The SF Queer Film Festival (SFQFF) returns for its fourth version, August 23-25, with its accompanying 64 movies, shorts, and web episodes. It's not an exaggeration to say the festival is still in the process of finding its voice and groove as a more "intimate" festival.
Amir Jaffer, the Executive Director of SFQFF comments, "Obviously, Frameline is the queen mother of all LGBTQI+ film festivals and we can never match its prestige and popularity. But there's so much more content than ever before that even Frameline can't screen every wonderful option they are provided." The three days are packed nonstop with films with few breaks provided.
Jaffer adds that some of these films have been denied a Frameline submission. A good portion of SFQFF are clearly low budget movies. It doesn't necessarily mean they are bad, but because prestige films are now digital, the rough edges tend to stick out more prominently.
Jaffer claims there were so many quality content movies, even SFQFF had to say no to some of them, which portends favorably for the future of queer features.
SFQFF has now made its home at Landmark's Opera Plaza Cinema because "we don't feel over-powered by a giant theatre, making the intermingling of filmmakers and attendees easier."
The theme of this year's festival is resilience.
The opening night feature is "A Moment for Love," a fairy-tale rom-com revolving around gay Asian fashion designer Bobby Love, famous for his fantasy couture and hats that will remind long-time SF residents of "Beach Blanket Babylon." Love meets Trevor (Adam Huss), a down and out singer-songwriter, who's being haunted by the ghost of his sister after her tragic death.
Love is infatuated with Trevor, despite having a jealous long-time boyfriend/assistant Marcus (Michael Joseph Nelson). Love incorporates Trevor into Wonderland, his Disney-like home and studio. Will Trevor supplant Marcus? There is an enchanting element here and the outlandish costumes will either amaze or make you laugh. Unfortunately, Love is terrible, unable to act or register any emotion on his face, though he wears his creations well. It's entertainingly silly but colorful.
"Hidden Flora," follows Roxii (Luca Silver) a nonbinary/trans romantic, who wants to be loved. We watch a long string of boys and men who populate their love life. Roxii seems to have terrible taste in guys, most of whom treat them miserably. It's hard to empathize with a character that seems bent on self-sabotage.
At one point in the film, Roxii warns us we won't like them, which sadly is true. This is a meditation on the virtues of first love versus self-love, which Roxii is actually striving for in fits and starts, especially as Roxii grows more deeply into their trans identity.
"First love is being lost at sea, but self-love is being grounded. First love is limerence while self-love is fulfillment." The film's message of being who you were meant to be and to live your truth or you won't truly live is told rather than shown. A brave effort, but mostly a miss.
Another film with an unlikable lead character is "Moving In: A Modern Musical." The sassiest and sluttiest exotic dancer, Max (Evan Wilhelm), is in trouble and crashes at his bestie Zoe's (Susie McCollum) place. However, he develops a crush on her boyfriend Ethan (Dekkin Walter). He will go to any lengths to get what he wants. Ethan and Zoe are going through a rough patch where Zoe can't commit to Ethan.
Yes, it's a soap opera. The musical numbers add nothing to the narrative but are very catchy and make the film entertaining. Almost every supporting character (friends and employees) are given their own song. It shouldn't work, but it does. Surprisingly enjoyable, you might even be tempted to dance in the aisles or your living room.
A gay version of "The Odd Couple" is the inspiration for the slice-of-life comedy "F.L.Y." about two former exes, Max (Trent Kendrick) and Rafael/Raf (Rafael Albarran) who haven't seen each other in five years. Then they get stuck together in lockdown at the start of the COVID pandemic. To complicate matters, Max has a boyfriend. Rafael is a budding drag star. Opposites attract, or do they?
The question is whether the two will reunite, as both characters have their annoying traits. F.L.Y. stands for First Love Yours, which will also be the title of the screenplay Max is writing. Many of the supporting characters appear on Zoom, including Max's kick ass grandmother. "There's nothing more important than loving families exactly as they are." The ending is unexpectedly poignant. It was only a matter of time that there would be a gay COVID story, but ultimately the plusses outweigh the negatives.
One of the few documentaries at the festival, but a winner, is "A Long Way from Heaven," a history of queer students at Brigham Young University (BYU), the educational institution owned by the Mormons. Most of that history has been ugly, including at least 15 students who committed suicide and the use of electroshock therapy until the mid-1990s.
In February 2020, in conjunction with the release of a new online handbook, the ban on homosexual behavior was removed. Queer students thought they could come out and display ordinary public displays of affection, but within a month the section that had been removed, was reinstated.
A year later, to show support for LGBTQ students, the iconic Y on the nearby mountain was lit up in rainbow colors. The lights were planned through a Google document and conspirators only used their initials to avoid identifying any of the culprits. The film deals with the fallout from that action.
Viewers might ask why any LGBTQ student would want to remain there, but many don't even become aware of their sexual orientation or gender identities until college because the all-pervasive Mormon culture is so repressive. It's an ongoing struggle but you will be rooting for the students all the way. Kudos for the bravery of former Mormon college students David Sant and Taylor Pace for their investigative filmmaking that is nothing short of riveting.
"Kuch Sapney Apne" (translated as "Dreams Such as Ours") from India is the best narrative feature at SFQFF. It concerns a gay couple, Kartik and Aman, from Mumbai, who dream of being able to marry each other legally in the near future. Kartik goes off to study in Sweden and has a fling with a fellow student that puts his relationship with Aman into jeopardy.
The film centers on the key importance in India of gaining parental approval of one's coupling. Kartik's mother wholeheartedly embraces the couple, while his father rejects them, causing a rift in the parent's relationship. The mother leaves and goes to live with Kartik, while his father declines and suffers a stroke. There are a few short Bollywood type musical interludes.
It's two hours and too long, but the characters are beautifully rendered, with Mona Ambegaonkar and Abhay Kulkarni outstanding as the parents. The movie shows in a heartwarming fashion how all relationships, queer and straight, are challenged when faced with uncomfortable truths but love will help them resolve their struggles.
"A Wonderful Life" is a Christmas-themed film revolving around sad sack Bailey (David McMahon), a single man who's caring for his ailing mother. A tragic accident has killed his dog, and his boss just told him he will lose his job at the end of the year. Then his mother informs him that Greyson (Ben Stobber), his childhood best friend, is coming to visit them after 30 years. Greyson is also single and living with his mother, but they hope to relocate to Florida to escape the harsh cold climate. Bailey and Greyson will spend time together and realize how much they have in common, as they sort through their unresolved feelings.
This film is a loose gay reimaging of "It's A Wonderful Life." You can figure out the ending after the first half hour. The movie is schmaltz personified. Yet it does profile small-town LGBTQ people rarely seen in mainstream films. And it is refreshing to see a romance between Bailey, a bear type and Greyson, an ordinary looking guy, with neither the six-pack Grecian gods we normally see in queer films. "A Wonderful Life" is actually ideal Christmas fare that with some cash infusion to spruce up the sets, could easily stream on the Hallmark Channel.
Shorts & sweet
The real standouts of SFQFF are the shorts, which are grouped into several thematic categories: Animated; Small Bites (under 14-minute shorts); Purple Haze (Experimental Shorts and Music Videos); a short documentary "Surviving Voices: The LatinX Community and AIDS," followed by a panel discussion; World (International shorts); Box of Chocolates (under 25-minute shorts); Female Power (shorts by women focusing on women); and Web Out with @ReelKev (episodic series from HereTV).
"All the Men I Met But Never Dated," is a bittersweet meditation on balancing queer and spiritual identities. Ali and Oliver meet. Ali is a closeted Muslim who must choose between the love he feels for free spirit Oliver and the one he has for his family and faith.
Oliver can't understand how Ali can pretend to be someone he's not. He sees the closet as a prison while Ali views it as a place to feel safe. Oliver doesn't want to be someone's secret. There's compelling chemistry between the two actors and even in ten minutes we hope they can bridge this vast chasm.
"(Un)Free Will" is a campy tale about two bitchy gay guardian angels meddling in the love affairs of their assigned humans, with one angel trying to encourage a relationship between the two guys and the other angel opposed to any union. The moral seems to be that human beings will do things their own unpredictable ways. It's also obvious the angels have unfinished business between them. Lightweight fun with heaven as re-envisioned by Oscar Wilde.
A poignant tale of a trans teenager, "Arlo" has been living on his own for two years and sees a missing poster of themselves using their dead name and a school picture prior to their transition. Arlo meets their brother but still can't return to his conservative parents. It's an understated denunciation of the country's intolerance of trans folk, but also a paen of their determination to be themselves regardless of the cost. Arlo's a hard-hearted survivor whom you will admire and hope will learn how to thrive.
"One-Week Stand" is a miniature lesbian version of Andrew Haigh's masterpiece "Weekend." A free-spirited female tourist to San Francisco meets a native romantic woman in a record shop. They flirt, with the visitor proposing a deal that she will be the resident woman's girlfriend if the latter will act as her tour guide for seven days.
The rules of engagement: no commitment, nor any exchange of names or photos. After seven days, that will conclude their encounter. Will they survive the week and what will happen as it finishes? The women have a feisty chemistry and like "Weekend" the couple reveal more of themselves than they ever intended. Romantic and mysterious, a treat for the Sappho crowd.
"Happy Birthgay" sounds like a card you would buy at the Does Your Mother Know store, but it's a short from Israel, about a mother who at first wasn't thrilled when her son came out to her, but in atonement a year later throws him a grandiose surprise BirthGay party, celebrating a year of his coming out of the closet. The party is chock-full of outrageous penis party favors.
Then there's a surprise visit from grandma who doesn't know her grandson is gay. The mother degays the house before her appearance, reverting to her former intolerant self. Will it work? It could all have been insufferable, yet it's the party we all wish we had received when we came out to our families. A guilty pleasure worth imbibing.
"The Last Take" brings us back to the Golden Age of Hollywood. It begins in 1935 with two male movie stars who fall in love on set. They wanted to live together but the studio head forces them into fake marriages, so they drift apart. In that era queer stars had to hide their true selves if they wanted to succeed.
Now it's LA, 1965, and one of the actors has tragic news with only a limited time to reach out to the other actor in the hope of reconciling their long-lost love. He realizes that guy was the only one he ever really loved.
It's a lovely meditation on regret and the choices we make to further our careers plus the high cost we pay for that success. It tells the story those 1930-1950s stars couldn't tell us. In just 12 minutes it relates in miniature the whole history of Tinseltown homophobia. A small gem worth the price of admission.
San Francisco, 1953 in the middle of Communist post-war paranoia is the setting for "Mona's North Beach Noir." Detective Mitch Marlowe (niece of detective Philip Marlowe) comes to town to start a new life passing as a man. She's brash, confident, and very comfortable presenting as a man.
She's thrown into a case revolving around that vibrant world of criminals, corrupt cops, jazz clubs, and Beat culture in defiance of the times. Mitch labeled as a butch lesbian might today identify as transmasculine. The short ably captures the atmospherics of the time and has the makings of an episodic series with a new criminal per episode. It's not "The Maltese Falcon," but this local filmmaker's noir elements do create some suspense and it's a reminder how queer people in that time had to hide in order to feel safe.
A queer platonic relationship between two nonbinary bookstore clerks undergoes upheaval when one of them acquires a new partner in "Break My Heart." How they adjust to this new third wheel is the gist of this seven-minute morsel. Much is conveyed nonverbally. Behind the tumult is the fear of the one clerk that they will not find a relationship. It's a universal complication when our friends find partners and we worry about being left out or behind, especially if we feel marginalized in other aspects of our lives. Touching, by reaffirming the power of friendship.
Finally, "I Remember" revolves around a man named Derek (Robert Koutras) who wakes one morning to find his husband Dominic (played by the actor/writer/director Peter Bisuito) is missing. He cannot remember where Dom is due to a traumatic experience he suffered causing repressed memory. He goes around asking friends and strangers, "Do you know where Dom is?"
A woman friend will help Derek find where Dom is. The ending is a predictable shocker, yet it's quite intense and shows the deleterious impact of trauma (as in PTSD). Bisuito (also well known as a bear stand-up comedian) derived the idea for the film last year when he was "feeling down about things in his life and was in a really bad space." He wanted to shake things up, and he has fulfilled that goal. It's deep, disturbing, and unforgettable.
www.sfqueerfilmfest.com
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