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Hey film fans. The long-awaited event is here! No, not Halloween. As if any of you needed the excuse of that holiday to dress up! It's the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, yo! I am so proud of this festival and all the amazing talents who entered their work in the festival this year. There are some amazing GLBT filmmakers out there. Don't miss them. Check out what Brownie saw:
 | Mango Kiss |
Mango Kiss by director Sascha Rice is a comedic take on the life of two young artists, Lou and Sassafras, who become best friends and then lovers. The problem is Sassafras isn't quite ready to settle down into monogamy. Because Lou doesn't want to lose her, she agrees to an open relationship, but only if they play the roles of daddy and little princess. Sound kinky? While the characters are drawn a little too broadly to be taken seriously, I really enjoyed this film. The two lead actresses of wonderful and have a great screen chemistry. Although, I admit, the whole negotiation over the open relationship gave me some horrid flashbacks of girlfriends past, it is a subject that is relevant in this time and place and it's refreshing to see it dealt with on film. Sat. Nov. 6, 7pm, Landmark Century
 | Venus of Mars |
Venus of Mars by director Emily Goldberg is a wonderful documentary about Venus, the male to female transgendered lead singer of Minneapolis rock band 'All the Pretty Horses'. The documentary is an exploration of what it means to become transgendered while in the midst of a marriage. Both Venus and wife Lynette give candid interviews about the sometimes emotionally painful transformation that Venus has undergone and how it's affected their relationship. The brutal honesty between these two people has kept them together for 20 years. Don't miss out on this unique love story. Sat. Nov. 6, 5:30 pm, Chicago Filmmakers
 | Round Trip |
Round Trip by director Sahar Rozen is the story of Nurit, an Israeli bus driver who attempts to re-discover passion by leaving her husband and moving her two children with her to Tel Aviv. Finding it difficult to work and take care of the kids, she hires a Nigerian woman, Mushidi, as a live-in caretaker. The two women later find that they have feelings for each other. This is one of the most natural narrative films I've ever seen. The actress that plays Mushidi is luminous and wonderful to behold. Everyone is so good, it doesn't even seem like they're acting. Coming from a blue-collar background myself, I was so happy to see the lives of courageous working women on the screen. Sun. Nov. 7, 7pm, Chicago Filmmakers
 | Un Amour de Femme |
Un Amour de Femme by director Sylvie Verheyde is the story of Jeanne, a married Parisian woman, and Marie, a sexy dance instructor. The two meet at a party and when Jeanne begins taking Marie's dance class, she re-discovers a passion for dance as well as a passion for...Marie. This film, like many in the fest is about self-discovery and coming to a crossroads in life. One path is the safe well-worn one and the other is thorny and uneven but beyond it, is where true passion lies. Does Jeanne change horses mid-stream? I'm not gonna tell. Check this film out, I think you will enjoy it. Fri, Nov. 5, 7pm Chicago Filmmakers
 | The Adventures of
Iron Pussy |
The Adventures of Iron Pussy by directors Michael Shaowanasai and Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a hilarious genre-bending film about a transgendered Thai crime-fighter named Iron Pussy. Wherever there's trouble Iron Pussy will be there. Able to change into full drag in a matter of seconds (girl got some skills) she rescues underdogs and also works for the Thai government( as long as they approve her wardrobe budget). Did I mention that everyone bursts into song at various intervals as well? I guarantee you've never seen anything like this before. Don't miss it. Thurs, Nov. 11, 6:30pm, Chicago Filmmakers
 | Dyke Drama and Other Comedies |
Dyke Drama and
Other Comedies is a program of hilarious shorts that range from take offs on popular shows like Sex and The City, and Queer Eye For the Straight Guy all the way to an underwater ballet performed by girls in full cowboy gear. These films are entertaining but also very well acted and filmed. Fri. Nov. 5, 8:45pm & 10:45pm, Chicago Filmmakers
 | Where the Girls Are |
Where the Girls Are is a series of documentary shorts. Two of the films focus on lesbian events: the Michigan Womyns Music Fest and the Dinah Shore Classic golf tournament in Palm Springs which has become a major lesbian blow-out in the past few years. The other two films focus on real people, lesbian cartoonist Ariel Schrag and Chicago filmmaker Logan Kibens. I thought all these films were really interesting but the films on Ariel Schrag and the Womyn's Fest both lacked tension. While they were both interesting, I felt that if a bit more structure were imposed on them, they would've had more of an impact on me. The film on the golf tourney/lesbian free-for-all is very well done and I very much enjoyed Chicago's very own Logan Kibens' E! True Hollywood story on herself. Tues. Nov. 9, 7pm, Chicago Filmmakers
 | Dyke Delicious Shorts |
Dyke Delicious Shorts is a wonderful program of short films that are modern re-tellings of classic fairy tales. This program really illustrated to me how technically sophisticated and well-versed in film that women-filmmakers are becoming and I am so proud. Starting last year with the short D.E.B.S, which is the opening feature this year, I've noticed a new pack of strong women filmmakers out there. Can you feel it? I think there's a movement starting. Join up. It's gonna be a good one. Thurs. Nov. 11, 7pm, Landmark Cinema
 | Brushfires |
Brushfires is the result of an exciting film project conceived by the Chicago group Split Pillow. Consisting of seven different shorts directed by seven different women, each short builds on the one before it to tell the story of three women: Cat, her crush/roommate Melissa, and Cat's new best friend, Dakota. Even though, each segment does have a different feel to it, the film as a whole retains a cohesiveness, though the tension in the film sort of waxes and wanes a bit. The choice of actors, I think, was very good, but the central character, Cat, comes off as asexual which gets a bit confusing when she ends up becoming the central object of desire at the end. When one of the characters describes a sexual encounter with Cat, I found myself wishing that they had shown that event. We don't go to the cinema to hear things being described, we come to drink in the images with our eyes. The most moving segment is also the sparsest in terms of dialogue, but visually very moving as Cat, out of frustration with her unrequited feelings for Melissa, creates a work of art on her bedroom wall. Chicago is lucky to have a group like the risk-taking Split Pillow. I'm looking forward to future projects. Wed. Nov. 10, 9:30pm, Landmark Century
 | Beaver Run Café |
Beaver Run Café by director Anita Gouloomian is one of those films that has so many things wrong with it that it hardly seems fair to pick on it. I had hoped never again to see anything like 'Claire of the Moon', but this film looks and feels as if it was an homage to the most notorious lesbian film of the 90's. Ironically, 'Claire' is the top video seller for Wolfe Video. It's sold so well that you can now buy the collector's edition DVD for it. Which can only mean that some of you loved 'Claire of the Moon' with such a passion that you bought it. So it follows that some of you might love 'Beaver Run Café'. Don't let the title mislead you, though. There's no beavers, of any kind, in this film. Mon. Nov. 8, 7pm, Chicago Filmmakers
Other notable films...D.E.B.S, (opening night film!), Do I Love You?, South Asian Shorts, Drag Kings on Tour. For complete schedule, and venue locations: reelingfilmfestival.org
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