Boston LGBT Film Festival 2009

May 6 - 17, 2009

Jury Award Winners

from Boston LGBT Film Festival 2009
No items found.

Jury Honorable Mention

from Boston LGBT Film Festival 2009
No items found.

Audience Awards

from Boston LGBT Film Festival 2009
No items found.

Best in Show Shorts

from Boston LGBT Film Festival 2009
No items found.

All Feature Films

from Boston LGBT Film Festival 2009
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

A Place to Live

with a Discussion of LGBT Elder Housing Issues

in person
Carolyn Coal
88 min
English
USA
2008
The screening of A Place to Live will be followed by a frank discussion of housing and other issues confronting LGBT elders in the Boston area. Tickets for this program are $7/$6.
A Place to Live: The Story of Triangle Square chronicles the journey of seven brave individuals as they attempt to secure a home in Triangle Square, Hollywood, the nation’s first affordable housing facility for LGBT seniors. Since demand far exceeds the number of available apartments, a lottery system was set up to determine who would be selected. This film is a moving exploration of the applicants’ personal stories and the journey that brought them to the lottery and what the future might hold.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

Antarctica

in person
Yair Hochner
112 min
Hebrew
Israel
2008
Set in Tel Aviv, focuses on an interconnected group of friends and their various relationships. At the center is the adorably bookish Omer, about to turn 30, who still hasn’t found himself, and his free-spirited best friend Miki, who both end up inadvertently dating the same handsome journalist, Ronen.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

Baby Love

in person
Vincent Garenq
90 min
French
France
2008
Please join us after the screening at Gaslight Brasserie, 560 Harrison Ave as Gaslight & Grey Goose welcome the viewers of Baby Love/Comme Les Autres with a complimentary cocktail with your film ticket stub. Dinner reservations will receive Amuse Bouche for the table. -always free parking-dining until 1.30am-
They were the perfect loving couple, well, almost. Emmanuel wanted a child but Philippe didn’t. One day, however, Emmanuel decides to take the plunge, at the risk of losing Philippe. But how do you make a child when you are gay?
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

Between Love and Goodbye

Casper Andreas in person
Casper Andreas
97 min
English
USA
2009
Festival favorite Casper Andreas (A Four Letter Word, Slutty Summer) joins us to present his latest film. Join us for a Scion sponsored after-party afterwards at Upstairs on the Square
A modern gay drama about falling in and out of love, and the rocky road in between.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

Chef's Special

in person
Nacho G. Velilla
111 min
Spanish
Spain
2008
Maxi thinks his life is perfect. He is a famous cook who owns a successful restaurant in Chueca and is living his life as a gay man without much complex. But when his son Edu and his daughter Alba appear, and a new attractive neighbor comes along, it will have a strong effect on his life resulting in his values being challenged for ever.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

City of Borders

in person
Yun Suh
66 min
English
Israel
2009
Please note this program is in the MFA's Riley Seminar Room, not the Remis Auditorium
Interviews with the owners and diverse patrons of a Jerusalem gay bar called “Shushan.”
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

Family

Director Faith Trimel in person
Faith Trimel
109 min
English
USA
2008
Faith Trimel joins us for a screening of her new film "Family"
After suffering with the dire consequences of being in the closet, a group of lesbian friends forge a pact to deal with the dire consequences of coming out.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

Fig Trees

in person
John Greyson
100 min
English
Canada
2009
FIG TREES is a documentary opera about AIDS activists Tim McCaskell of Toronto and Zackie Achmat of Capetown as they fight for access to treatment drugs. Documentary interviews, speeches, press conferences and demonstrations are sampled, taken apart, and set to music, replayed this time as operatic scenes. A surreal fictional narrative is intercut with the stories of their struggles against government and the pharmaceutical industry. In this fictional world, Gertrude Stein decides to write a tragic opera about Tim and Zackie and their saint-like heroism. She kidnaps them, transports them to Niagara Falls, and forces them to sing a series of complicated avant-garde vocal compositions. However, when Zackie ends his treatment strike and starts taking his pills, Gertrude realizes that there will be no more tragedy, and thus, no more opera.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

Fruit Fly

Closing Night

in person
H.P. Mendoza
94 min
English
USA
2009
We celebrate the close of another great festival with H.P. Mendoza's (composer and co-star of Colma! The Musical) directorial debut, the hilarious new musical Fruit Fly. Tickets for this program are $12/$10.
Filipina performance artist Bethesda moves into an art commune to search for her long missing biological mother. Along the way, she comes to realize that she just might be a fairy princess, fruit fly.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

I Can't Think Straight

Women's Opening Night

in person
Shamim Sarif
80 min
English
UK
2008
Join us for our Women's Opening Night film as we present Shamim Sarif's I Can't Think Straight. The film will be preceded by a special dance performance from Mesma S. Belsare. Mesma is a Boston-based dancer, choreographer, actor, visual artist and educator. She is trained in classical Bharatanatyam dance style and performs both nationally and internationally. Reception follows at the School of the mfa.
Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship. But Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made for her and escapes back to Jordan, while Leyla tries to move on with her new-found life, to the shock of her tradition-loving parents. As Tala’s wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

It's My Life: A South Asian Queer Story in America

Sarav Chitambaram in person
Sarav Chitambaram
45 min
English
USA
2008
Local filmmaker Sarav Chitambaram will be on hand for a q&a; following this screening of his debut documentary. Please note: tickets are only available at the door for this event (cash only).
Local first-time filmmaker Sarav Chitambaram’s It’s My Life is a personal documentary exploring what it means to be South Asian and queer in the U.S. Through onscreen interviews, the filmmaker creates a first-of-its-kind dialogue between gay and straight South Asian communities in Massachusetts, bringing to light many of the issues faced by queer South Asians as a minority within a minority
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

Kiss the Moon

in person
Khalid Gill
80 min
English
Pakistan
2009
An examination of how transgenders live in Pakistani culture.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2007

OMG/HaHaHa

in person
Morgan Jon Fox
74 min
English
USA
2007
OMG/HaHaHa opens a window to the lives of several young people in Memphis, TN. A gay teenager’s video blog frames the various stories, as he introduces his circle of friends and their troubles from unexpected pregnancy to homophobia, break-ups to dying parents.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

Otto; Or, Up With Dead People

in person
Bruce LaBruce
94 min
English
Canada
2008
A young zombie named Otto appears on a remote highway. He has no idea where he came from or where he is going. After hitching a ride to Berlin and nesting in an abandoned amusement park, he begins to explore the city. Soon he is discovered by underground filmmaker Medea Yarn, who begins to make a documentary about him with the support of her girlfriend, Hella Bent, and her brother Adolf, who operates the camera. Meanwhile, Medea is still trying to finish Up with Dead People, the epic political-porno-zombie movie that she has been working on for years. She convinces its star, Fritz Fritze, to allow the vulnerable Otto to stay in his guest bedroom. When Otto discovers that he has a wallet that contains information about his past, before he was dead, he begins to remember details about his ex-boyfriend, Rudolf. He arranges to meet him at the schoolyard where they met, with devastating results.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

Out Late

with trailer for Gen Silent

Stu Maddox in person
Beatrice Alda & Jennifer Brooke
61 min
English
USA
2008
Out Late will be preceded by a special screening of the trailer for Gen Silent, a documentary-in-progress about Boston LGBT Aging Project, with director Stu Maddox in person. Please note: tickets are only available at the door for this event (cash only).
This feature film looks at five individuals who made a decisive change later in life-to come out as lesbian, gay, or trans gender, after the age of 55. Why did they wait until their 50’s, 60’s, or 70’s to come out? And what was the turning point that caused each of these people finally to openly declare their sexuality? From Canada to Florida, to Kansas, we find out what ultimately led these dynamic individuals to make the liberating choice to pursue fully integrated lives.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

Pedro

Men's Opening Night

DaJuan Johnson in person
Nick Oceano
93 min
English
USA
2008
Join us for our Men's Opening Night Program at the mfa, Boston, as we present Nick Oceano's Pedro. Special guest actor DaJuan Johnson (pictured, back), who plays the role of Sean Sasser, Pedro Zamora's partner and fellow AIDS activist. Reception follows at the School of the mfa. Tickets for this program are $15 general admission, $12 MFA members and students.
An intimate biopic of Pedro Zamora, an HIV-positive Cuban-American, who was cast for the MTV reality show, The Real World: San Francisco, in 1994. Due to his experience on the Real World, Pedro became a celebrity and a sympathetic face of the AIDS epidemic for millions of Americans who had never met anyone with HIV/AIDS.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

Sex Positive

in person
Daryl Wein
75 min
English
USA
2009
Sex Positive explores the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M hustler turned AIDS activist in the 1980s, whose incomparable contribution to the invention of safe sex has never been aptly credited. Mr. Berkowitz emerged from the epicenter of the epidemic demanding a solution to the problem before the outside world would take heed. Now destitute and alone, Mr. Berkowitz tells his story to a world who never wanted to listen.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

Showgirls, Provincetown MA

C. Fitz in person
C. Fitz
72 min
English
USA
2009
We're pleased to welcome filmmaker C. Fitz for this Boston premiere screening of Showgirls, Provincetown, MA(Note: Start Time for This Program is 9:00 pm. Due to scheduling conflicts, the live drag show before the screening has been cancelled.).
This giddily entertaining overview of Provincetown’s annual stage review scales the heights and plumbs the depths of that bucolic seaside town’s legendary Monday night show, which takes place under the auspices of drag guru Ryan Landry, along with a number of his perennial drag cohorts.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2007

Steam

in person
Kyle Schickner
120 min
English
USA
2007
At the local gym’s steam room, three very different women escape from their troubles and find ways to overcome their personal struggles. Laurie (Ally Sheedy) still allows herself to be manipulated by her ex-husband, and is suddenly pursued by her son's much younger football coach. Elizabeth (Kate Siegel), a freshman at Rutgers University, struggles to free herself from her parents controlling grip as she slowly comes to terms with her sexuality. Doris (Ruby Dee), who has lost her husband a year ago, can no longer find much to live for.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

Still Black

in person
Kortney Ryan Ziegler
78 min
English
2008
Frequently marginalized within a community that already struggles against marginalization – that is, the gay, lesbian and bisexual community – African American transgender males make their voices heard in this film from Kortney Ryan Ziegler. Six articulate black transmen – who are also artists, students, husbands, fathers, lawyers and teachers – speak candidly about race, gender, body image and status.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

The Art of Being Straight

Jesse Rosen in person
Jesse Rosen
68 min
English
USA
2008
Emerson graduate Jesse Rosen joins us for a screening of his film The Art of Being Straight.
Twenty-three-year-old John has just moved to L.A. from New York, ostensibly “taking a break” from his longtime girlfriend. He moves in with college bro Andy, whose pals incessantly do that kind of “That is so gay” banter that’s essentially harmless - unless you’re the only gay guy in the room.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

The Baby Formula

in person
Alison Reid
82 min
English
Canada
2008
Two adventurous women in love are desperate to have their own biological child. They take a chance on an experimental scientific process and make sperm from their own stem cells. Pregnant with humor and unexpected twists, their journey ultimately confirms that all life is a gift and all families are crazy.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

The Good American

in person
Jochen Hick
92 min
English
USA
2009
Jochen Hick’s film portrays Tom Weise, the producer of the HustlaBall, ­an event originally created in order to encourage the acceptance of male prostitutes, but also to launch a rent boy website. After his parents split and, having lost all contact with them, this slightly-built former student of politics decides to go to New York at the beginning of the 1990s. Being virus-positive, he is obliged to live in the USA illegally. In fact, according to the law, he cannot even pay a visit to this country. At first Tom has a hard time eking out a living as an escort. Unable to earn enough money, he winds up on the streets without a roof over his head. In the end, he succeeds in helping Jeffrey Davis set up an internet page, rentboy.com, which, ten years later, becomes the largest website for escorts. Increasingly beset by health issues, loneliness and drug abuse, in 2006 Tom eventually finds someone with whom he can share his life. He and his African-American partner decide to go to Berlin.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

The Lollipop Generation

in person
G.B. Jones
75 min
English
Canada
2008
This legendary, unfinished film, fifteen years in the making,... is roughly to Queer Cinema what Orson Welles' The Other Side of Midnight is to, well, Cinema."—Dennis Cooper.
The Lollipop Generation tells the story of Georgie, a teenager who is forced to run away from home after coming out to her parents, and the homeless queer youth and other people she meets on the streets.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

The Lost Coast

in person
Gabriel Fleming
74 min
English
USA
2008
Mark, Jasper and Lily are high school friends now in their early twenties. Mark is gay, living with Lily (his high school girlfriend), while Jasper is straight and soon to be married. A cynical and bitter trio barely connected by their past friendship, they reunite for the annual public Halloween celebration in San Francisco’s Castro district.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

The Lovers and Fighters Convention

with Désarmés (Surrender)

in person
Mike Wyeld
66 min
English
UK
2009
The Story of one night at London’s Transfabulous Arts Festival. In 2004 in the UK, the Gender Recognition Act came into law giving new rights to transgender people - the act itself dividing gender along binary lines. In the wake of the act, many couldn’t locate themselves in the new boxes or even tick one. This film charts performers who re-imagine what gender could mean in the wake of “the act.”
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009

The New Twenty

in person
Chris Mason Johnson
92 min
English
USA
2009
Five best friends in their late 20’s discover new truths about themselves and the friendships they thought would last forever.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 1984

The Times of Harvey Milk

with 575 Castro St

in person
Rob Epstein
90 min
English
United States
1984
Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.
 min total program
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008

Trinidad

in person
Jay Hodges & PJ Raval
85 min
English
USA
2008
Fascinating documentary examination of a small Colorado town’s transformation from Wild West outpost to “sex-change capital of the world” which follows three transgender women who may steer the rural ranching town toward becoming the “transsexual mecca.”
 min total program
No items found.

All Short Film Programs

from Boston LGBT Film Festival 2009
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM

CineMental Presents: Channeling

FREE

in person
 min total program
CineMental brings back the short experimental program Channeling. Curated by Chicago-based artists Ethan White and Latham Zearfoss Channeling is a program of experimental moving image work that summons the ghosts of the  and the specters of the future. If we imagine the technologies of film and video as occult mediums rather than technological ones, then perhaps we can make a kind of spiritual contact with the emotional and physical realities that are often invisible (ghostly) in everyday life. In this sense, both the camera and the ghost stories it captures can serve as powerful instruments in the act of queer worldmaking. Please join us for this special screening of truly experimental and groundbreaking work by emerging queer filmmakers.
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM

Films of Barbara Hammer

FREE

in person
 min total program
We are pleased to welcome pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer back to the festival with her latest films A Horse is Not a Metaphor and The Diving Women of Jeju-Do. Note: Unfortunately Barbara Hammer will not be able to join us for this screening of her two latest films. The film screening will proceed as planned.
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM

Local Showcase

FREE

in person
 min total program
Join us for an afternoon of local queer films! We will be screening short films by area filmmakers and we are also looking to discover new talent. So help us celebrate the best that Boston has to offer!
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM

Men's Shorts

FREE

in person
 min total program
Our annual collection of shorts about gay life - funny, sexy, serious, or silly. Life as a gay man isn't always easy but a great wig and good friends makes it a little bit easier to deal with. Once again we bring you the best in men's short films to make you realise that being short isn't a bad thing.
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM

QWOC shorts

FREE

in person
 min total program
Shorts programs are always popular in the festival, so this year we've expanded the offerings with this collection of shorts by or about queer women of color. Special thanks to Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project.
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM

Queerment Québec: New Voices

FREE

Queerly Canadian

in person
 min total program
Imaginative and intelligent, this programme of shorts represents the voice of a new generation of Québecois LGBT directors. Growing up in an isolated cultural environment - both within Canada and the francophone world at large – experiences of living as Québecois and queer are unique and ripe for remarkable image-making. With signature styles that reflect a myriad of unique perspectives and positions, these are directors to watch. Curated by Katharine Setzer, Director of Programming, image+nation, Montréal International LGBT Film Festival.
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM

Women's Shorts

FREE

in person
 min total program
Our annual collection of shorts about dyke life - funny, sexy, serious, or silly.
No items found.

Screenings & Events

May 6 - 17, 2009

SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

I Can't Think Straight

FREE

Women's Opening Night

Wed, May 06, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Join us for our Women's Opening Night film as we present Shamim Sarif's I Can't Think Straight. The film will be preceded by a special dance performance from Mesma S. Belsare. Mesma is a Boston-based dancer, choreographer, actor, visual artist and educator. She is trained in classical Bharatanatyam dance style and performs both nationally and internationally. Reception follows at the School of the mfa.
Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship. But Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made for her and escapes back to Jordan, while Leyla tries to move on with her new-found life, to the shock of her tradition-loving parents. As Tala’s wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself.
Shamim Sarif
80
 min
English
UK
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Pedro

FREE

Men's Opening Night

Thu, May 07, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Join us for our Men's Opening Night Program at the mfa, Boston, as we present Nick Oceano's Pedro. Special guest actor DaJuan Johnson (pictured, back), who plays the role of Sean Sasser, Pedro Zamora's partner and fellow AIDS activist. Reception follows at the School of the mfa. Tickets for this program are $15 general admission, $12 MFA members and students.
An intimate biopic of Pedro Zamora, an HIV-positive Cuban-American, who was cast for the MTV reality show, The Real World: San Francisco, in 1994. Due to his experience on the Real World, Pedro became a celebrity and a sympathetic face of the AIDS epidemic for millions of Americans who had never met anyone with HIV/AIDS.
Nick Oceano
93
 min
English
USA
 min total program
DaJuan Johnson in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

QWOC shorts

FREE

Fri, May 08, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Shorts programs are always popular in the festival, so this year we've expanded the offerings with this collection of shorts by or about queer women of color. Special thanks to Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project.
 min
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Between Love and Goodbye

FREE

Fri, May 08, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
Brattle Theater
Festival favorite Casper Andreas (A Four Letter Word, Slutty Summer) joins us to present his latest film. Join us for a Scion sponsored after-party afterwards at Upstairs on the Square
A modern gay drama about falling in and out of love, and the rocky road in between.
Casper Andreas
97
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Casper Andreas in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Family

FREE

Fri, May 08, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Faith Trimel joins us for a screening of her new film "Family"
After suffering with the dire consequences of being in the closet, a group of lesbian friends forge a pact to deal with the dire consequences of coming out.
Faith Trimel
109
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Director Faith Trimel in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

The Lost Coast

FREE

Fri, May 08, 2009 @ 10:00 pm
Brattle Theater
Mark, Jasper and Lily are high school friends now in their early twenties. Mark is gay, living with Lily (his high school girlfriend), while Jasper is straight and soon to be married. A cynical and bitter trio barely connected by their past friendship, they reunite for the annual public Halloween celebration in San Francisco’s Castro district.
Gabriel Fleming
74
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

A Place to Live

FREE

with a Discussion of LGBT Elder Housing Issues

Sat, May 09, 2009 @ 11:00 am
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The screening of A Place to Live will be followed by a frank discussion of housing and other issues confronting LGBT elders in the Boston area. Tickets for this program are $7/$6.
A Place to Live: The Story of Triangle Square chronicles the journey of seven brave individuals as they attempt to secure a home in Triangle Square, Hollywood, the nation’s first affordable housing facility for LGBT seniors. Since demand far exceeds the number of available apartments, a lottery system was set up to determine who would be selected. This film is a moving exploration of the applicants’ personal stories and the journey that brought them to the lottery and what the future might hold.
Carolyn Coal
88
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Trinidad

FREE

Sat, May 09, 2009 @ 1:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Fascinating documentary examination of a small Colorado town’s transformation from Wild West outpost to “sex-change capital of the world” which follows three transgender women who may steer the rural ranching town toward becoming the “transsexual mecca.”
Jay Hodges & PJ Raval
85
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Films of Barbara Hammer

FREE

Sat, May 09, 2009 @ 2:00 pm
Brattle Theater
We are pleased to welcome pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer back to the festival with her latest films A Horse is Not a Metaphor and The Diving Women of Jeju-Do. Note: Unfortunately Barbara Hammer will not be able to join us for this screening of her two latest films. The film screening will proceed as planned.
 min
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Kiss the Moon

FREE

Sat, May 09, 2009 @ 3:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
An examination of how transgenders live in Pakistani culture.
Khalid Gill
80
 min
English
Pakistan
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2008
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

The Lollipop Generation

FREE

Sat, May 09, 2009 @ 4:30 pm
Brattle Theater
This legendary, unfinished film, fifteen years in the making,... is roughly to Queer Cinema what Orson Welles' The Other Side of Midnight is to, well, Cinema."—Dennis Cooper.
The Lollipop Generation tells the story of Georgie, a teenager who is forced to run away from home after coming out to her parents, and the homeless queer youth and other people she meets on the streets.
G.B. Jones
75
 min
English
Canada
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

The Lovers and Fighters Convention

FREE

with Désarmés (Surrender)

Sat, May 09, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Brattle Theater
The Story of one night at London’s Transfabulous Arts Festival. In 2004 in the UK, the Gender Recognition Act came into law giving new rights to transgender people - the act itself dividing gender along binary lines. In the wake of the act, many couldn’t locate themselves in the new boxes or even tick one. This film charts performers who re-imagine what gender could mean in the wake of “the act.”
Mike Wyeld
66
 min
English
UK
 min total program
in person
SPOTLIGHT
US PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
FROM 2009
SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Showgirls, Provincetown MA

FREE

Sat, May 09, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
Brattle Theater
We're pleased to welcome filmmaker C. Fitz for this Boston premiere screening of Showgirls, Provincetown, MA(Note: Start Time for This Program is 9:00 pm. Due to scheduling conflicts, the live drag show before the screening has been cancelled.).
This giddily entertaining overview of Provincetown’s annual stage review scales the heights and plumbs the depths of that bucolic seaside town’s legendary Monday night show, which takes place under the auspices of drag guru Ryan Landry, along with a number of his perennial drag cohorts.
C. Fitz
72
 min
English
USA
 min total program
C. Fitz in person
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Panel: Queer Filmmaking Evolution

FREE

Sun, May 10, 2009 @ 2:00 pm
Brattle Theater
Join us for our afternoon panel discussion exploring queer filmmaking and its history with those who make it and program it. Moderated by David Pendleton, formerly of the UCLA Film and Television Archives and current Programmer at the Harvard Film Archive, the panel will bring together filmmakers Faith Trimel, director of Family, Jesse Rosen, director of Art of Being Straight, and Jeannie Simms, director of Readymaids along with Boston LGBT Film Festival founder George Mansour to discuss what it means to be making queer films today and how both the processes and industry have changed over the years. As the Boston LGBT Film Festival reaches its twenty-fifth year we look back and examine how queer films, their distribution and even their subject matter have shifted. Queer media is present in our culture in a manner never before experienced, what does this mean for us as makers and consumers? Please join us for a look back and a look forward. . Tickets for this program are $5.
 min
 min total program
in person
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Local Showcase

FREE

Sun, May 10, 2009 @ 3:30 pm
Brattle Theater
Join us for an afternoon of local queer films! We will be screening short films by area filmmakers and we are also looking to discover new talent. So help us celebrate the best that Boston has to offer!
 min
 min total program
in person
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Queerment Québec: New Voices

FREE

Queerly Canadian

Sun, May 10, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
Brattle Theater
Imaginative and intelligent, this programme of shorts represents the voice of a new generation of Québecois LGBT directors. Growing up in an isolated cultural environment - both within Canada and the francophone world at large – experiences of living as Québecois and queer are unique and ripe for remarkable image-making. With signature styles that reflect a myriad of unique perspectives and positions, these are directors to watch. Curated by Katharine Setzer, Director of Programming, image+nation, Montréal International LGBT Film Festival.
 min
 min total program
in person
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The Art of Being Straight

FREE

Sun, May 10, 2009 @ 7:45 pm
Brattle Theater
Emerson graduate Jesse Rosen joins us for a screening of his film The Art of Being Straight.
Twenty-three-year-old John has just moved to L.A. from New York, ostensibly “taking a break” from his longtime girlfriend. He moves in with college bro Andy, whose pals incessantly do that kind of “That is so gay” banter that’s essentially harmless - unless you’re the only gay guy in the room.
Jesse Rosen
68
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Jesse Rosen in person
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It's My Life: A South Asian Queer Story in America

FREE

Mon, May 11, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Fenway Community Health Center
Local filmmaker Sarav Chitambaram will be on hand for a q&a; following this screening of his debut documentary. Please note: tickets are only available at the door for this event (cash only).
Local first-time filmmaker Sarav Chitambaram’s It’s My Life is a personal documentary exploring what it means to be South Asian and queer in the U.S. Through onscreen interviews, the filmmaker creates a first-of-its-kind dialogue between gay and straight South Asian communities in Massachusetts, bringing to light many of the issues faced by queer South Asians as a minority within a minority
Sarav Chitambaram
45
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Sarav Chitambaram in person
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Out Late

FREE

with trailer for Gen Silent

Tue, May 12, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Fenway Community Health Center
Out Late will be preceded by a special screening of the trailer for Gen Silent, a documentary-in-progress about Boston LGBT Aging Project, with director Stu Maddox in person. Please note: tickets are only available at the door for this event (cash only).
This feature film looks at five individuals who made a decisive change later in life-to come out as lesbian, gay, or trans gender, after the age of 55. Why did they wait until their 50’s, 60’s, or 70’s to come out? And what was the turning point that caused each of these people finally to openly declare their sexuality? From Canada to Florida, to Kansas, we find out what ultimately led these dynamic individuals to make the liberating choice to pursue fully integrated lives.
Beatrice Alda & Jennifer Brooke
61
 min
English
USA
 min total program
Stu Maddox in person
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The New Twenty

FREE

Wed, May 13, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Five best friends in their late 20’s discover new truths about themselves and the friendships they thought would last forever.
Chris Mason Johnson
92
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
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Antarctica

FREE

Wed, May 13, 2009 @ 7:45 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Set in Tel Aviv, focuses on an interconnected group of friends and their various relationships. At the center is the adorably bookish Omer, about to turn 30, who still hasn’t found himself, and his free-spirited best friend Miki, who both end up inadvertently dating the same handsome journalist, Ronen.
Yair Hochner
112
 min
Hebrew
Israel
 min total program
in person
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CineMental Presents: Channeling

FREE

Wed, May 13, 2009 @ 9:30 pm
Brattle Theater
CineMental brings back the short experimental program Channeling. Curated by Chicago-based artists Ethan White and Latham Zearfoss Channeling is a program of experimental moving image work that summons the ghosts of the  and the specters of the future. If we imagine the technologies of film and video as occult mediums rather than technological ones, then perhaps we can make a kind of spiritual contact with the emotional and physical realities that are often invisible (ghostly) in everyday life. In this sense, both the camera and the ghost stories it captures can serve as powerful instruments in the act of queer worldmaking. Please join us for this special screening of truly experimental and groundbreaking work by emerging queer filmmakers.
 min
 min total program
in person
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Women's Shorts

FREE

Thu, May 14, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Our annual collection of shorts about dyke life - funny, sexy, serious, or silly.
 min
 min total program
in person
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The Good American

FREE

Thu, May 14, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Brattle Theater
Jochen Hick’s film portrays Tom Weise, the producer of the HustlaBall, ­an event originally created in order to encourage the acceptance of male prostitutes, but also to launch a rent boy website. After his parents split and, having lost all contact with them, this slightly-built former student of politics decides to go to New York at the beginning of the 1990s. Being virus-positive, he is obliged to live in the USA illegally. In fact, according to the law, he cannot even pay a visit to this country. At first Tom has a hard time eking out a living as an escort. Unable to earn enough money, he winds up on the streets without a roof over his head. In the end, he succeeds in helping Jeffrey Davis set up an internet page, rentboy.com, which, ten years later, becomes the largest website for escorts. Increasingly beset by health issues, loneliness and drug abuse, in 2006 Tom eventually finds someone with whom he can share his life. He and his African-American partner decide to go to Berlin.
Jochen Hick
92
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
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The Baby Formula

FREE

Thu, May 14, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Two adventurous women in love are desperate to have their own biological child. They take a chance on an experimental scientific process and make sperm from their own stem cells. Pregnant with humor and unexpected twists, their journey ultimately confirms that all life is a gift and all families are crazy.
Alison Reid
82
 min
English
Canada
 min total program
in person
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Sex Positive

FREE

Thu, May 14, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
Brattle Theater
Sex Positive explores the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M hustler turned AIDS activist in the 1980s, whose incomparable contribution to the invention of safe sex has never been aptly credited. Mr. Berkowitz emerged from the epicenter of the epidemic demanding a solution to the problem before the outside world would take heed. Now destitute and alone, Mr. Berkowitz tells his story to a world who never wanted to listen.
Daryl Wein
75
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
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Men's Shorts

FREE

Fri, May 15, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Our annual collection of shorts about gay life - funny, sexy, serious, or silly. Life as a gay man isn't always easy but a great wig and good friends makes it a little bit easier to deal with. Once again we bring you the best in men's short films to make you realise that being short isn't a bad thing.
 min
 min total program
in person
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Baby Love

FREE

Fri, May 15, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Please join us after the screening at Gaslight Brasserie, 560 Harrison Ave as Gaslight & Grey Goose welcome the viewers of Baby Love/Comme Les Autres with a complimentary cocktail with your film ticket stub. Dinner reservations will receive Amuse Bouche for the table. -always free parking-dining until 1.30am-
They were the perfect loving couple, well, almost. Emmanuel wanted a child but Philippe didn’t. One day, however, Emmanuel decides to take the plunge, at the risk of losing Philippe. But how do you make a child when you are gay?
Vincent Garenq
90
 min
French
France
 min total program
in person
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Otto; Or, Up With Dead People

FREE

Fri, May 15, 2009 @ 11:00 pm
Brattle Theater
A young zombie named Otto appears on a remote highway. He has no idea where he came from or where he is going. After hitching a ride to Berlin and nesting in an abandoned amusement park, he begins to explore the city. Soon he is discovered by underground filmmaker Medea Yarn, who begins to make a documentary about him with the support of her girlfriend, Hella Bent, and her brother Adolf, who operates the camera. Meanwhile, Medea is still trying to finish Up with Dead People, the epic political-porno-zombie movie that she has been working on for years. She convinces its star, Fritz Fritze, to allow the vulnerable Otto to stay in his guest bedroom. When Otto discovers that he has a wallet that contains information about his past, before he was dead, he begins to remember details about his ex-boyfriend, Rudolf. He arranges to meet him at the schoolyard where they met, with devastating results.
Bruce LaBruce
94
 min
English
Canada
 min total program
in person
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Still Black

FREE

Sat, May 16, 2009 @ 2:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Frequently marginalized within a community that already struggles against marginalization – that is, the gay, lesbian and bisexual community – African American transgender males make their voices heard in this film from Kortney Ryan Ziegler. Six articulate black transmen – who are also artists, students, husbands, fathers, lawyers and teachers – speak candidly about race, gender, body image and status.
Kortney Ryan Ziegler
78
 min
English
 min total program
in person
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Fig Trees

FREE

Sat, May 16, 2009 @ 4:15 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
FIG TREES is a documentary opera about AIDS activists Tim McCaskell of Toronto and Zackie Achmat of Capetown as they fight for access to treatment drugs. Documentary interviews, speeches, press conferences and demonstrations are sampled, taken apart, and set to music, replayed this time as operatic scenes. A surreal fictional narrative is intercut with the stories of their struggles against government and the pharmaceutical industry. In this fictional world, Gertrude Stein decides to write a tragic opera about Tim and Zackie and their saint-like heroism. She kidnaps them, transports them to Niagara Falls, and forces them to sing a series of complicated avant-garde vocal compositions. However, when Zackie ends his treatment strike and starts taking his pills, Gertrude realizes that there will be no more tragedy, and thus, no more opera.
John Greyson
100
 min
English
Canada
 min total program
in person
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OMG/HaHaHa

FREE

Sat, May 16, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
OMG/HaHaHa opens a window to the lives of several young people in Memphis, TN. A gay teenager’s video blog frames the various stories, as he introduces his circle of friends and their troubles from unexpected pregnancy to homophobia, break-ups to dying parents.
Morgan Jon Fox
74
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
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Chef's Special

FREE

Sat, May 16, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Maxi thinks his life is perfect. He is a famous cook who owns a successful restaurant in Chueca and is living his life as a gay man without much complex. But when his son Edu and his daughter Alba appear, and a new attractive neighbor comes along, it will have a strong effect on his life resulting in his values being challenged for ever.
Nacho G. Velilla
111
 min
Spanish
Spain
 min total program
in person
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City of Borders

FREE

Sun, May 17, 2009 @ 1:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Please note this program is in the MFA's Riley Seminar Room, not the Remis Auditorium
Interviews with the owners and diverse patrons of a Jerusalem gay bar called “Shushan.”
Yun Suh
66
 min
English
Israel
 min total program
in person
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FROM 1984
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The Times of Harvey Milk

FREE

with 575 Castro St

Sun, May 17, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.
Rob Epstein
90
 min
English
United States
 min total program
in person
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Steam

FREE

Sun, May 17, 2009 @ 5:00 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
At the local gym’s steam room, three very different women escape from their troubles and find ways to overcome their personal struggles. Laurie (Ally Sheedy) still allows herself to be manipulated by her ex-husband, and is suddenly pursued by her son's much younger football coach. Elizabeth (Kate Siegel), a freshman at Rutgers University, struggles to free herself from her parents controlling grip as she slowly comes to terms with her sexuality. Doris (Ruby Dee), who has lost her husband a year ago, can no longer find much to live for.
Kyle Schickner
120
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
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Fruit Fly

FREE

Closing Night

Sun, May 17, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
We celebrate the close of another great festival with H.P. Mendoza's (composer and co-star of Colma! The Musical) directorial debut, the hilarious new musical Fruit Fly. Tickets for this program are $12/$10.
Filipina performance artist Bethesda moves into an art commune to search for her long missing biological mother. Along the way, she comes to realize that she just might be a fairy princess, fruit fly.
H.P. Mendoza
94
 min
English
USA
 min total program
in person
Boston LGBT Film Festival 2009

Screenings & Events

May 6 - 17, 2009

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