The 14th Inside Out Festival runs from May the 20th to the 30th, when 273 films and videos will be screened at 6 different cinemas across downtown Toronto. Seating capacity is increased 30% over the last year and estimated attendance this year stands at 30,000 compared to 3,000 when Inside Out first opened in 1991.
New this year, are screenings open to all ages. Tickets for youth under 18 are $5, made possible by courtesy of TD Canada Trust.
Awards are also handed out for outstanding films – in the category of Best Canadian Feature-Length and three audience awards for best feature film or video, documentary and best short.
The list of films is impressive. The opening gala is TOUCH OF PINK, a UK-Canadian romantic comedy in the Rock Hudson/Doris Day mould. It stars Kyle MacLaughlan playing Cary Grant, the imaginary friend of a South-Asian gay man living with his boyfriend in London. The centerpiece gala is John Greyson (LILLIES) and Jack Lewis’ PROTEUS, a portrait of forbidden love in 1725 South Africa.
For those who love a good laugh, Merchant-Ivory Productions presents MERCI DOCTEUR REY, a hilarious irrelevant comedy about an opera diva’s (Dianne Wiest) gay son stalking the Parisienne streets for tricks. The Irish lend their hand at two comedies COWBOYS AND ANGLS and GOLDFISH FEVER.
Inside Out spotlights India this year. QUEER INDIA, a program of shorts, THE PINK MIRROR, TALES OF THE NIGHT FAIRIES and MANJUBEN TRUCK DRIVER are featured in the festival. There are also films from as far as Brazil to Australia.
For the complete program, tickets, listings and show times, check the INSIDE OUT website at:
Capsule reviews of a few films I have previewed are below:-
(Yes, I have been busy!)
ADORED begins with two brothers re-united at their father’s funeral. The straight conservative businessman, Federico travels to Rome only to learn that his brother Ricky is a male star in the gay porn industry. Surprise, surprise when Federico’s stuck-up French wife shows up unannounced! When the shock wears off, the film takes a different turn with Ricky attempting to adopt a boy after the boy’s mother is killed in an accident. The two stories are unrelated safe for the fact that director Filiberti’s goal appears to be bringing some dignity into the porn business. Is this possible? Filiberti directs himself (he plays the porn star himself), but by the way one sees the way he shakes his mum in his red hot pants, all credibility has gone to the dogs! Altogether a very lame and tired affair!
Love is not always sweet. This is the recurring theme in a series of innovative shorts from various countries ranging from Norway to Brazil. My favorite, FUGUE from Australia is an impressionable impressionist 5- minute emotional piece about a student’s crush on a teacher. Set to classical music with blurred close up frames, FUGUE is creative, mesmerizing and captivating. The most erotic, LOVERS, from Brazil, exhibits two sexy young men in three graphic sex scenes, showing (jokingly) that love can overcome all. The final and lengthiest at 40 minutes Asian Canadian entry about an older gay brother’s reunion with his sibling is slow moving but nevertheless well thought-out and gut wrenching. The other shorts STYX from Germany, and THE SILENT LANDSCAPE from Norway are no less compelling. An exciting shorts program featuring upcoming young directors and hot young actors!
Rich and aging 40+ lawyer, Daniel (Fernando Guillen Cuervo), falls for hunky Bulgarian illegal immigrant, Kyril (Dritan Biba). It soon becomes clear (surprise!) that Kyril is using Daniel for his own no good selfish means. But Daniel cannot help but give in to his raging hormones! This is so true for any person (straight or gay) falling head over heals for a younger sexy lover. Director Iglesia pumps up the gags, pushing the clichéd Spanish gay situations to the utmost hilarity. The funniest segment has Daniel and his two queenie friends offering him advice against Kyril while jumping in and out of the water at the spa in a bathhouse. Iglesia touches on the controversial issues of racism inoffensively by showing views of both sides (Bulgaria and Spain) of the families. When Daniel finally figures out that it is the end and he is being used to the limit, he remarks, “I am just a stupid bitch!” This rings so true for any gay male who has fallen out of love! BULGARIAN LOVERS is very gay, very Spanish and quite the entertainment.
A feel-good growing up comedy that breaks most of the rules of films of this genre! For one, the Irish COWBOYS AND ANGELS is set in other city of Limerick (the birthplace of Frank McCourt – author of ANGELA’S ASHES and shown in a different light in all its modernity) instead of Dublin. Shane Butler (Michael Legge from ANGELA’S ASHES) moves to the City Centre (as they say in Ireland) and lands a flat, sharing with a design ultra-hip student Vincent (Allen Leech). Shane’s first sudden question (very humorously put) to Vince is “Are you gay?” “It is the fashion thing! It is everything!” - is the reply. It turns out that none of the two characters actually kiss or fall for each other. Director Gleeson has created a spirited film, full of surprises while still remaining noble (or grand as the Irish love to say) to the film’s course. There is a bit of everything for everyone – light comedy, romance, friendship, and drama. Another appropriate title to this film would be THE QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY for Vince shows straight guy Shane the ropes.
GOLDFISH MEMORY spans 3 minutes. By the time a goldfish swims around his bowl, it would have forgotten everything. So, are the same words used by a womanizing professor claiming that all his dates are fresh to rejuvenating. More appropriate perhaps, this might be the time span each character in Liz Gill’s new bedroom fluff (all fluff and no farce) spends with their love partner. If you can believe that most characters can switch from one sexual preference (not orientation) to another or change partners in that time frame, then this pleasant comedy of sorts might be entertaining fare. Gill paints a rosy picture of affairs around Dublin. Her characters are all likeable. Even the womanizing professor who gets his come-uppance eventually marries the right girl of his dreams. And there is enough to satisfy everybody’s tastes - straight, lesbian and male gay.
Almost 4 years after their first international hit, the IRON LADIES, the team of ‘khatuey’ (Nancy boys) volleyball players returns with their low-brow humor and sissy high-jinks. The team has broken up after winning the national championship and the members look for some excuse (including a trip to China) to come together once again as a volleyball team. Personal indifferences, professional tensions and ‘queeny’ drama obstruct the path to victory. Unfortunately, the novelty of this riotous comedy based on anti-homophobe incidents wears off pretty quickly as in the first film. The antics begin from mildly amusing and deteriorates to annoying to downright irritating. Even the flashback on what is described as a really fun university period fails to generate any interest. What finally emerges is a lame excuse for a sequel or a prequel for that matter, and a money maker following the first film’s success. If only the enthusiasm of the IRON LADIES rubbed off on to the audience.
Diva in distress! Single opera star mother (the always excellent Oscar winner Dianne Wiest) performing in Paris is having problems communicating with her bored 23-year old gay son who is currently roaming the streets seeking sex and other favors. At the same time she discovers that her husband (played by Simon Callow) left her in Paris for another man when she was expecting, the son also accidentally witnesses his father’s murder in a sex/voyeurism act. But it really doesn’t matter if this is the gist of the film’s plot or not as Litvack’s film weaves in and out from one outrageous unrelated incident to another. Take the scene when diva and lesbian best friend (Bulle Olger), both high on marijuana brownies, take to the streets to pay would-be kidnappers with costume jewelry and you get an idea what to expect. The dialogue is equally hilarious – “Don’t be a wallflower,” mother tells the quiet girlfriend (Jane Birkin) – when the camera pulls back to reveal the pattern of the girl’s dress identical to the wallpaper in the room. MERCI DOCTEUR REY is produced, believe it or not, by the stiff upper lip Merchant Ivory team. There are many references to their many other successes like HOWARD’S END, but one wonders what is the hell is going on in the minds of the filmmakers. Nobody really cares, for MERCI DOCTEUR REY is one helluva fun movie. Everyone appears to be having a good time, especially Wiest hamming it up with a ridiculous French accent. And as an added bonus, there is a cameo by Vanessa Redgrave.
An infatuation with a Russian soldier provides the impetus towards the making of this earnest documentary of young good-looking men in the naval academy and soldiery. Conscription forces Russian youth to serve either 5 years as an officer in the navy or 2 years in the army. But with these many topless, built, sexy and uniformed men around, no gay men who would need to go to any Mardi-Gras or Pride celebration? The men train, drink, hug, fight, kiss (their own kind) and speak to the camera. And this goes on in repetition. KOMRADES may provide little insight to what happens within the military and navy under closed doors, but ragging faced by new recruits in any military establishment is nothing new. The result is a pleasant film of good intentions with plenty (and I mean plenty) of homo-erotic eye-candy. Even those responsible for the accidental deaths are dismissed without much alarm. What intrigues me is how director Kokker managed to get all these supposedly straight hunks to be interviewed in the nude or talk candidly about how they feel for their camaraderie. Strictly not for straight males interested in breeding!
ROAD MOVIE begins with an erotic sex scene filmed at a distance between two men, their faces unseen. The camera follows one of them, revealing him to be a kind of street person, stealing a jacket from a broker of some kind out on his luck. ROAD MOVIE follows these two principals around the country as they encounter other people, relatives, situations and whatever else. Kim’s film has an easy going style but don’t let that fool you. His film is difficult to take, primarily because it is all over the place in terms of narrative, characterization and plot, if any. Continuity problems exist, and this is an under-statement. Kim jumps from one scene to the next, one character to the other or from one segment to another. Nothing makes much sense. The film is almost impossible to follow. Needless to say, it is impossible to sit through. ROAD MOVIE is a trip leading nowhere. Even the filmmaker’s mother will not like this one.
When the husband lazes around the house, jobless while not fulfilling his sexual commitment, it does not take a genius to predict that this bored housewife will soon embark on a lesbian affair. And so, she leaves her small town house and heads with her two kids for Tel Aviv. The children are the excuse for her hiring a Black nanny who turns out to be a …. Say no more! The problem with ROAD TRIP is that director Rozen taking her story too seriously. She tackles other controversial issues like racism, daughter/mother relationships and child custody. The film’s open ending strikes the viewer as a cop-put of the director’s inability to resolve the film’s manifold problems. But ROUND TRIP benefits from the lead actress’ convincing performance and an over-all well created atmosphere of politically troubled Israel.
Patrice Chereau’s (THOSE WHO LOVE ME CAN TAKE THE TRAIN and LE REINE MARGOT) latest offering, based on the novel by Philippe Besson, is an uncompromising look at death from the points of view of two brothers (played by Eric Caravaca and Bruno Todeschini) who finally get to spend some time together. The twist is that the straight brother is the one with the AIDs-like disease (something explained as due to platelets) while the gay one is the lively sexual one having to deal with the family issues. Chereau lets his tale unfold with all of death’s ugliness. The lengthy body shaving scene, the family arguments especially the father’s uncontrollable outburst and the brothers’ confrontation are not easy to take in. Hardly any issues are solved in the process, but upon careful consideration isn’t real life the same way? A daring and difficult film!
Mexican 17-year old teen, Gerardo leaves school, has no job and hangs around the streets of Old Mexico City. But worse of all, he has broken up with his beloved, Bruno. Remorseful and depressed, this lost soul longs for the pangs of love. One cannot help but sympathize with director Hernandez’s protagonist who loves as well, the Spanish love songs from the old movies. Though nothing much in terms of plot occurs, CLOUDS OF PEACE is an assured moody art film, handsomely shot in grainy black and white, succeeding primarily from the fact that Hernandez effectively captures the young hero’s conflicting emotions.
YOU I LOVE is a bisexual ménage-a-trois involving Muscovites newscaster Vera, advertising executive Tim and Kalmyk zookeeper boy Uloomji. On the anniversary of the couple, Uloomji jumps in front of Tim’s car. He is brought home to be cared for only to later seduce Tim in a wild animal wrestling match. The story deteriorates from here – Vera discovers the truth of her beau; they confront each other; Tim declares his love for both etc. etc. Directors Troitsky and Stolpovskaya demonstrate that each individual’s love for each other cannot be sacrificed. So what else is new? The interesting thing about this film though is the depiction of the wild club lifestyle in Moscow. There are a few moments of genuine hilarity in Uloomji’s parents’ disappointment of finding out that their son is gay. “So he cannot go into politics!”
- Gilbert Seah -