Gay and lesbian film festival

As some of you know, I've been volunteering at the "11ème festival de films gays et lesbiens de Paris," which was happening at the Forum des Images in the Halles, from October 14th to the 23rd - which would be yesterday. What does it mean? It means I opened for some of the movies, checking tickets and all, and got to see the movies for free. So I thought I'd go through everything I've seen, and review it. You've got both shorts and feature films, both small independent things and big premieres (the biggest being Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto and Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain).

Unveiled - a German/Austrian movie by Angelina Maccarone, to be released in April 2006. The movie follows Fariba, who fled Iran when she was denounced as a lesbian, and has to pretend to be a man in order to stay in Germany. ( A film that was about discrimination, not just homophobia. )

Courts côté garçons/Gay shorts - only two of them caught my attention in a good way. First would be Boy, a Kiwi short by Welby Ings. Very eerie, and interesting, such an odd atmosphere, with broken-dolls-turned-angels. Well worth seeing. Second was Les couilles de mon chat (My Cat's Balls), a French short by Didier Bénureau, where Rémi agonises over having to have his cat castrated. Very funny, and it touches on some interesting issues.

The D-Word - the relatively well-known Dyke TV-produced parody of the L-Word, with dykes all over instead of glamorous, rich and beautiful lesbians. It got a few laughs out of me.

Butterfly - a Chinese film by Yan Yan Mak about Flavia, a married woman who fell in love with a classmate when she was younger, and is now falling in love with another woman and cannot keep repressing the memories and denying that part of her life. ( Good, but longish. )

Courts côté filles/Lesbian shorts - on the whole, much better than the gay ones I found. The one that stands out most is Who's the top?, an American short by Jenny Livingstone. Here is the official site, if you're interested. It's about kinks, and sex, and love, and it's funny and smart and well-written and well-shot and well-acted, and there's Broadway dancers, and also a small part for Steve Buscemi. (I did not squee in the theatre when I saw him. At least not out loud.)

Transparent - an American documentary by Jules Rosskam about transparenthood. Female-to-male transexual parents speak of their experiences, both on the process and transition, but also - mostly - about how they view their role as a parent. Preconceived ideas shatter, and it was a fascinating documentary. Then followed a small debate with Kael T. Block, a pretty famous FTM trans in French circles. Really enlightening.

Sugar - a Canadian movie by John Palmer, with Brendan "Roswell" Fehr. Who, it turns out, can really fucking act. He plays Butch, a prostitute who Cliff, the hero of the movie, falls in love with. ( It gets to you sort of like Requiem for a Dream did, and it's all about addiction too. )

Breakfast on Pluto - an Irish and British film by Neil Jordan, to be released in early 2006. It is the story of Patrick 'Kitten' Braden, a transvestite amazingly portrayed by Cillian Murphy. ( A Neil Jordan film - did you really think I wouldn't like it? )

Brokeback Mountain - the 'surprise film' to close the festival, the much-awaited Ang Lee "gay western" with Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall, to be released in early 2006. Jack and Ennis meet while working for a rancher up on Brokeback Mountain, and slowly fall in love, but they then go back off the mountain and back to their own lives, get married, get children. ( Not as moved as I thought I would be. )

And on an unrelated note, Joey's back tomorrow. Yay!