When Troy (Murray Bartlett) returns to Los Angeles after a multiyear foray in Barcelona, he contacts Jonathan (Daniel Dugan), the object of his desire during a short-lived, intense summer fling f ive years earlier. Their still-smoldering connection is obvious from the first, but Jonathan tries to fight his desires while his live-in boyfriend Raoul (Adrian Gonzalez) approaches the situation with a hands-off approach. Meanwhile, Troy’s inability to make a commitment one way or the other complicates matters. Lovingly shot and languidly told, August uses the perspectives of all three men and a muddled timeline to tell their stories, successfully mixing Rashomon with a dash of Memento to give a unique twist to the romantic-triangle genre. Writer and director Eldar Rapaport. (Description courtesy of Seattle International Film Festival.)

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A POW in Nazi Germany, Vietnam peace promoter, leading gay rights advocate and loving partner of 46 years to Charles Chiarelli, Taking a Chance on God follows the extraordinary life of 86-year-old Jesuit priest John McNeill. This powerful documentary, tells McNeill’s inspiring story of faith, love and perseverance in the face of oppression and rejection. McNeill, the co-founder of the LGBT Catholic group Dignity NY, author of the revolutionary “The Church and the Homosexual,” and leader in the gay community during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, has refused to let his voice be silenced despite being expelled from the Jesuits after forty years of faithful service. Chronicling his love for the Church, the LGBT community, his Jesuit brothers and his partner Charlie, “Taking a Chance on God” proves that there can and should be harmony between the gay community and the Catholic Church. (Description courtesy of Emily Suttmeier, Woodstock Film Festival.)

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Vito Russo was at the forefront of every gay rights movement from Stonewall to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, as a passionate advocate for justice in the newly formed ACT UP, and a co-founder of GLADD. In 1981, he published his landmark book The Celluloid Closet that examined the way Hollywood depicted homosexuality. It was the most extensive record to date of LGBT representation on screen, and forced an examination of film's often-homophobic messages. It still remains the definite text on the subjects and is studied worldwide. With heartwarming and humorous interviews of Vito's family and friends (Armistead Maupin, Jeffrey Freidman, Rob Epstein, and Lily Tomlin among them), and clips from an astonishing collection of film treasures, Vito presents a moving portrait of the person who paved the way for and proved the importance of LGBT film festivals like ours. Even after his death in 1990, his story continues to inspire and his mark on the gay community is unquestionable. (Description adapted from the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.)

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