2007 Reel Identities Film Festival

The Bubble

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:00:02 -0600

Three young Israelis, two gay men and a woman, share an apartment in Tel Aviv’s hippest neighborhood: headstrong Lulu, who works in a bath products boutique; flamboyant Yali, who manages a trendy café; and brooding music store clerk Noam, who spends his weekends serving at checkpoints in the National Guard. When Noam meets and falls in love with a Palestinian man named Ashraf, he and his friends conspire to help Ashraf stay on in Tel Aviv illegally. Ashraf attempts to juggle his newfound sexual freedom with Noam and his familial obligations, but the artificial bubble the star-crossed lovers have constructed to protect them from harsh reality can’t last long. From the maker of Yossi & Jagger and Walk on Water.
(Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles, 117 minutes)

Arie

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:00:01 -0600

This gorgeously photographed film tells the story of Vittorio, a professional dancer who falls in love with Marco, the choreographer he’s working with. Unfortunately, Vittorio’s feelings are not reciprocated by Marco who has fallen in love with another man.
(German w/English subtitles, 15 minutes)

The Gymnast

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:00:01 -0600

Dazzling and sexy, this high-flying drama chronicles the journey two women take to grow and to find newfound strength together. Jane, a 43-year-old masseuse, was once an Olympic gymnast until an accident forced her early retirement. Unhappily married, she is drawn back to the gym where she meets gymnastics instructor Nicole and her gorgeous student Serena, a 28-year-old lesbian – together they form an aerial dance troupe. While training for an audition in Las Vegas, Jane develops an undeniable attraction to Serena, putting both women’s commitment to their work to the test, and forcing them to make hard decisions. The Gymnast is a beautiful portrayal of what it means to make your mark in life.
(98 minutes)

The Female Closet

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:00:02 -0600

This fascinating videotape from renowned filmmaker Barbara Hammer combines rare footage, interviews, and rich visual documentation to survey the lives of variously closeted women artists from different segments of the 20th century: Victorian photographer Alice Austen, Weimar collagist Hannah Hoch, and present day painter Nicole Eisenman. In a compelling examination of the art world’s treatment of lesbians, Hammer documents how the museum devoted to Austen ignores the implications of her cross dressing photos, how the Museum of Modern Art glossed over Hoch’s sexuality in a major exhibit, and how Eisenman’s work based on patriarchal porn is described by critics as “liberating, fun, and over the top”. Examining the museum as closet, the negotiation of visibility and secrecy in lesbian history, this thoughtful film is a provocative look at the relationship between art, life, and sexuality.
(80 minutes)

Photo courtesy of Women Make Movies.

B.D. Women

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:00:01 -0600

B.D. Women is a wonderful celebration of the history and culture of Black lesbians. Lively interviews feature Black women talking candidly about their sexual and racial identities. These contemporary views are cleverly interwoven with a dramatized love story, set in the 1920s, in which a sultry romance develops between a gorgeous jazz singer and her stylish butch lover. The film rewrites the vanished history of Black lesbians’ lives in an eloquent and entertaining way.
(20 minutes)

Photo courtesy of Women Make Movies.

Boy I Am

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 21:00:02 -0600

It is only in recent years that transgendered people and their issues have gained significant visibility within the larger lesbian and gay community. But visibility has not translated into instant acceptance or understanding from everyone. For some within the lesbian community, the act of FTM transitioning is viewed at best as a naïve social trend, or, at worst, an anti-feminist rejection of butchness and female power in favor of male privilege. Samantha Felder and Julie Hollar’s timely and balanced documentary uses the engaging stories of three NYC-based FTMs, as well as interviews with a number of activists and scholars, to explore this controversy and get to its historical and cultural roots.
(80 minutes)

Photo courtesy of Women Make Movies.

Black and White

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 21:00:01 -0600

Black and White shines a sensitive light on a subject that is too often either shunned or sensationalized: the experiences of intersex people. This beautiful and stylish film artfully explores the potent creative collaboration between Mani Bruce Mitchell and acclaimed photographer Rebecca Swan. Portrayed through this lens, Mitchell’s story introduces viewers to notions of fluid gender identity, challenging the rigid categories of “male” and “female”.
(17 minutes)

Photo courtesy of Women Make Movies.

Puccini for Beginners

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 19:00:01 -0600

From the director of the classic The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love comes a hilarious tale about a girl who can’t say yes to love. The gorgeous Elizabeth Reaser (The Family Stone) turns in a tremendous performance as Alegra, an opera-loving New York City lesbian who bluntly describes herself as “narcissistic, passive-aggressive, self-absorbed and incapable of connecting”. After Alegra’s commitment issues send her girlfriend (Julianne Nicholson) into the arms of a male rival, Alegra finds herself suddenly attracted to two new lovers: Philip (Justin Kirk of Angels in America) and Grace (Gretchen Mol of The Notorious Bettie Page). With a wacky chorus of sushi chefs and New York City bystanders making trenchant observations on Alegra’s love life, Puccini for Beginners unfolds as a nonstop laugh-fest full of insights on evolving sexual identities and the quest for love in New York City.
(90 minutes).

The Godfather of Disco

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 17:00:02 -0600

From Mel Cheren’s invaluable contribution to the New York dance music scene in the 1970s to his courageous role in the fight against AIDS in the 1980s, The Godfather of Disco explores an era when legends were born, a passionate community was cultivated, and lives were overturned by a mysterious, deadly disease. Editor-turned-documentarian Gene Graham offers up personal, insightful interviews with Cheren and other movers and shakers of the flourishing disco scene in tracking the career of this musical innovator who instinctively knew what people on the dance floor wanted. A key investor in the legendary Paradise Garage nightclub and founder of the seminal dance music label West End Records, Cheren had his finger on the pulse of a burgeoning generation that crossed cultures and sexual orientations – and changed music forever. As the tragedy of AIDS struck, Cheren channeled his efforts to the fight against the disease. Highlighted throughout the film, it is the exuberant, captivating music that Cheren helped cultivate that evokes the true feeling of the time – a time when the greatest thing to do was dance.
(90 minutes)

Fat Girls

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:00:01 -0600

Ash Christian offers a fresh, entertaining, and inventive peek into a gay boy’s teen life. Gay high school student Rodney (Christian) and 300-pound Sabrina (Ashley Fink) are best friends. A wannabe Broadway star, Rodney must endure his senior year at home with a fundamentalist mother, a closet case sex buddy, and no prospects for romance … until new student Joey shows up. A sexually experienced Brit, although not into Rodney’s “type”, Joey agrees to go to the prom with Rodney and takes him to the area gay bar. While Joey hooks up in the bathroom, Rodney spots his school’s drama instructor, Mr. Cox (played by Tarnation’s Jonathan Caouette), which sparks off a surprising friendship between student and teacher. Meanwhile, Sabrina – whose parents are lesbians – finds her own prospects of romance, or at least sex, with a Cuban chubby chaser.
(83 minutes)

A Four Letter Word

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:30:02 -0600

Reel Identities is pleased to present the latest film from Casper Andreas whose first feature Slutty Summer screened at our 2005 festival. When Luke (Jesse Archer) enters a gay bar flanked by his sidekicks, he doesn’t know that he is about to meet his match – in hot macho man Stephen (Charlie David of Dante’s Cove). Awakening the next morning in a twisted heap of naked strangers, he heads to work at a Chelsea sex store where he is forced to face his lifestyle by his co-worker Zeke, a confrontational gay crusader who will stop at nothing short of changing the world. Up the street, actor/waiter Peter is moving in with his longtime boyfriend Derek. His restaurant boss Marilyn is maniacally planning her wedding, but when her AA sponsor Trisha declares her attraction, Marilyn’s sobriety and marriage may be in jeopardy. Smitten with Stephen, Luke considers giving monogamy a chance. He attends a sexual compulsives meeting where he discovers he is not the only nympho in New York. Luke is falling for Stephen, but it soon turns out Stephen’s cash doesn’t flow from a trust fund; he works hard for his money – as a hustler! In his quest to discover who he is, Luke ultimately realizes that being true to one’s self may be the best way to deal with the many complications of a four-letter word called love.
(85 minutes)

Itty Bitty Titty Committee

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:30:01 -0600

Dumped by her girlfriend and without a place in college, Anna (Melonie Diaz from Raising Victor Vargas) lives at home and works answering phones at a breast-implant center. Seriously unfulfilled, she is reduced to thinking that a new girlfriend, or even a pair of new breasts, might make life more bearable. All that changes one night when Anna spots Sadie, a hot blond CIA (Clits in Action) operative defacing Anna’s office with graffiti. In no time, Anna becomes drawn into the haphazard group of dyke activists, streaks her hair pink, and takes up the cause. Soon enough, Anna and Sadie are all over each other, which doesn’t sit well with Sadie’s sugar-mama Courtney, an earnest lesbian politico (played by Thirtysomething’s Melanie Mayron). But with dissent brewing in the CIA and the group’s interventions passing mainly unnoticed, it is time for Anna to step up, put theory into practice, and take action. Director Jamie Babbit’s (But I’m a Cheerleader) latest film is a non-stop-fun call to arms for a new generation of Girl Power. The cast includes Daniela Sea (The L Word), Jenny Shimizu, and Guinevere Turner.
(87 minutes)

Save The Dates: July 20-22

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 23:44:39 -0600

The Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New Orleans is excited to announce REEL IDENTITIES, its fourth Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Film Festival.

After a festival that exceeded expectations in 2005, Reel Identities went on hiatus in 2006 due to Hurricane Katrina, and instead held individual screenings and curated the film portion of the DecaFest gay arts festival in August. Now we're back with three days of programming July 20-22 in the space used by Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center at Tulane University's School of Architecture.

Opening night features include "A Four Letter Word," a romantic comedy by director Casper Andreas in which main character Luke ultimately realizes that being true to one's self may be the best way to deal with the many complications of a four-letter word called love.

Also on opening night will be "Itty Bitty Titty Committee," a new comedy by Jamie Babbit, who directed "But I'm a Cheerleader." In "Itty Bitty," Anna, who lives at home and works in a plastic surgeon's office, falls in with a haphazard group of dyke activists in a classic girl-becomes-woman tale. Daniela Sea (the L Word), Jenny Shimizu and Guinivere Turner star.

Reel Identities is supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans.