Read more of City Newspaper’s coverage on ImageOut by clicking here!
After
going for broke with last year’s big 10th anniversary blowout, ImageOut scales
itself back a bit this time around. There aren’t as many films and shorts, but
that doesn’t mean the quality has suffered. You’ll find 40 programs of varying
length and very varying content, and
we’ve seen most of them. Here’s City‘s
guide to what you shouldn’t miss and what you might want to skip.
Laughing Matters
Andrea Meyerson, USA,
60 minutes (Second show added: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, October 11, Cinema Theatre)
6:30 p.m. Friday,
October 3, Little Theatre
ImageOut kicks off in
style with a sold-out film, visiting stars and directors, and a big party at
Starbar (123 Liberty Pole Way). Laughing
Matters is an Original Kings of
Comedy-type documentary about four popular lesbian standup comedians from
very different backgrounds, whether originally hailing from Amish country (like
Suzanne Westenhoefer) or our very own Upstate New York (like Kate Clinton — see
City interview). As far as the comedy
goes, Margaret Cho is much funnier, but these four women are able to garner
more laughs from their off-stage interviews. Westenhoefer, Clinton, and
director Meyerson will all be in attendance.
Latter Days
C. Jay Cox, USA, 110
minutes
9:15 p.m. Friday,
October 3, Little Theatre
C. Jay Cox, the
screenwriter of the abysmal Sweet Home
Alabama, shows far more promise with Latter
Days, his directorial debut. The film starts with the familiar cliché of
throwing together two very different people who, even though their relationship
is prickly at first, will no doubt ride off into the sunset together… or at
least that’s how it seems. Cox’s story takes a couple of surprising twists and
turns, which make you wonder how badly Hollywood may have ruined his story for Alabama. (Cox and lead actor Steve
Sandvoss will introduce Latter Days.)
Dear Gabe
Alexandra Juhasz,
USA, 50 minutes
2:15 p.m. Saturday,
October 4, Little Theatre
James Watt’s worst
nightmare comes to fruition in this video love letter a mother leaves to her
son, Gabe. It sounds a lot like The Gaithers Trio’s “Because He
Lives,” but it’s about a “complicated American dream” which was
lived out in a feminist commune at Amherst College a couple of decades ago. To
Watt’s delight, there aren’t any cripples, but the players do include lesbians,
divorcees, blacks, and Jews. Director Juhasz, who will accompany her film to
Rochester, catches up with her old buddies, all of whom have scattered about
the country and boast unique families of their own. Most have children with
really silly names, and each voices concerns and complaints that aren’t much different
from those of the straightest, whitest parents. Though they do seem slightly
more thoughtful.
           Preceded by three short shorts,
including Triskaidekaphobia, in which
a teenager waxes poetic about his fear of homophobia.
Class Queers
Melissa Levin and
Roxana Spicer, Canada, 53 minutes
4:15 p.m. Saturday,
October 4, Little Theatre
The first ImageOut
doc that reminds people the Harvey Milk School isn’t the only sanctuary for gay
and lesbian teenagers focuses on the lives of three unique kids who take part
in Toronto’s Triangle Program, a secondary school for “at-risk” LBGT
kids. Adina has the added pleasure of being the daughter of a prominent local
rabbi who refuses to let her into his temple. The two boys — Richard and Adam
— look so similar, I couldn’t tell them apart. One of them had a guidance
counselor at his previous high school try to teach him how to walk in a
less-gay manner, while the other is too scared to introduce his boyfriend to
his less-than-accepting family. Director Levin will be in attendance.
Madame Satã (BEST BOY-ON-BOY SCENE)
Karim Aïnouz,
Brazil/France, 105 minutes
6 p.m. Saturday,
October 4, Little Theatre
João Francisco dos
Santos’ life is the basis for this colorful, award-winning movie about the
flashy Brazilian cabaret star. Set in Rio de Janeiro, the film follows about
one year of Francisco’s life before he’s tossed into the clink for a crime that
remains a mystery until the end of these proceedings. We see him as a slightly
glamorous behind-the-scenes dresser to a popular but Crawford-esque singer. We
also see Francisco’s home life, which involves gritty slums, petty theft, and
prostitution. In other words, his professional life is a 9, while his personal
life is only like a 2. Satã is worth
catching for the photography and for LÃ zaro Ramos’ performance as Francisco,
which have both been honored at different film festivals.
Robin’s Hood (BEST GIRL-ON-GIRL SCENE)
Sara Millman, USA, 77
minutes
1:30 p.m. Saturday, October
4, Little Theatre
A nifty re-telling of
the classic Robin Hood tale, only
this time, ol’ Robin and Little John are played by women who get it on. In the
opening credits, we see a bank robbery gone bad, while everything that follows
plays out in one long flashback. Robin (Khahtee V. Turner) is an Oakland social
worker with a wenchy boss who accuses her of caring too much. The daughter of a
whore and a thief, Brooklyn (Clody Cates) is a French expatriate mechanic who
boosts cars and sells fake IDs for a living. Before long, the duo is knocking
over banks to help their impoverished Oakland community… except we kind of
know how it’s going to end from the opening credits. A nice twist does keep
things interesting, though Hood is plagued, like most video productions, by bad
sound and iffy acting.
Lock Up Your Sons and Daughters: Anti-Queer Films
Total running time:
93 minutes
10:30 p.m. Saturday,
October 4, Dryden Theatre
There’s nothing
funnier than those campy old educational films from the ’50s and ’60s (they’ll
be saying the same thing about Thirteen in 2033). This collection features seven shorts that preach the evils of being
attracted to people of the same sex. There’s even one from Sid “The King of
Calamity” Davis, who you may know as the greatest creator of classroom films.
Curator Bill Taylor will introduce these little nuggets of pure insanity. And
remember, kids: “Public restrooms can often be a hangout for the homosexual.”
The Gift (CITY’S
CHOICE)
Louise Hogarth, USA,
62 minutes
2:30 p.m. Sunday,
October 5, Little Theatre
An eye-opening
documentary about Bug Chasers (HIV-free guys trying to catch it) and Gift
Givers (men with HIV trying to infect those who don’t have it) with an
interesting theory about the recent increase in AIDS cases. Turns out the
non-stop support of HIV-positive men makes HIV-negative men jealous. Packed
full of interesting and candid interviews with gay men from every demographic
who are either appalled at what’s happening or are too busy answering anonymous
online sex ads for “don’t ask/don’t tell” parties. Call me a prude
(it’s OK, my mom does it all the time), but I always thought bug chasing had
something to do with Starship Troopers.
The screening will be followed by a discussion led by AIDS Rochester’s Erik
Libey.
Lily Festival
Sachi Hamano, Japan,
100 minutes
2:30 p.m. Sunday,
October 5, Dryden Theatre
It’s
rare to find a film that’s narrated by a dead character and postulates a connection between marital infidelity and
hemorrhoids. It’s even more uncommon to discover such a movie that fits those
parameters and was directed by a
soft-core porn filmmaker, and rarer yet to cast the sexually charged picture
with actors on the other side of 70.
           But that’s just what you’ll get with
the charming Festival, a tale of a
senior citizen apartment building in Japan where six female tenants each fall
head-over-heels for recent arrival Mr. Miyoshi (Mickey Curtis). He’s an
ex-actor who puts the moves on all of the women, which only awakens their
long-defunct sexual drive. Just don’t think about Grandma while you’re watching
it.
The Politics of Fur
Luara Nix, USA, 77
minutes
5 p.m. Sunday,
October 5, Dryden Theatre
Fairport
native Laura Nix returns to Rochester with this modern take on Rainer Werner
Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra
von Kant (which is also screening at ImageOut on Wednesday, August 8).
Here, Katy Selverstone is Una, a super-controlling music publicist who doesn’t
seem to ever leave her stark, minimalist home. The only color in Una’s life is
her pet tiger and her flamboyant yet browbeaten assistant. But Una’s life takes
an unexpected turn when a colleague sends her a unique “gift” — a
butch punk star (Brynn Horrocks) who refuses to follow Una’s non-stop orders.
Expect a lot of screaming, even more crying, and the most angst you’ll see at
ImageOut this year.
The Embalmer (CITY’S CHOICE)
Matteo Garrone,
Italy, 10 minutes
8 p.m. Sunday,
October 5, Dryden Theatre
The title had me at
hello, on account of Claire Fisher and that cute mortician on Survivor. But L’Imbalsamatore is about an eight-fingered midget taxidermist with
frightening teeth, not a doe-eyed cutie with a dark side, like Lauren Ambrose.
Ernesto Mahieux plays 50-year-old Peppino, the aforementioned physical oddity
who develops a crush on a tall, hunky 21-year-old cook named Valerio (Valerio
Foglia Manzillo). Peppino offers Valerio a job assisting him at the taxidermy
shop just so he can get close to him. And he even arranges hooker parties to
get a peek at what Valerio is packing. When Valerio’s girlfriend figures out
what Peppino is up to, a monumental power struggle ensues, and it’s all
hauntingly photographed for your enjoyment.
           The
Embalmer landed nine nominations for Italy’s version of the Oscar, with
Mahieux and the screenwriters taking home trophies. Even more frightening than
Mahieux’s creepy performance, or the scene where he could pass for the twin of
a Marabou stork: It’s all based on a real story, including the scenes involving
Peppino’s rather unusual Mafia ties.
Hooked
Total running time:
69 minutes
10:15 p.m. Sunday,
October 5, Little Theatre
Hooked is a
60-minute documentary about the ins and outs of cruising gay chat rooms online.
It’s preceded by three shorts, including 1000
Cumshots.
Dyke Soup
Total running time:
95 minutes
7:15 p.m. Monday,
October 6, Little Theatre
A collection of a
dozen shorts of varying lengths, highlighted by Give or Take an Inch with Amanda Bearse and Michele Greene; and Play Date, which features a pair of hot,
tattooed lesbian mothers arranging a time for their kids to play… which is
all just an excuse for them to play as well. There’s also something called Repodyke, which sounds good, but not
quite as good as Blow and Rub.
Shake It All About
Hella Joof, Denmark,
98 minutes
9:30 p.m. Monday,
October 6, Little Theatre
Jørgen
(Troels Lyby from The Kingdom and The Idiots) proposes to his boyfriend
Jakob (Mads Mikkelsen) at a birthday party. During the celebration, Jakob
shares a kiss with Caroline (Charlotte Munck). A serious kiss. Trouble ensues,
as does a car crash, in Denmark’s most popular film of 2002.
           It’s preceded by local filmmaker
Beth Bailey’s short Swapped, which is
about a straight couple looking to do a little swapping, only to have an
equally confused gay couple show up at their door.
School’s Out: The Life of a Gay High School in Texas
Jeremy Simmons, USA,
69 minutes
5:15 p.m. Wednesday,
October 8, Little Theatre
Having Tom Landry
Middle School in Dallas wouldn’t surprise many, but seeing the Walt Whitman
Community School for LBGT kids in such a… uh… rural setting is a bit of a
surprise. It sure seems like it’s a shock to the clueless locals, who have no
idea them evil gays is a-learnin’ up a storm right in their own backyard.
           What is surprising, though, is seeing the same hierarchy that exists in
regular high school life, as director Jeremy Simmons takes us on a
month-by-month look at Walt Whitman’s 10 students and the big changes some of them incur throughout the school year.
Yossi & Jagger (CITY’S CHOICE)
Eytan Fox, Israel, 65
minutes
7:15 p.m. Wednesday,
October 8, Little Theatre
Even though it clocks
in at just over an hour, Yossi &
Jagger offers way more character development than you’re likely to see in
most films twice as long. The documentary-like feature takes place in 2002 in
and around a military outpost in Israeli-occupied Lebanon on the eve of a
planned ambush. The IDF company is led by the no-nonsense Yossi (Ohad Knoller),
who has been having a secret affair with a soldier so likeable and charismatic,
he’s been nicknamed after the singer of the Rolling Stones (Yehuda Levi).
           Jagger is tired of hiding his
relationship with Yossi, who pretty much takes the “like it or lump
it” attitude for most of the film. In addition to not exactly warming the
cockles of his lover’s heart, Yossi’s inability to publicly commit does little
to ward off the advances of Yaeli (Late
Marriage‘s Aya Steinovitz), a pretty girl who has been futilely pursuing
Jagger for some time.
Gay for All Ages
Total running time:
93 minutes
9:30 p.m. Wednesday,
October 8, Little Theatre
Another big
collection of shorts (there are nine of them here), including the hysterical Masturbation: Putting the Fun Back in
Self-Loving, a spoof of those educational films from the ’50s.
No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon
JEB, USA, 57 minutes
6 p.m. Thursday,
October 9, Little Theatre
Like
last year’s festival entry Ruthie &
Connie: Every Room In the House, this hour-long documentary begins with an
older lesbian couple talking about how horrible it was to be gay in the 1950s,
when shock therapy was a common “cure.” Back then, lesbian life
consisted of going to bars, getting loaded, and drunkenly finding someone to
bed. In other words, it’s a lot like going to Woody’s, except the women
probably didn’t wear backwards baseball caps back then.
           Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon decided
to change things by creating the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955 (the same year
Rosa Parks planted her sweet thang in the front of the bus), and lesbians were
never the same. Kate Clinton narrates, and director JEB will be on hand at the
screening.
The Event
Thom Fitzgerald,
Canada, 105 minutes
8 p.m. Thursday,
October 9, Little Theatre (Second show added! 1 p.m. Saturday, October 11,
Cinema Theatre)
The Event is about a guy slowly dying from AIDS, even though he’s already dead when the
film begins, with the slowly dying part shown in flashbacks. That opening scene
shows Matt (Don McKellar) lying lifeless in his Chelsea bedroom and the
flashbacks begin when Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Nicole Devivo
(Parker Posey) is assigned Matt’s case, as it seems quite similar to a handful
of other questionable deaths revolving around one particular AIDS counselor.
           Though Canadian (co)writer-director
Thom Fitzgerald (The Hanging Garden)
shoots The Event nicely, the overall
effect of his non-linear storytelling is anti-climactic enough to simply be
bothersome — even with the slightly ironic ending. The Event plays like a plodding two-episode arc — complete with
very special guests — of a fifth Law
& Order spin-off that doesn’t exist… yet.
Sex, Politics & Cocktails
Julien Hernandez,
USA, 55 minutes
10:15 p.m. Thursday,
October 9, Little Theatre
Struggling
Cuban-American filmmaker Sebastian (played by writer-director-producer-editor
Julien Hernandez) can’t catch a break until he lands a deal to direct three
documentaries. Trouble is, the subject is gay men and their relationships, and
that’s something this Jersey boy knows nothing about. So his soap opera actress
buddy (Marisa Petroro) arranges for Sebastian to meet three of her gay friends.
Many margaritas are consumed, and Sebastian’s education begins. A jumpy and
occasionally unfocused feature made likable by a charismatic lead. Stick around
for the outtakes of everyone calling Hernandez by his real name instead of
Sebastian.
You’ll Get Over It (BEST HETERO SCENE)
Fabrice Cazenueve,
France, 86 minutes
5:15 p.m. Friday,
October 10, Cinema Theatre
Vincent
(Julien Baumgartner) has the perfect life. He’s the star of his school’s
champion swimming team. He’s the apple of his parents’ cumulative eye. His
female classmates think he’s the cat’s ass, and he’s about to deflower the
ridiculously cute Emily VanCamp-ish Noémie (Julia Maraval). He’s buried pretty
deep in the closet, too, but that all changes when he tries to kiss the new boy
(Jérémie Elkaïm). Solid acting and production values from this French
television flick.
My Life on Ice
Oliver Ducastel and
Jacques Martineau, France, 102 minutes
7:15 p.m. Friday,
October 10, Cinema Theatre
If you gave a young
Jerry Seinfeld a video camera, you might get something like My Life on Ice, a very interesting film
from the French filmmakers who brought The
Adventures of Felix to ImageOut in 2001. Sixteen-year-old Etienne gets
himself just such a camera, and My Life
on Ice is the footage he collects while annoying the hell out of his
subjects. Hey, Michael Moore made a career of it.
Dangerous Existence
Total running time:
126 minutes
3:30 p.m. Saturday,
October 11, Dryden Theatre
This program contains
two documentaries, each running about an hour and focusing on what it’s like to
be gay and from a country even less accepting of alternative lifestyles than
the United States. In I Exist: Voice from
the Lesbian & Gay Middle Eastern Community in the U.S., you get exactly
what the title says. Arabs have just about the same troubles you see in the
States, only slightly worse, since most American families won’t burn you alive
for coming out.
           In the Janeane Garofalo-narrated Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the
Developing World, we learn the story of the Cairo 52, as well as hear
stories of public flogging and castration from citizens of hellholes like
Zimbabwe, El Salvador, and India.
Prey for Rock & Roll (CRITIC’S PICK)
Alex Steyermark, USA,
104 minutes
7 p.m. Saturday,
October 11, Dryden Theater
Forty-year-old
Jacki (Gina Gershon) is no closer to “making it” than she was 20
years ago when she got off the bus in LA with a dream of becoming a rock star.
That’s what she explains in the narration of Prey for Rock & Roll, adding that the dough she makes from live
shows isn’t even enough to offset her eyeliner habit. Gershon, who sports the
appropriate punk-rock snarl and recorded her vocals live to film, is the
driving force behind the movie. which should appeal to fans of the riot grrrl
scene and female-driven independent cinema.
           Prey was directed by Alex Steyermark, who served as a music supervisor-editor for
dozens of pictures, including Hedwig and
the Angry Inch. He keeps the film lively enough, especially the scenes
involving Clamdandy’s stage performances (and even their rehearsals). Some of
the dialogue is laughably bad and a major component of the story evaporates,
but the four female leads all legitimately looked like they knew how to play
their instruments, which is a big selling point for a film of this genre.
Love Forbidden
Rodolphe Marconi,
France, 96 minutes
9:30 p.m. Saturday,
October 11, Dryden Theatre
Parisian Bruce
(played by writer-director-producer Marconi) takes off for Rome where an arts
fellowship for his filmmaking will, hopefully, erase the painful memories of
his recently deceased gay brother. But then he meets Mateo (Andrea Necci), a
smoldering Sicilian with caterpillar eyebrows who reminds Bruce a lot of his
dead brother. And who doesn’t enjoy sleeping with guys who remind them of their
dead brother?
           But after they hook up, Bruce gets a
little psychotic and begins to stalk Mateo. Throw in a serial killer-obsessed
American girl, a jealous bartender, and the strangest France-Italy vibe since
the Euro 2000 finals and you’ve got a decent little thriller. The religious
iconography and local architecture make up for the video quality and the flat,
zombie-like acting of the supporting cast.
Die Mommie Die! (CITY’S CHOICE)
Mark Rucker, USA, 90
minutes
7 p.m. Sunday,
October 12, Dryden Theatre
If you’re a fan of
camp that goes way over the top in the same manner as, say, 2000 ImageOut entry
Psycho Beach Party, don’t miss Die Mommie Die!, which also happens to
be adapted from a Charles Busch play (see our interview with him in this issue).
           The story centers on a rather
dysfunctional Hollywood family in 1967. Patriarch Sol Sussman (Philip Baker
Hall) is a movie producer who has been off in Spain trying to secure financing
for his latest venture, while wife Angela Arden (drag legend Busch), a
washed-up singer-actress, has been busy shagging the python-sized Tony Parker
(Jason Priestley). When Sol catches wind of the affair, and cancels Angela’s
upcoming singing engagement in the Poconos, she flips out and kills him with an
arsenic-laced suppository.
           This does not bode well for Angela’s
relationship with her daddy’s-girl daughter (Natasha Lyonne) or the family’s
maid (Frances Conroy), though it does bring her a bit closer to pot-smoking son
Lance (Stark Sands), who has just been kicked out of school for inciting a gay
orgy. In one priceless heart-to-heart conversation between mother and son,
Angela not-so-delicately asks Lance, “Son, are you a cocksucker?”
           So, yeah — the humor isn’t exactly
subtle, but it’s not supposed to be. There are plenty of other scenes that are
just as much of a hoot, but I don’t want to give them all away. I’ll just say Die is tart enough to curl the ends of
John Waters’ moustache. Everything is appropriately sensational, twisted, and
overly dramatic. And like most strong parodies, Die doesn’t overstay its welcome.
           Busch’s performance, which won a
Special Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year, is insanely fun, featuring
the same soft “Doris Day” focus and the same hysterically flattering
lighting we’re supposed to swallow as legitimate when it’s done to Madonna (The Next Big Thing) and Kate Hudson (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days).
For detailed reviews
of ImageOut films, visit Jon’s site, Planet Sick-Boy (www.sick-boy.com).
Read more of City Newspaper’s coverage on ImageOut by clicking here!
This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2003.
