Congratulations to the Audience Award Winners!!

Best Feature:  Iron Ladies

Best Documentary:  Daddy and Papa

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May 31- June 8, 2002

Program Descriptions

Click on day for schedule

Friday, May 31

Saturday, June 1

Sunday, June 2

Monday, June 3

Tuesday, June 4

Wednesday, June 5

Thursday, June 6

Friday, June 7

Saturday, June 8

Size ‘em Up
(Christine J. Russo, USA 2001, 15 min)
Julie Brown and Stella Stevens co-star in this light-hearted tale of a teen jock’s reluctant search for her first bra.

Blue Haven
(Julian Cautherley, USA 2000, 15 min)
Two skateboarders scour Los Angeles for the perfect skating venue. $40,000 and a sex change later, they may find true love instead.  

Do You Take This Man
(Pamela S. Busch, USA 2001, 12 min)
This camp send-up of The Graduate follows dykes on bikes as they race to stop a wedding.

The Trip
(Miles Swain, USA 2002, 95 min, www.thetrip-themovie.com)
The 1970s and 1980s witnessed the resurgence of political and legal discrimination against homosexuality in America, encouraging tremendous activism within the gay community.  This film artfully interweaves footage of Anita Bryant’s anti-gay crusade and Ronald Reagan’s neglect of the AIDS epidemic into the story of a romance between two politically active young men. Jill St. John as an ex-showgirl mom and a fey and funny Alexis Arquette are on hand as a closeted conservative commentator reluctantly falls for a handsome gay activist.

Opening Night Reception To Follow

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Size ‘em Up

Blue Haven

The Trip

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Union in Wait

Saturn's Return

Family Fundamentals

Union in Wait
(Ryan Butler, USA 2000, 28 min)
This powerful film documents the national controversy that erupted when a loving lesbian couple decided to hold a commitment ceremony in a chapel at Wake Forest University.

Saturn’s Return
(Wenona Byrne, Australia 2000, 26 min)
A personal odyssey of remembering, grief, and reconciliation unfolds as a young man and his boyfriend return home to care for his dying dad.

Family Fundamentals
(Arthur Dong, USA 2002, 75 min, www.deepfocusproductions.com)
This compelling documentary examines the intriguing family situations where parents have a history of actively opposing gay rights, despite having gay kids themselves.

Saturday June 1
7:30 pm
Doors Cut Down
(Antonio Hens, Spain 2000, 17 min, www.picturethisent.com)
A teenager with too much time on his hands frequents the men’s room at the local shopping mall.  (Spanish with English subtitles)

Grrly Show
(Kara Herold, USA 2000, 18 min)
Hilarious spoofs of 1950s educational films set the stage for this celebration of “girl zines,” alternative magazines created by women.

Cyber Slut
(Jonathan Gann, USA 2001, 9 min)
A wry, risqué look at the budding romance between gay man and machine, this film accompanies a lonely cyber geek on a virtual tour of on-line personals, chat rooms and porn sites.

Gaudi Afternoon
(Susan Seidelman, Spain/USA 2001, 93 min, www.lolafilms.com )
From the director of Desperately Seeking Susan comes a quirky and fast-paced comedy based on the mystery novel by Barbara Wilson. Judy Davis stars as Cassandra Reilly, an expatriate American who works as a translator in Barcelona. Desperate for funds, she turns detective when the beguiling Marcia Gay Harden offers her a ridiculous sum of money to track down an estranged husband.

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Doors Cut Down

Grrly Show

Cyber Slut

Gaudi Afternoon

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Fish and Elephant

(Please Note: the Sunday Matinee screening will be held at the Wadsworth Atheneum, 600 Main Street, Hartford. Tel: 860.278.2670)

Audit
(Brian To, USA 2001, 28 min)
An unusual tax audit sets the stage for this biting satire of the Hollywood closet, featuring offbeat performances by Sally Kirkland and Alexis Arquette.

Fish and Elephant
(Li Yu, China 2001, 106 min)
Xiao Qun, an elephant keeper at the Beijing Zoo, has a complicated love life. Enjoying her passionate new romance with a local clothing designer, Qun encounters more than an few obstacles on the road to happiness: her traditional mother aggressively arranges blind dates for her unmarried daughter and a desperate ex-girlfriend reappears after murdering an abusive father. Humor and insight mark our heroine’s hapless meetings with would-be male suitors, and her moving coming-out tale unfolds with warmth and conviction. (Chinese with English subtitles)

Sunday June 2
7:30 pm
(Back at Cinestudio)
Metrosexuality
(Rikki Beadle-Blair, UK 2001, 145 min)
In the wake of their smash success, Queer as Folk, Channel 4 Productions offers this multi-racial, hip-hop filled vision of mary-old England. Max is a gay-divorcée dad in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Joint custody of Kwame, his teenage son, reunites Max with his handsome ex-husband Jordan, enflaming old desires. The travails of Max’s lesbian sister and sister-in-law, the escapades of Kwame’s two gay best mates, and the romantic entanglements of their poly-amorous friends contribute to this fresh, funny interpretation of the twenty-first-century family.

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Metrosexuality

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Phallocy

Just Call Me Kade

Kali's Vibe

Phallocy
(Jay Sennett, USA 2000, 3 min, www.mrfancyproductions.com )
Double-exposed, sepia-toned film sets the mood for this brief chronicle of the evolving identities that are claimed by a female-to-male transsexual.

Just Call Me Kade
(Sam Zolten, USA 2001, 26 min)
This candid and moving documentary looks at a fourteen-year-old youth’s transition from female to male. Sponsored by Aetna.

Dear Emily
(Katherine Brooks, USA 2001, 7 min)
Remembering the drama of her senior year, an older Sara finally comes to terms with her past.

Martirio
(Claudia Morgando-Escanilla, Canada 2000, 19 min)
A deranged and domineering father threatens the romance between a trapeze artist and the nurse of her disabled twin-sister in this stylish, mysterious film.

Kali’s Vibe
(Shari Carpenter, USA 2001, 92 min)
This bold bisexual coming-out story comes complete with an African American cast and a very unusual premise. Kali discovers that her girlfriend Crystal is cheating on her, and the tarot cards reveal that her happiness requires releasing everything that she finds familiar. This may even include her lesbian identity as Kali reluctantly confronts her feelings for the charming and handsome Reese. Fortunately, two lesbian aunts offer sage wisdom that guides Kali’s rediscovery of herself and her sexuality.

Tuesday June 4
7:30 pm

Salt the Blade, Twist the Knife: A Lesbian Love Tale
(Ann Lippert, USA 2001, 8 min)
Featuring comic Suzanne Westenhoefer, this satirical film tells the beautiful but ill-fated story of two women, four cats, and a six-month relationship.

Forbidden Fruit
(Sue Maluwa Bruce, Germany 2000, 30 min)
The courageous filmmaker overcame political repression in order to create this entrancing folk tale of lesbian love in rural Zimbabwe.

Family Values
(Eva Saks, USA 2001, 24 min)
A nice lesbian couple’s wholesome family business proves that crime really does pay.

My Left Breast
(Gerry Rogers, Canada 2000, 57 min, www.myleftbreast.com)
This intimate and frank documentary chronicles the filmmaker’s own struggle with breast cancer. Following her mastectomy, Rogers takes an unflinching look at the sickness, the vulnerability, and the fears that accompany chemotherapy, radiation, and an uncertain future. With courage and wit, she offers a testament to the power of a partner’s love, the support of a community, and our ability to reach out and touch the lives of others.  Sponsored by the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective.

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Forbidden Fruit

Gerry, of 'My Left Breast' (with and without hair)

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No Prom for Cindy

Gang Girls 2000  

Km. 0

No Prom for Cindy
(Charlie Adler, USA 2001, 26 min, www.nopromforcindy.com )
Cow and Chicken voice actor Charlie Adler stars in this story of a popular teenager whose reputation is ruined by the rumor that she is a lesbian.

Gang Girls 2000
(Katrina del Mar, USA 1999, 27 min, www.katrinadelmar.com )
The celebrated photographer of New York’s underground freaks and rockers brings her aggressively sexual images to life on screen, presenting a lesbian rumble in the tradition of Hollywood’s best b-movie bad girls.

Km. 0
(Yolanda Garcia Serrano and Juan Luis Iborra, Spain 2000, 102 min)
Winner of the Audience Award at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, this film presents a fairy tale in the tradition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. On a steamy summer afternoon in the Puerto del Sol, the very center of Madrid, fourteen strangers meet in pairs by arrangement, chance, or mistake. A delightful farce ensues, and the resolution of mistaken identities and the discovery of lost love promise at least a few happy endings. (Spanish with English subtitles)

Thursday June 6
7:30 pm

Hope Along the Wind:

The Life of Harry Hay

(Eric Slade, USA 2001, 57 min)

A significant contribution to the recovery of our queer past, this fascinating documentary recounts the extraordinary life of Harry Hay, labor organizer, Marxist teacher, and founding member of the Mattachine Society.

Iron Ladies

(Yongyooth Thongkongtoon, Thailand 2000, 104 min, www.strandrel.com )

Selected for audience awards at several major queer film festivals, this raucous and endearing comedy tells the improbable but true tale of a championship volleyball team composed primarily of gay and transgender players. Under the guidance of their lesbian coach, Bee, the "queen team" sets out to beat the odds, qualifying for the Thai national championships despite prejudiced volleyball officials, fans and competitors. Delivering nail-biting action and non-stop fun, the Ladies are an inspiration and a delight. (Thai with English subtitles)

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 Harry Hay

Iron Ladies

Misguided Piss

Circuit

Circuit  

Friday June 7
7:30 pm

The Favor

(Ernesto M. Foronda, USA 2001, 5 min)

What are best friends for? A straight teenager attempts to buy a porn magazine for his gay friend.

Hole

(Clare Charles Cornell and Rodney Buxton, USA 2001, 18 min)

The complex maze of an underground sex club becomes a metaphor for the psychological state of desire, exposing the issues of class, body image, rejection, and age that shape the pursuit of sex.

Misguided Piss

(Jorge Ameer, USA 2002, 4 min)

The moral of this men’s room romance seems clear: in the search for love, one’s aim needn’t always be true.

Circuit

(Dirk Shafer, USA 2001, 121 min, www.circuitmovie.com )

With chiseled chests, throbbing music, and designer drugs, this film takes a non-stop tour of the circuit party scene, from the first beating dance mix to the morning-after withdrawal. John, a naïve, small-town cop arrives in West Hollywood, and he’s quickly caught up in the circuit world, leaving his job to manhandle customers as the bouncer at a gay club. The filmmaker’s steamy homage to the glamour and glistening flesh of the circuit scene comes with a warning label attached: men who party this hard also party at their own risk.

Saturday June 8
Matinee 2:00 pm

The Chosen Family

(Maureen Bradley, Canada 2001, 14 min)

Interviews of a young woman and her various ex-girlfriends are interspersed throughout this astute and comic depiction of a lesbian’s return home for a family wedding.

Daddy and Papa

(Johnny Symons, USA 2002, 64 min, www.daddyandpapa.com )

This honest, humorous, and very human story explores how four gay couples’ decisions to raise children affect their lives and the larger society. The film traces the daily challenges as well as the broader issues that inevitably inform these private decisions. Such issues include the ambiguous place of interracial families in the United States, the risks and rewards of surrogate pregnancy and adoption, and the complexities of gay marriage and divorce. The film furnishes a fresh and heartwarming look at the changing face of the American family.

Filmmaker will be present.

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Gay dads from Daddy and Papa

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A Different...

Tom Clay Jesus

Boychick

Julie Johnson

A Different Kind of Black Man

(Sheila J. Wise, USA 2000, 8 min)

Successful, black gay men talk frankly about sexuality, masculinity, and their perceived place within the black community.

Tom Clay Jesus

(Hoang A. Duong, USA 2001, 17 min)

This erotically charged tale offers three different perspectives on a casual sexual encounter.

Boychick

(Glenn Gaylord, USA 2001, 12 min)

An imaginary teen pop star plays fairy godmother to a shy Jewish teenager in this bubble-gum pop musical extravaganza.

Julie Johnson

(Bob Goose, USA 2000, 92 min)

Lili Taylor and Courtney Love star in this charming comedy about a New Jersey housewife’s search for love and personal fulfillment. Revealing her passion for physics and math is almost as tough for Julie as confessing her feelings for Claire. An adult education course gives her the courage to do both, and she succeeds beyond her wildest dreams. Julie’s continuing quest for self-improvement ultimately threatens her newfound love, but this entertaining film never wavers from its injunction to follow one’s heart, whatever the risks.

Closing Night Party To Follow

Tickets Prices
$8 per show
$6 students and seniors

Opening and closing nights (includes Reception)

$12/ $10 students/seniors

3 Show Pass (not valid opening or closing nights)
$20 

Festi-pass (all 12 shows!)
$60 

Tickets Available at:
Hartford: Metrostore 
Northampton: Pride and Joy

Sponsors:
Adell Donaghue • Chartwells 
Hartford Advocate • innewsweekly
Metroline • Pond House Cafe • Trinity College
Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective
Greater Hartford Arts Council

Information: 860.586.1136 or www.ctglff.org
Cinestudio is at 300 Summit St. at College Terrace,
Hartford, CT 06106-3173.
Phone: 860-297-CINE (860-297-2463).

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