour of Vito Russo’s legacy, we celebrate queer film icons past and present with our opening party FAVE FRUITY FILM ICONS held at the Kensington Ballroom at the Marriott Calgary Downtown, right across from the Calgary Tower.

RELATED FILMS: UNITED IN ANGER: A HISTORY OF ACT UP (June 2 at noon at the Old Y Centre); JOBRIATH AD (June 2 at 7 pm at the Plaza Theatre)

PRECEDED BY:
The Not-So-Subtle Subtext SHORT
CLICK HERE for details

Filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf capture every stage of Chely Wright's two-year transformation from closeted country music star to LGBT advocate. Archival footage charts her rise to fame with hit singles on the country music charts and highlights how this breakthrough left her constantly facing awkward questions about her own love life in the media glare of Nashville. Meanwhile, contemporary video diaries find Wright openly wrestling with her own insecurities about her life-changing decision to come out publicly.

The film documents a difficult love letter to a process that still represents a huge challenge to country music artists and their career aspirations. Beyond the personal, Wish Me Away is also a compelling look behind the scenes at how images are created in this day and age, as Wright and her advisers plan to announce the news in a meticulously-planned marketing campaign. Riveting documentary that will have you cheering and crying as Wright allows a warts and all look into her life. (JD)