Masseru

Celebrating three decades of queer film, Frameline XXX, unspools June 15 through June 25 aarea theatres. This year’s program includes some outstanding independent and foreign queer cinema—documentaries and shorts. Here’s a guide to a handful of festival entries screening over the next week:

GLBT audiences should get a real kick out of 20 Centimeters, (6/16, 8:00pm, Victoria) an eye-popping comedy-romance-musical from Spain about a narcoleptic pre-op transsexual who dreams in vivid musical sequences. The extraordinary dance sequences flesh out the overcomplicated story concerning Adolfo/Marieta (Monica Cervero)—who wants to remove her 20 centimeters— only to fall in love with the nameless hunk (Pablo Puyol) who not only has his own incredible 20 centimeters, but prefers to receive sexual satisfaction from Adolfo/Marieta’s penis!

Boy Culture (6/17, 8:30pm, Castro) is a great gay date movie. The engaging story of X (yummy Derek Magyar), a hustler who has an on-again/off- again crush on his hunky roommate Andrew (Darryl Stephens), while their other roommate Joey (Jonathan Trent) harbors a crush on X, this hip flick about bedhopping buddies is destined to be one hot ticket. Director Q. Allan Brocka keeps the pace lively, the mood sexy, and coaxes fine performances from his cute cast. Even when this adaptation of Matthew Rettenmund’s novel gets a bit sycophantic it redeems itself with wonderful moment such as Andrew’s conversation with his mother.

OpenCam (6/17, 10:45pm, Castro) is a nudity-filled thriller in which a serial killer murders cute young horny gay guys live on a website. While this sounds grisly, it plays more like a soft-core film than snuff. Gaston’s likeable low-budget film features considerably more full frontal and bare-assed scenes than bloody ones. This should please viewers looking for more eye-candy than mystery. The killer’s identity is pretty obvious, and the acting is at times a bit amateurish. Nevertheless, OpenCam is an engaging, entertaining indie.

For the Love of Dolly (6/17, 5:30pm, Victoria) is an excellent documentary about five of the singer’s most rabid fans. The strength of director Tai Uhlmann’s film is that it never mocks the people who tell their stories with candor and passion. While some of Dolly’s fans are a tad obsessive—such as the gay couple who want to paint Dolly’s image on the bottom of their pool, or the young woman who licks the seatbelt of Dolly’s used car—there is also David, a disabled young man who finds a new lease on life through his appreciation of his idol and her music. Uhlmann has created a remarkable portrait of the woman’s most ardent admirers—funny, sad, and ultimately, very revealing.

Vacationland (6/17, 10:30pm, Roxie) is Todd Verow’s superb film about a gay teenager Joe (Brad Hallowell) grappling with his sexuality, a childhood trauma, and getting into college. Verow’s film is one of the most perceptive and unapologetic films about gay teens, capturing the awkwardness of first love, and the desire to strike out on one’s own without condescending or pandering. Hallowell makes an adorable, sympathetic lead and he is ably supported by Gregory J. Lucas as his cute boyfriend.
Gay filmmaker Stewart Main’s adaptation of Graeme Aitken’s novel 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous (6/18, 2:45pm, Castro) is a fantastic and tender queer coming-of-age film. Billy (Andrew Patterson), an overweight twelve-year old boy whose best friend is his cousin Lou(ise), a tomboy (Harriet Beattie). Their friendship is tested with the arrival of two outsiders who stir up Billy’s same-sex desires. Queer audiences will likely find themselves caring for and relating to the characters—from girls who are better at sports and boys who like to dress up, to the outsider navigating his budding sexuality. 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous joyously celebrates these sensitive qualities, and Main tells a universal story that is at once poignant and affecting.

Damion Dietz’ Love Life (6/18, 10:30pm, Roxie; 6/20, 12noon, Castro) is a terrific erotic drama about Mary (Stephanie Kirchen), a lesbian, and Joe, a gay man (Stephen D. Gill) married to each other, but not happily. As this frustrated pair navigate their paths to happiness—Joe cruises for sex in the park, and seduces a hot landscaper (Keith A. Bearden) he hires, while Mary reunites with her college crush—they soon realize what love is. Economically told, and very well acted by the four sexy leads, Love Life is a sensitive and moving film that gay men and lesbians alike should applaud.

Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing (6/18, 11:00 am, Victoria) is an ambitious but not entirely successful adaptation of May Sarton’s novel, a heady brew of poetry, politics, and lesbian love as two reporters interview Mrs. Stevens (Lucy Brightman) about her “muse.” As Mrs. Stevens’ life unfolds in flashbacks—revealing the various influential women she loved—she ruminates on how her writing and poetry ebbed and flowed based on her romances and emotions. If the interview scenes are stagy and talky, the eighty-year-old Brightman, gives invigorating performance.

The Favor, (6/19, 8:45pm, Castro; 6/21, 6:30pm, Parkway), is a cute farce about two lesbians wanting one’s brother to help them get pregnant. Set entirely in an Argentine apartment, this amusing comedy features some well-timed moments of slapstick and some wonderful physical humor as well as some positive messages about same-sex love. While it’s not especially deep, and sometimes gets a bit silly, the film is certainly endearing.

Also from Argentina is Hotel Gondolin (6/19, 8:15pm, Roxie), an intriguing documentary about transgendered women who are fighting for their rights which are being denied by law. The fortitude of these women who live in pretty harsh conditions is well documented, and the individual stories of the hotel’s tenants are fascinating. This is a unique glimpse into a little-seen, marginalized culture.

Another documentary offering profiles of GLBT people, Be Real (6/20, 6:00pm, Roxie) offers inspiring, and well-meaning portraits of six folks who have come to terms with their sexuality and live their lives openly and without shame. While the film tends to be a bit didactic, one of the more notable subjects is San Francisco native, Ross Hayduk, a gay man who reconciled his sexuality and his religion to lead San Francisco’s team in the Gay Games.

Sun Kissed (6/19, 7:00pm, CineArts@Empire; 6/21, 3:30 pm, Castro) will leave audiences feeling sunburned. Although the cinematography is as gorgeous as the leads, direct Patrick McGuinn’s narrative is too disjointed to be effective. The sexual tension between Teddy (John Ort), a gay writer and Leo (Gregory Marcel), a maybe straight actor, starts out well, but once the character fuck, the sizzle fizzles.

the sex movie (6/21, 10:30pm, Victoria) features four characters in one room fucking or fighting. Actually, the fucking is mostly mind-fucking as the lesbian, gay guy, straight guy, and bi-curious gal play more with each others minds than their privates. There is surprisingly little sex, and far too much talk. Audiences will want the good-looking cast to just shut up and fuck.

Possibly the best film in the fest, and certainly one of the most erotic, is Broken Sky (6/21, 9:15pm, Castro), a sensuous romantic melodrama about two young Mexican boys whose relationship ends abruptly when one finds another lover. Lushly filmed, and beautifully acted, and full of extended, intimate sex scenes, Broken Sky is an incredibly elegant film. Although it features minimal dialogue and a 140 minute running time, it is absolutely riveting. Don’t miss it.