J.J. is an aspiring M.C. who’s taken London’s outlaw urban music scene by storm. He’s got the skills, the rhymes, and the drive. But he may run into a few hurdles on his reach for greatness; he’s white, he’s from the sticks, and he’s gay. J.J.’s resolved to come out onstage at the Urban Slam Finals, bringing his boyfriend Orlando along as moral support. While J.J. is onstage, the frustrated competing band, Illmanics, take out their rage on Orlando, beating him so badly that he suffers permanent brain damage. A victim reconciliation program brings J.J. face to face with Orlando’s attackers. (Description courtesy of Trista Kendall, Frameline International LGBT Film Festival.)

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Director Thom Fitzgerald (The Wild Dogs; The Hanging Garden) evokes virtuoso performances from Oscar-winning actresses Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker in this uproarious dramedy about two women – lovers for 31 years – who must go on the run in order to stay together. Fitzgerald’s film is especially timely against the backdrop of the current marriage battle in Maine taking place this summer. Dukakis plays Stella, an antagonistic, foul-mouthed old bull dyke who lives with her long-time lover– the near-blind and slightly dotty Dot (Fricker)–in their bucolic home by the sea. When Dot’s neurotic granddaughter Molly shows up, announcing that she’s putting Dot in an old folks home, Stella throws her out, giving her an earful in the process. Not to be put off, Molly returns with a policeman and takes Dot away, leaving Stella bereft, but not beaten. Stella soon breaks her out of the home, and the two head for Canada to get married, picking up a young hitchhiker on the way. Thus begins an alternately poignant and riotous comedy that has much to say about the true nature of love and commitment.

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A beautifully told love story of what happens when one woman finally follows her heart. Mia and Frida meet for the first time at their respective parents’ engagement party. As their eyes meet over the champagne toast, both women recognise a deep attraction for each other. But standing in their way is Tim, Mia’s long term boyfriend and business partner, who has just asked Mia to marry him. Thrown together by circumstance, Mia finds it hard to resist acting on her desires for the beautiful and openly gay Frida. Although she insists it was just a one-time thing, she is drawn to the other woman as strongly as Frida is drawn to her. Realising the love and acceptance she experiences with Frida is what she truly wants in life, Mia’s actions have the potential to turn everyone’s lives upside down. How far will she go to keep the woman of her dreams? A beautiful and sensual film told elegantly by Keining with strong performances by all involved. (Description courtesy of Emma Smart, BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.)

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