22nd Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival

May 10 - 21, 2006

Jury Award Winners

from 22nd Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival
No items found.

Jury Honorable Mention

from 22nd Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival
No items found.

Audience Awards

from 22nd Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival
No items found.

Best in Show Shorts

from 22nd Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival
No items found.

All Feature Films

from 22nd Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

20 Centimeters

in person
Ramón Salazar
113 min
Spanish
Spain
2005
With a hefty dose of Almodovar and the flamboyance of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, director Ramón Salazar’s 20 Centimeters tells the story of Marieta (Mónica Cervera) a narcoleptic transsexual hooker who longs to get rid of the 20 centimeters that separate her from becoming the glamorous woman she longs to be. Though her day-to-day life is rough and wanting, Marieta’s dreams are where she comes alive in full-scale musical numbers. Salazar’s combination of intense drama with musical interludes creates a “wonderfully twisted” film that will haunt you for quite some time.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

A Year Without Love

in person
Anahí Berneri
95 min
Spanish
Argentina
2005
Winner of best queer feature film at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival, A Year Without Love is a densely layered, eloquent portrayal of Pablo, a hunky young writer and poet who is struggling to come to terms with his HIV-positive status. Desperate for affection, he cruises the gay bars of Buenos Aires, places personal ads, and haunts porn cinemas, each time documenting his search. He meets up with a tough S&M; crowd, and while tenderness may be lacking, he at least finds pleasure, proof that he’s still alive. A thoughtful, poignant, yet challenging look at one man’s approach to loneliness and HIV.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

Bam Bam and Celeste

Comedian Bruce Daniels in person
Lorena Machado
85 min
English
USA
2005
Uproarious comic genius Margaret Cho invests everything that makes her great in this madcap road movie. The film features all of her favorite targets: freaky sex, growing up a loser, TV in every form and, of course, her glorious mother, full of kooky wisdom and breathtaking malapropisms that will leave you laughing for days. Cho is Celeste, an overweight, Korean, former goth punk, while her longtime friend and collaborator Bruce Daniels plays Bam Bam, a hyper-queeny, African American stylist. They are both stuck in a dreary midwestern city until a shot at a reality-TV makeover show puts them on the road to New York City. The film also stars Jane Lynch and Wilson Cruz. Description adapted from Noah Cowen, Toronto International Film Festival.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006

Boy Culture

Men's Opening Night

Director Q Allan Brocka and Producer Victor Simpkins in person
Q. Allen Brocka
85 min
English
USA
2006
Brocka’s follow-up to Eating Out is a sexy, funny, and sharply written gay comedy of manners. “X” is a hooker with morals in need of a dose of intimacy. He is secretly obsessed with his roommate, Andrew (Darryl Stephens of Noah’s Arc), who is starting to experiment on the scene. Then there’s Joey, their young sexually voracious “son” who completes the threesome. When “X” meets an enigmatic older trick, he begins to drop his guard; as he does, all their relationships spin out into intricate and hilarious patterns. This is gay life tempered with real heart, intelligence, and emotional integrity. Boy Culture turns you on, makes you think about your own relationships, and leaves you with a smile on your face. Description adapted from the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

Eighteen

in person
Richard Bell
90 min
English
Canada
2005
Telling two distinctly different but related stories, sophomore filmmaker Richard Bell (Two Brothers) has crafted an accomplished drama about forgiveness, love, and a tragic family. Pip is a street kid who is meeting life head-on in the big city. On his eighteenth birthday, he receives his grandfather’s WWII memoirs on cassette, a gift that awakens the ghost of the past. His grandfather relates the story of the day he turned eighteen, fleeing German forces through the woods of France. In Pip’s own contemporary way, he begins to live the parallel life of his grandfather, each man lost in his own world and generation. Bell has assembled an outstanding cast of actors with queer credentials including Thea Gill (Queer as Folk), Sir Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, and Canadian actor Brendan Fletcher (The Five Senses).
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006

Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema

Queer film panel discussion in person
Lesli Kalinberg & Lisa Ades
85 min
English
USA
2006
Fabulous! charts the evolution of independent gay and lesbian cinema from experimental filmmakers of the 1940s and 50s, to underground filmmakers of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, to the breakthrough “New Queer Cinema” of the 90s, and the cutting-edge gay filmmakers of today. The documentary features directors Todd Haynes and Jennie Livingston, as well as John Cameron Mitchell, John Waters, and Angela Robinson; actors Guinevere Turner, Alan Cumming, and Heather Matarazzo; producer Christine Vachon; and journalists Michael Musto, B. Ruby Rich, and Alonso Duralde—all waxing eloquent on the movies queer audiences are lucky to have. Followed by a discussion on current trends in GLBT film with panelists including filmmaker Debra Wilson, Yusuf Nasrullah of MASALA, James Nadeau of MIT’s Comparative Media Studies Program, and film critic Loren King.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

Fingersmith

in person
Aisling Walsh
181 min
English
UK
2005
Following the resounding success of the film version of her brilliant novel, Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters’s newest adventure is just as riveting. It is the story of two very different women: Sue, a fingersmith (Victorian slang for pickpocket), lives independently and survives by her wits. Maud, plucked from a women’s prison to live a life of privilege and sophistication, leads a sheltered life under the ever-watchful eye of her uncle. The two women meet, not by chance, but as the result of a cleverly devised plot to swindle Maud out of her inheritance. Nothing, however, is what it seems as the two women tell their sides of a story filled with betrayal and courage. Description adapted from the Reel Affirmations Film Festival.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2004

Guys and Balls

in person
Sherry Hormann
106 min
German
Germany
2004
Take Bad News Bears and set it on Bend it Like Beckham’s playing field, and you’ve got Guys and Balls, a light-hearted send-up of all the macho sports movies your straight friends forced you to see. Ecki is a sweet, closeted gay man who works in his family’s bakery and plays goalie in his small town’s soccer team. When he both loses the big game, and is caught flirting with another player, his homophobic teammates throw him out. He vows to return one day with an all-gay team that will grind the heteros into the dust, so he sets off to find his “dream team.” The final game is a delicious clash of straight machismo and gay fabulousness that will have you both laughing and cheering down to the ultimate showdown. In German with English subtitles. Description adapted from the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

Gypo

in person
Jan Dunn
98 min
English
UK
2005
his is the first British Dogme 95 film and was made on a shoestring budget by first-time director Jan Dunn. It tells of the impact of Tasha, a Czech refugee who affects one unhappy British working-class family. The same story is told from three radically different perspectives: that of the good-hearted mother who welcomes Tasha, the teenage daughter who turns against Tasha, and the fed-up father who loathes Tasha. The bare-bones style (no music, no artificial lighting, and actual locations) gives the story a documentary realism that, combined with a determination to tackle a taboo subject head-on, makes this similar in many ways to the films of Ken Loach. Description adapted from the Borderlines Film Festival.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School

with On The Low and A Girl Named Kai

Director Irena Fayngold in person
Irena Fayngold
60 min
English
USA
2005
This timely film chronicles Shulamit Izen’s fight to start a gay-straight alliance at Gann Academy-The New Jewish High School of Greater Boston. Beyond the struggle to create a supportive environment for gay and lesbian students and teachers at the school, this is the story of a community wrestling with the very definition of pluralism and diversity in a Jewish context.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

Left Lane: On the Road with Folk Poet Alix Olson

Women's Opening Night

Director Samatha Farinella and subjet Alix Olson in person
Samantha Farinella
93 min
English
2005
She’s outspoken, subversive, and she offers no apologies. Northampton-based, lesbian spoken-word artist and activist, Alix Olson takes her one-woman tour-de-force to the screen in this revealing documentary. Director Samantha Farinella offers an extended glimpse into the mind and motivations of this thought-provoking artist, whose feminist poetry issues a slap in the face to the patriarchy. Behind the scenes during Alix’s cross-country tour, Left Lane follows her through college campuses, women’s festivals, and high schools, inspiring young poets and provoking audiences with her incisive wit. Description adapted from the New Festival.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006

Lover Other

with Hubby/Wifey

in person
Barbara Hammer
55 min
English
USA
2006
Experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer illuminates the story of surrealist writer, photographer, and lesbian Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, her lover, step-sister, and artistic collaborator. Capturing the spirit of this Jewish couple who refused to live by any standards but their own, the film masterfully employs photographs of the women and their artwork, interwoven with voiceovers and insightful interviews. Lover Other brings art, politics, and gender identity to the fore in a thought-provoking investigation of artists and resistance during WWII.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006

Mom the Movie

Star Julie Godlman and Director Erin Greenwell in person
Erin Greenwell
70 min
English
USA
2006
Boston native Julie Goldman stars in this “classic buddy movie with a lesbian twist” (The Blade). The film follows the life of Kelly, an aspiring TV news reporter who is shipped off to Little Hope to gather data for her marketing firm, accompanied by Linda (Goldman), a butch, talkative cameraperson who has aspirations of her own. With no hotel rooms to be found, due to the annual chili cook-off, the two are forced to stay at the local youth hostel, where a pair of amorous dykes keeps Kelly from preparing for her big network interview. When all is said and done, Kelly and Linda learn a few things about themselves and each other that help them gain a greater perspective about life.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

My Brother... Nikhil

in person
Onir
120 min
Hindi
India
2005
This emotionally powerful Bollywood film is the first Hindi movie to deal both with homosexuality and HIV. It is a testament to the power of relationships and one man’s quest to regain dignity and love. Nikhil Kapoor (Sanjay Suri) was the all-around state swimming champion of Goa. Handsome, jovial, and charming, he is the idol of his peers; his friends love him and his family adores him. All this changes on August 8, 1989, when Nikhil is arrested and imprisoned in solitary confinement, because his health exam reveals he is HIV-positive. Overnight, he is abandoned by nearly everyone in his life, until all he has left are his boyfriend Nigel and his sister Anu, who defies her family and stands by her brother unconditionally to fight for his civil rights.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

Pick Up the Mic

Musician Juba Kalamka in person
Alex Hinton
90 min
English
USA
2005
acked with raw interviews and stinging performances, this explosive documentary introduces us to 20 artists, activists, and entertainers who belong to the growing underground queer hip-hop movement. From a striking range of sexual and ethnic backgrounds, the MCs and rappers in this rapidly expanding network disagree about almost everything—from political or openly gay content in their raps, to the role of race and gender in the hip-hop community, to the need to push for major-label success—but that’s exactly what makes them a uniquely defiant community with lethal force. Shot over three years by Queercore director Alex Hinton, the film charts the movement from the underground Bay Area scene in the 90s, to the present scenes in Houston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and London. Description adpated from the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

Producer Raymond Lee in person
Auraeus Solito
97 min
Tagalog
Phillipines
2006
Set in the slums of Manila, the purity of first love is pitted against squalor and corruption. Gay pre-teen Maxi is deeply committed to his family of petty thieves. His world revolves around his father and his two brothers, until he meets Victor, an honest, principled, and handsome policeman. The two become friends, and Victor inspires Maxi to hope for a better life, but their relationship draws the ire of Maxi’s family.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

Unveiled

in person
Angelina Maccarone
97 min
German & Farsi
Germany
2005
A heartrending drama about the status of lesbians living under religious oppression and one woman’s valiant efforts to free herself. Fariba, prosecuted in Iran because of her love for a woman, flees to Germany. Trying to enter the country with forged documents, she is immediately arrested, but her prospects improve when she takes on the identity of a male detainee, Siamak, and assumes his temporary permit of sojourn. She takes an illegal job in a factory, where she meets Anne, who is very concerned about “Siamak’s” wellbeing. While spending more and more time together, they become dangerously close, and Anne begins to suspect Fariba’s true identity.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2004

When I'm Sixty-Four

in person
Jon Jones
87 min
English
UK
2004
This unusual and refreshing gay romance portrays the burgeoning relationship between a retired school teacher and a gruff cabbie. Jim has spent almost his entire life at a boy’s school: first as a pupil, then a teacher. Ray is a widower, a former football hooligan with two grown children and a crop of grandchildren. When Jim leaves his coat in Ray’s cab, Ray makes a point to return it, and there is an immediate connection. Can these two men make their love work despite objections from society and family? In this moving and very real film made for British television, we are treated to a sweet and rare romance. Description adapted from the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005

Women in Love

in person
Karen Everett
59 min
English
USA
2005
This riveting documentary explores one woman’s journey through fifteen years of friendship and love. Filmmaker Karen Everett turns the camera on her own love life and a remarkable community of culturally significant sex radicals in San Francisco. Through home videos, candid interviews, and video diaries, Everett poses universal questions about the nature of relationships from monogamy to polyamory. Featuring Jackie Strano and Shar Rednour, leading directors of lesbian pornography, and Phyllis Christopher, one of North America’s leading photographers of lesbian erotica.
 min total program
No items found.

All Short Film Programs

from 22nd Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival
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Special Program: Love and Marriage

FREE

Directors Debra Wilson & Stephanie Higgins in person
 min total program
Award-winning filmmaker Debra A. Wilson’s (Butch Mystique) latest film highlights black lesbian and gay couples who share personal and heartfelt stories that challenge levels of intimacy between two people. Their commitment redefines and honors love, family values, politics, and religion in today's society. The film also features best-selling author Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. The Gay Marriage Thing presents the politics, piety, and people embroiled in and affected by the heated debate over same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
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WORLD PREMIERE
FROM

Transgender Shorts Program

FREE

in person
 min total program
This collection of Transgender Short Films is part of this years Gay & Lesbian Fest
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM

Women's Shorts Program

FREE

in person
 min total program
This program of Women's Short Films is part of this years's Gay & Lesbian fest.
No items found.

Screenings & Events

May 10 - 21, 2006

SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Left Lane: On the Road with Folk Poet Alix Olson

FREE

Women's Opening Night

Wed, May 10, 2006 @ 7:45 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
She’s outspoken, subversive, and she offers no apologies. Northampton-based, lesbian spoken-word artist and activist, Alix Olson takes her one-woman tour-de-force to the screen in this revealing documentary. Director Samantha Farinella offers an extended glimpse into the mind and motivations of this thought-provoking artist, whose feminist poetry issues a slap in the face to the patriarchy. Behind the scenes during Alix’s cross-country tour, Left Lane follows her through college campuses, women’s festivals, and high schools, inspiring young poets and provoking audiences with her incisive wit. Description adapted from the New Festival.
Samantha Farinella
93
 min
English
 min total program
Director Samatha Farinella and subjet Alix Olson in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Boy Culture

FREE

Men's Opening Night

Thu, May 11, 2006 @ 7:45 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Brocka’s follow-up to Eating Out is a sexy, funny, and sharply written gay comedy of manners. “X” is a hooker with morals in need of a dose of intimacy. He is secretly obsessed with his roommate, Andrew (Darryl Stephens of Noah’s Arc), who is starting to experiment on the scene. Then there’s Joey, their young sexually voracious “son” who completes the threesome. When “X” meets an enigmatic older trick, he begins to drop his guard; as he does, all their relationships spin out into intricate and hilarious patterns. This is gay life tempered with real heart, intelligence, and emotional integrity. Boy Culture turns you on, makes you think about your own relationships, and leaves you with a smile on your face. Description adapted from the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.
Q. Allen Brocka
85
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Director Q Allan Brocka and Producer Victor Simpkins in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Mom the Movie

FREE

Fri, May 12, 2006 @ 7:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston native Julie Goldman stars in this “classic buddy movie with a lesbian twist” (The Blade). The film follows the life of Kelly, an aspiring TV news reporter who is shipped off to Little Hope to gather data for her marketing firm, accompanied by Linda (Goldman), a butch, talkative cameraperson who has aspirations of her own. With no hotel rooms to be found, due to the annual chili cook-off, the two are forced to stay at the local youth hostel, where a pair of amorous dykes keeps Kelly from preparing for her big network interview. When all is said and done, Kelly and Linda learn a few things about themselves and each other that help them gain a greater perspective about life.
Erin Greenwell
70
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Star Julie Godlman and Director Erin Greenwell in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Pick Up the Mic

FREE

Fri, May 12, 2006 @ 9:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
acked with raw interviews and stinging performances, this explosive documentary introduces us to 20 artists, activists, and entertainers who belong to the growing underground queer hip-hop movement. From a striking range of sexual and ethnic backgrounds, the MCs and rappers in this rapidly expanding network disagree about almost everything—from political or openly gay content in their raps, to the role of race and gender in the hip-hop community, to the need to push for major-label success—but that’s exactly what makes them a uniquely defiant community with lethal force. Shot over three years by Queercore director Alex Hinton, the film charts the movement from the underground Bay Area scene in the 90s, to the present scenes in Houston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and London. Description adpated from the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.
Alex Hinton
90
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Musician Juba Kalamka in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Gypo

FREE

Sat, May 13, 2006 @ 1:45 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
his is the first British Dogme 95 film and was made on a shoestring budget by first-time director Jan Dunn. It tells of the impact of Tasha, a Czech refugee who affects one unhappy British working-class family. The same story is told from three radically different perspectives: that of the good-hearted mother who welcomes Tasha, the teenage daughter who turns against Tasha, and the fed-up father who loathes Tasha. The bare-bones style (no music, no artificial lighting, and actual locations) gives the story a documentary realism that, combined with a determination to tackle a taboo subject head-on, makes this similar in many ways to the films of Ken Loach. Description adapted from the Borderlines Film Festival.
Jan Dunn
98
 min
English
UK
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2004
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

When I'm Sixty-Four

FREE

Sat, May 13, 2006 @ 3:45 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This unusual and refreshing gay romance portrays the burgeoning relationship between a retired school teacher and a gruff cabbie. Jim has spent almost his entire life at a boy’s school: first as a pupil, then a teacher. Ray is a widower, a former football hooligan with two grown children and a crop of grandchildren. When Jim leaves his coat in Ray’s cab, Ray makes a point to return it, and there is an immediate connection. Can these two men make their love work despite objections from society and family? In this moving and very real film made for British television, we are treated to a sweet and rare romance. Description adapted from the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
Jon Jones
87
 min
English
UK
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

A Year Without Love

FREE

Sat, May 13, 2006 @ 8:15 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Winner of best queer feature film at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival, A Year Without Love is a densely layered, eloquent portrayal of Pablo, a hunky young writer and poet who is struggling to come to terms with his HIV-positive status. Desperate for affection, he cruises the gay bars of Buenos Aires, places personal ads, and haunts porn cinemas, each time documenting his search. He meets up with a tough S&M; crowd, and while tenderness may be lacking, he at least finds pleasure, proof that he’s still alive. A thoughtful, poignant, yet challenging look at one man’s approach to loneliness and HIV.
Anahí Berneri
95
 min
Spanish
Argentina
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School

FREE

with On The Low and A Girl Named Kai

Sun, May 14, 2006 @ 6:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This timely film chronicles Shulamit Izen’s fight to start a gay-straight alliance at Gann Academy-The New Jewish High School of Greater Boston. Beyond the struggle to create a supportive environment for gay and lesbian students and teachers at the school, this is the story of a community wrestling with the very definition of pluralism and diversity in a Jewish context.
Irena Fayngold
60
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Director Irena Fayngold in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

FREE

Sun, May 14, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Set in the slums of Manila, the purity of first love is pitted against squalor and corruption. Gay pre-teen Maxi is deeply committed to his family of petty thieves. His world revolves around his father and his two brothers, until he meets Victor, an honest, principled, and handsome policeman. The two become friends, and Victor inspires Maxi to hope for a better life, but their relationship draws the ire of Maxi’s family.
Auraeus Solito
97
 min
Tagalog
Phillipines
 min total program
Producer Raymond Lee in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Lover Other

FREE

with Hubby/Wifey

Wed, May 17, 2006 @ 6:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer illuminates the story of surrealist writer, photographer, and lesbian Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, her lover, step-sister, and artistic collaborator. Capturing the spirit of this Jewish couple who refused to live by any standards but their own, the film masterfully employs photographs of the women and their artwork, interwoven with voiceovers and insightful interviews. Lover Other brings art, politics, and gender identity to the fore in a thought-provoking investigation of artists and resistance during WWII.
Barbara Hammer
55
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2004
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Guys and Balls

FREE

Wed, May 17, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Take Bad News Bears and set it on Bend it Like Beckham’s playing field, and you’ve got Guys and Balls, a light-hearted send-up of all the macho sports movies your straight friends forced you to see. Ecki is a sweet, closeted gay man who works in his family’s bakery and plays goalie in his small town’s soccer team. When he both loses the big game, and is caught flirting with another player, his homophobic teammates throw him out. He vows to return one day with an all-gay team that will grind the heteros into the dust, so he sets off to find his “dream team.” The final game is a delicious clash of straight machismo and gay fabulousness that will have you both laughing and cheering down to the ultimate showdown. In German with English subtitles. Description adapted from the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
Sherry Hormann
106
 min
German
Germany
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Men's Shorts Program

FREE

Thu, May 18, 2006 @ 6:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
 min
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

20 Centimeters

FREE

Thu, May 18, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
With a hefty dose of Almodovar and the flamboyance of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, director Ramón Salazar’s 20 Centimeters tells the story of Marieta (Mónica Cervera) a narcoleptic transsexual hooker who longs to get rid of the 20 centimeters that separate her from becoming the glamorous woman she longs to be. Though her day-to-day life is rough and wanting, Marieta’s dreams are where she comes alive in full-scale musical numbers. Salazar’s combination of intense drama with musical interludes creates a “wonderfully twisted” film that will haunt you for quite some time.
Ramón Salazar
113
 min
Spanish
Spain
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Women's Shorts Program

FREE

Fri, May 19, 2006 @ 6:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This program of Women's Short Films is part of this years's Gay & Lesbian fest.
 min
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Women in Love

FREE

Fri, May 19, 2006 @ 8:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This riveting documentary explores one woman’s journey through fifteen years of friendship and love. Filmmaker Karen Everett turns the camera on her own love life and a remarkable community of culturally significant sex radicals in San Francisco. Through home videos, candid interviews, and video diaries, Everett poses universal questions about the nature of relationships from monogamy to polyamory. Featuring Jackie Strano and Shar Rednour, leading directors of lesbian pornography, and Phyllis Christopher, one of North America’s leading photographers of lesbian erotica.
Karen Everett
59
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Fingersmith

FREE

Sat, May 20, 2006 @ 1:15 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Following the resounding success of the film version of her brilliant novel, Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters’s newest adventure is just as riveting. It is the story of two very different women: Sue, a fingersmith (Victorian slang for pickpocket), lives independently and survives by her wits. Maud, plucked from a women’s prison to live a life of privilege and sophistication, leads a sheltered life under the ever-watchful eye of her uncle. The two women meet, not by chance, but as the result of a cleverly devised plot to swindle Maud out of her inheritance. Nothing, however, is what it seems as the two women tell their sides of a story filled with betrayal and courage. Description adapted from the Reel Affirmations Film Festival.
Aisling Walsh
181
 min
English
UK
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Transgender Shorts Program

FREE

Sat, May 20, 2006 @ 4:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This collection of Transgender Short Films is part of this years Gay & Lesbian Fest
 min
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Eighteen

FREE

Sat, May 20, 2006 @ 6:15 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Telling two distinctly different but related stories, sophomore filmmaker Richard Bell (Two Brothers) has crafted an accomplished drama about forgiveness, love, and a tragic family. Pip is a street kid who is meeting life head-on in the big city. On his eighteenth birthday, he receives his grandfather’s WWII memoirs on cassette, a gift that awakens the ghost of the past. His grandfather relates the story of the day he turned eighteen, fleeing German forces through the woods of France. In Pip’s own contemporary way, he begins to live the parallel life of his grandfather, each man lost in his own world and generation. Bell has assembled an outstanding cast of actors with queer credentials including Thea Gill (Queer as Folk), Sir Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, and Canadian actor Brendan Fletcher (The Five Senses).
Richard Bell
90
 min
English
Canada
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Unveiled

FREE

Sat, May 20, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
A heartrending drama about the status of lesbians living under religious oppression and one woman’s valiant efforts to free herself. Fariba, prosecuted in Iran because of her love for a woman, flees to Germany. Trying to enter the country with forged documents, she is immediately arrested, but her prospects improve when she takes on the identity of a male detainee, Siamak, and assumes his temporary permit of sojourn. She takes an illegal job in a factory, where she meets Anne, who is very concerned about “Siamak’s” wellbeing. While spending more and more time together, they become dangerously close, and Anne begins to suspect Fariba’s true identity.
Angelina Maccarone
97
 min
German & Farsi
Germany
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Special Program: Love and Marriage

FREE

Sun, May 21, 2006 @ 1:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Award-winning filmmaker Debra A. Wilson’s (Butch Mystique) latest film highlights black lesbian and gay couples who share personal and heartfelt stories that challenge levels of intimacy between two people. Their commitment redefines and honors love, family values, politics, and religion in today's society. The film also features best-selling author Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. The Gay Marriage Thing presents the politics, piety, and people embroiled in and affected by the heated debate over same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
 min
 min total program
Directors Debra Wilson & Stephanie Higgins in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

My Brother... Nikhil

FREE

Sun, May 21, 2006 @ 3:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This emotionally powerful Bollywood film is the first Hindi movie to deal both with homosexuality and HIV. It is a testament to the power of relationships and one man’s quest to regain dignity and love. Nikhil Kapoor (Sanjay Suri) was the all-around state swimming champion of Goa. Handsome, jovial, and charming, he is the idol of his peers; his friends love him and his family adores him. All this changes on August 8, 1989, when Nikhil is arrested and imprisoned in solitary confinement, because his health exam reveals he is HIV-positive. Overnight, he is abandoned by nearly everyone in his life, until all he has left are his boyfriend Nigel and his sister Anu, who defies her family and stands by her brother unconditionally to fight for his civil rights.
Onir
120
 min
Hindi
India
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2006
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema

FREE

Sun, May 21, 2006 @ 5:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Fabulous! charts the evolution of independent gay and lesbian cinema from experimental filmmakers of the 1940s and 50s, to underground filmmakers of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, to the breakthrough “New Queer Cinema” of the 90s, and the cutting-edge gay filmmakers of today. The documentary features directors Todd Haynes and Jennie Livingston, as well as John Cameron Mitchell, John Waters, and Angela Robinson; actors Guinevere Turner, Alan Cumming, and Heather Matarazzo; producer Christine Vachon; and journalists Michael Musto, B. Ruby Rich, and Alonso Duralde—all waxing eloquent on the movies queer audiences are lucky to have. Followed by a discussion on current trends in GLBT film with panelists including filmmaker Debra Wilson, Yusuf Nasrullah of MASALA, James Nadeau of MIT’s Comparative Media Studies Program, and film critic Loren King.
Lesli Kalinberg & Lisa Ades
85
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Queer film panel discussion in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2005
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Bam Bam and Celeste

FREE

Sun, May 21, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Uproarious comic genius Margaret Cho invests everything that makes her great in this madcap road movie. The film features all of her favorite targets: freaky sex, growing up a loser, TV in every form and, of course, her glorious mother, full of kooky wisdom and breathtaking malapropisms that will leave you laughing for days. Cho is Celeste, an overweight, Korean, former goth punk, while her longtime friend and collaborator Bruce Daniels plays Bam Bam, a hyper-queeny, African American stylist. They are both stuck in a dreary midwestern city until a shot at a reality-TV makeover show puts them on the road to New York City. The film also stars Jane Lynch and Wilson Cruz. Description adapted from Noah Cowen, Toronto International Film Festival.
Lorena Machado
85
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Comedian Bruce Daniels in person
22nd Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival

Screenings & Events

May 10 - 21, 2006

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