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To Faro (Mein Freund aus Faro)Opening Gala | Thu | Aug 11 | 7:00 | Empire Granville 7 In 1999 the film Boys Don't Cry (the dramatized true story of Brandon Teena) garnered massive mainstream cinema attention, as well as a Best Actress Oscar for actress Hillary Swank. Director Nana Neul's coming-of-age-drama To Faro has been called "Boys Don't Cry with a happy ending." Mel is a loner-type tomboy who lives with her elderly father and older brother in a rural German town. Well into her twenties, Mel is urged by her brother to start dating. Desperate to keep up appearances with her family, Mel pays her co-worker Miguel to play the part of her boyfriend at family dinners. The lies continue when beautiful teenage Jenny mistakes Mel for a boy and develops an interest in her. To get closer to Jenny, Mel must maintain her persona as an 18-year old guy. The balance between the lies and the new love infatuation threatens to topple at any minute. Trouble soon follows Mel and her deceptions, but along with trouble comes self-discovery and her first real queer crush. To Faro (Mein Freund aus Faro) | Nina Neul | Germany | 2009 | 93 min | German with English subtitles |
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Bruce LaBruce | Director's SpotlightThe Advocate for Fagdom | Sun | Aug 14 | 7:00 | International Village Cinemas Provocateur, smut perveyor, transgressor, genius: he's the one and only Bruce LaBruce, and he's our 6th annual Spotlight Director. Bruce LaBruce is a Toronto-based director, actor, writer and photographer with an incomparable talent for straddling hardcore sex, political messagning and challenging, yet tender, humanity. His career began in the 80s making short experimental films and co-editing a punk fanzine called J.D.s, which popularized the queercore movement. He has directed and starred in three feature length movies: No Skin Off My Ass (1991), Super 8 1/2 (1994) and Hustler White (1996). More recently, he has directed indie features Otto: or, Up with Dead People (2008) and LA Zombie (2010). From New York's MoMA to the pages of the National Post, LaBruce has titillated, maddened and thrilled audiences. The Advocate for Fagdom is a newly released documentary in which John Waters, Harmony Korine, Gus Van Sant and others deliver their impressions and confessions, painting a fascinating portrait of the remarkable career of Bruce LaBruce. The Advocate for Fagdom | Angélique Bosio | France | 2011 | 92 min SPOTLIGHT DISCUSSION We continue with a retrospective screening of what might be LaBruce's most notorious work. Hustler White is a satiric noir sex comedy about gay hustlers and their customers in Santa Monica, California. The film's controversial amputee sex scene continues to be widely discussed amongst cinephiles and queer theorists. Hustler White | Bruce LaBruce | Canada, German | 1996 | 79 min |
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Madame X
Fri | Aug 19 | 7:00 | Empire Granville 7
Madame X director Lucky Kuswandi is an up-and-coming Indonesian filmmaker and one of the key organizers of Q! Fest-the largest queer film festival in Asia and the only one in the Muslim world. For the past nine years Kuswandi and Q! Fest have nurtured Indonesian queer communities despite strong opposition, including bomb threats, raids and protests. In Madame X, Kuswandi spins community issues in his hometown into a campy, satirical noir comedy-Jakarta style. Adam, a misfit "lady boy," is kidnapped by a homophobic militant political party. After a narrow escape, Adam is taken in by a troupe of tari lenggok dancers. It is under their tutelage that Adam becomes the glamorous (though often melodramatic) superhero Madame X. Madame X's calling is to defend queers, women and artists against the evil powers of Mr. Snow and the militants. Featuring a half-dozen Indonesian dialects, campy special effects and a large cast of famous Southeast Asian actors, Madame X represents a queer-friendly evolution in Indonesian cinema. Madame X | Lucky Kuswandi | Indonesia | 2011 | 102 min | Indonesian with English subtitles |
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Paulista (Quanto Dura o Amor?)
Sun | Aug 14 | 9:30 | Rio Theatre Paulista is the story of three young people in search of love amid the frantic pace of São Paulo, Brazil. Marina, an aspiring actress, moves to the big city in hopes of finding work. When she meets Justine, a bisexual musician, a fiery relationship begins. Marina's roommate, divorce lawyer Suzana (award-winning transgender actress Maria Clara Spinelli), starts a romance with a co-worker and struggles with how to reveal to her new beau that she is a transwoman. Meanwhile Jay, their upstairs neighbour, is looking for love with Michelle, a sex worker who is not into what Jay has to offer. What will love and desire unearth of their unspoken pasts, and can they dare hope for happy relationships? With multiple romantic twists and turns, Paulista may sound like a farcical comedy; however, director Roberto Moreira carefully draws attention to the fragility of human connection. WINNER |
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SporkSun | Aug 14 | 7:00 | Rio Theatre A colourful and foul-mouthed musical comedy about a young, nerdy intersex girl struggling to find her place in her small-town high school. Frizzy-haired, pink-cheeked outcast Spork navigates her way through the trials of junior high. When a school dance show provides a chance for Spork to rival the popular, mean girls, her trailer-park neighbour steps up to coach her with some "booty-poppin" moves guaranteed to win her popularity. Set to a vintage 90s soundtrack, chock full of leg warmers, hair spray and dance-offs, Spork is a film about standing out and fitting in. With a cameo appearance from actor/producer Chad Allen (Lance Robinson on Dexter), Spork is a dash of Little Miss Sunshine, a dollop of Were the World Mine and a pinch of Napoleon Dynamite. WINNER |
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