3.4
-- OUT
IN THE NIGHT, Blair Doroshwalther
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Four black gay women from New Jersey are out at night strolling
in New York when a man harasses and then pursues and attacks
them. The man is stabbed by one of the girls in self-defense,
and the other girls begin to hurt him after he tries to
strangle one of them. The media had a hay day with the incident,
using headlines like 'Girls Gone Wilding,' 'Hated by Lez
Gang,' 'Seething Sapphic Sextet' and many more totally unfair
and abusive epithets. The group, known as the New Jersey
4, were arrested, and all received an excessive number of
years in prison, the worst being 11 years for Patreece for
stabbing the man. The wound was surface, and the video surveillance
tape shown in court proved the girls did nothing wrong but
defend themselves. Still, the judge did not think so. They
are all sent to prison, and the sentences are harsh. Time
is not on their side. One girl is penalized for wearing
boxer shorts under her uniform, and another is forbidden
to go to her brother's funeral after he was stabbed in front
of the family's house. Another girl was raped by her uncle
when she was nine years old, and he continued to do it for
many years. He gets five years in jail. She ended up getting
eight years for the attack on the man. All girls have girlfriends,
but no amount of solace can remove the unjust sentences
they received because they were black and gay. An excellent
documentary that makes you wonder if the US justice system's
mandate is in fact one of propagating hatred of marginalized
people and applying fairness to the rich and white hertosexuals.
3.4
-- NO EASY
WALK TO FREEDOM, Nancy
Nicol
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
The documentary introduces us to a crusader for gay education
and STD diseases. Her name is Anjali Gopoland who also runs
an orphanage. She talks about her volunteer work with NAZ
where she enters Delhi’s gay parks and administers meds
and condoms with a doctor friend who examines many gay men.
They have been harassed by the police for trying to help,
and many gay men continue to be imprisoned and beaten up.
She also counsels families of gay men and heads the Outreach
Program that hands out condoms everywhere in the park, the
bus stations while talking to gay men. The police also beat
up these outreach workers; anyone associated with gay men
is deemed as promoting gay activities. This attempt to help
gays and then being arrested happens all over India: in
Lucknow, the head workers of their NGO organization were
arrested and tortured by the police and the prisoners for
47 days. It is considered normal to do this because of Section,
377 in the penal code, which outlaws homosexuality. This
law originated in Britain, and was referred to as the sodomy
law. It was aimed at India, and landed there in 1860 when
it was still a colony. Section 377 states that touching
a person of the same sex out of carnal lust is against the
order of nature – male to male. and so it is forbidden.
Lawyers are interviewed to discuss the laws and the fact
gays do not have acceptance. In fact, they are abhorred
in India. Many gays want to marry, as they have no idea
what being gay means – there is no identity for them --
no lifestyle other than meetings in a park. Sufis also are
persecuted whose creed is to search for beauty in another
man as divine law; male togetherness as a pair is part of
Sufi law, but it does not imply homosexuality. Still the
Sufis suffer from society’s attitude towards them. The film
Fire by Deepa Meehta sparked great protests among the
Hindus. From 1990 to 1993 there were attacks on lesbians
in Mumbai, and for three months the city burned in fire.
Eventually, Section 377 was taken to task for being unconstitutional
and an affront to human rights. Naz started Voices, the
name for their massive group trying to abolish Section 377.
It was a necessary development to further the march for
freedom for all marginalized people. The brave testimony
of many were used to repulse Section 377 during the presentation
of their case in front of the High Court. On July 2nd, 2009,
the Delhi High Court struck down the law. Gaykind (term
used in film), its kin and all minorities: caste, religious
or people with a disability has taken a giant step forward
in Indian law which now validates inclusiveness regarding
sexual orientation, caste, religion and disabilities. It
took eight years of fighting to win this freedom. It hasn’t
been easy. Shortly thereafter, 15 religious groups from
all over India tried to repeal the new progressive law in
a flood of appeals, and now the Supreme Court is involved.
Naz is preparing their case with superb support from parents
and all sexually marginalized people. On December 11, 2013,
the Supreme Court took a Cyclopean step backwards, and reinstated
Section 377.
1.8
-- EL TERCERO
(THE THIRD ONE), Rodrigo
Guerrero
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Shy Fede finds a gay couple through a webcam show and chat
site. The graphics are explicit during this virtual reality
encounter. Fede is invited over by the couple and after
a dinner of great food, wine and talk about their families,
the film takes a turn into homoerotic porn. Intense sexual
scenes seem to overshadow the joking and secrets during
the dinner when they reveal to one another truths about
their families, including the suicide of Fede’s mother.
Their ménage à trios might appeal to gay voyeurs attending
the film, but I found it superfluous.
3.9
-- LIMITED PARTNERSHIP,
Thomas G. Miller
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
In the 1950s gay marriage was illegal. When Richard Adams
and Tony Sullivan fell in love -- they met at an LA bar
in 1971 -- a great dilemma followed. Tony was from Australia,
but, after several battles trying to get married, in 1976
a sympathetic female judge in Boulder, Colorado where gay
marriage was legal -- issued them a marriage license. However,
the Attorney General deemed it illegal, and when Tony tried
to apply for a green card, he received an insulting letter
from the US government stating that marriage between two
'faggots' was illegal; another letter followed giving another
reason for not allowing Tony to stay in the country or make
the marriage license stick. The US government said neither
spouse could accomplish female household duties. They went
to court against the United States to argue full rights
of marriage and work. The judge ruled against it. They eventually
went to the Supreme Court, but the case was denied it hearing.
The second strategy was to challenge the deportation of
Tony to Australia. The Federal Court of Appeals in 1985
agreed. It was Judge Kennedy who slammed the hammer again
against them. TV showed how much they were spurned. The
INS simply refused to recognize the same sex license they
held. They both were set to go back on November 23, 1985.
They had to leave their house and Richard, the American/Pilipino
half of the couple, his entire family and life. Love was
their choice. They flew to London, and were homeless, traveling
by rail around Europe. They wanted to return to LA. They
flew to Guadalajara, and a friend drove them to the border,
and they got through. They stayed underground from the press
and INS. Tony worked for cash, but both kept hiding out.
They were outcasts, and even the death and subsequent burial
of Tony's mother and brother would not be witnessed by Tony
as he could not risk reentry into the US.
In
1990. Bush passed a bill to ease the law against entry into
the US by gays and lesbians. Hawaii was first to consider
enacting legality for gay marriage, President Clinton in
1993, opposed gay marriage. Then in 2001, immigration was
tightened. In 2012, the INS was abolished. The couple remains
more in the closet than before. In 2008, California votes
legality for gay marriage between gays. To help the proactive
movement along, a photographer gathers gays around LA where
one member of the couple is not a US citizen. Both become
leaders of a gay rally. This documentary is excellent. Isn't
it interesting that Tony and Richard's marriage has endured
over 40 years. With the long term stress, Tony has had two
heart attacks, and Richard a stroke. Both recovered. The
bi-national couple refuses to live in fear, and the so far,
the government has not pursued them again. In 2012, Obama
reversed the pernicious bill, and now gay marriage is legal.
Richard now has stage four lung cancer, and his devoted
partner, now a great artist stays by his side. Sadly, Richard
died at the age of 65, the day before they were to travel
to Washington State to legalize their marriage, as the Colorado
one wasn't recognized by the US government. Their love is
a testament to relationships that strive to endure despite
the whole world being against -- especially if you are gay.
Richard and Tony were pioneers in furthering the march to
gay rights. DOMA is the bill that criminalizes gay marriage.
DOMA the Defense bill against same sex marriage was finally
struck down by the Supreme Court. It was Anthony who did
this, ironic because it was this same judge who decried
same sex marriage.
1.3
-- LAND OF STORMS,
Ádám Csász
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Szabolcs, a thin but athletic young man plays soccer in
an amateur German league. His homosexual tendencies become
evident in a subtle manner during the player's shower time.
He seems confused and lost. He heads back to Hungary and
starts fixing up a dilapidated house he's inherited. The
house is in the countryside, and no one lives nearby. Then
he befriends Aron, The two seem attracted to one another,
but both are in denial about this. Things happen, but then,
Bernard, one of his old soccer friends who has a crush on
Szabolcs shows up and they start an affair. Things become
a menage à trois in parts, but it all ends with one player
down and dead. Fights, homophobes, including the two anti-heroes'
angry parents, along with religion, converge to show the
cards are stacked against them. The film is fragmented and
plays for visuals and assumptions that must be made by the
viewer in order to connect the flimsy plot dots and the
various scenes. It is a homoerotic film in need of a good
script rather than the furtive glances it relies on. This
is the director's debut film, and though it shows promise
in creating mood, it fails to move us.
3.1
-- GUILDA,
Julien Cadieux
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Guilda was Montreal's elegant female star impersonator who
became immeasurably famous in the early 50s; she took the
world by storm =- in particular Paris. She traveled the
world and performed in almost every country. Vic Vogel composed
the music for her. She met Josephine Baker, Nana Mouskouri
and so many stars; she had the same stature as they did
in rank and fame. Guilda was actually a man named Jean Guilda.
A costume and make-up innovator, 'she' donned dresses that
were stunning -- handmade beaded and sequined. Ostrich feathers
swirled around her marriage. Interviews with his friends,
his daughter and other impersonator, singers bring to life
the wonderful personality and talent of this free-spirited
comedian who died in 2012. The documentary is a colourful
and entertaining pastiche. Fun and charm make this film
a great viewing experience about a remarkable person. Her
voice sounded like a low Edith Piaf. She was beautiful,
but was lousy with money. She will go down in history as
one fo the greats.
3.4
-- LILTING,
Hong Khaou
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
This touching, sad film, marvelously and with great subtlety,
portrays the complex relationship of a Chinese-Cambodian
mother named (Pei-pei Cheng) now in a senior's home deeply
missing Kai (Andrew Leung), her son; he has just died. (They
moved to England long ago, but she never learned the language).
Kai apparently was on his way to tell her he wanted her
to come and live with him. She wanted nothing more. Unbeknownst
to her, Kai was gay, and she continues to keep in contact
with Richard, his friend (Ben Whishaw). She feels her son
spends more time with him than her. A series of flashbacks
show their relationship -- mother/son, mother/Kai's friend,
and Kai and his lover. These scenes amply portray the trio's
angst: the guilt, the mother's smothering love, Kai's love
for her, the loneliness and the fear of revealing the truth
that he is living not with his best 'friend' but his lover.
The lover now left to pick up the pieces where her son left
off hires a translator to convey his desire to have her
in his life -- even to come and live with him. The mother
also has a suitor named Allan (Peter Bowles) at the senior's
home and these scenes are very funny. The acting was brilliant,
and the ending so credible and understated. The multi-faceted
triangle of love, yearning and missing is gracefully and
eloquently played out.
3.4
-- REGARDING
SUSAN SONTAG, Nancy Kates
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
This enigmatic beautiful bi-sexual writer had a slew of
famous lovers, ecstatic times mixed with challenges of grave
concern, including three bouts of cancer -- the final one
killing her in on December 28th, 2004. She was an essayist,
actor, filmmaker and novelist. At the age of 19, she had
her first child, and by the time she was in her twenties,
she had become an iconic figure in literary and teaching
circles. A tremendous lover of life who often stated she
loved being, she defined a writer as one who has a curiosity
for everything and an ardent love for all the arts; she
followed her pledge to live life to the fullest and face
all dangers. She worked in Sarajevo during the war, had
traveled to China and made friends the world over. A feminist
who fearlessly faced her opponents while using words to
slay their bigoted views, she radically defied being labeled
or having to pander to any man. Even in death, she was defiant,
fighting the grim reaper, rallied by her last live-in lover-photographer,
Annie Leibovitz. Archival clips that included several interviews
with her sister and former lovers and friends, the film
contained some artistic montages designed to mark different
periods in her life and her passing. This documentary offers
an excellent and interesting overview of a very powerful
and passionate woman who proclaimed herself a fighter for
injustice and for those who have no voice.
1.4
-- WINTER
JOURNEY, Sergei Taramayev
& Lyubov Lvova
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Desolation, despair, addiction, sexual deviancy, theft and
violence mark the lives of the dispossessed and the marginal
youth wandering the streets of Russian towns. Eric, a young
baritone singer with a laid-back attitude who prefers to
look at a vodka bottle than a Schubert lieder score, has
a promising future and his audition for the highest conservatory
for a scholarship is about to take place. On the way back
from a lesson, boards a bus and has his headset and cell
phone stolen by a thug who is arrested minutes later on
the bus for beating up a guy also on the same bus. The thug
has left behind a lizard talisman that he desperately wants
to find. After being released from jail, he calls Eric to
meet him to get it back. Eric is homosexual and the thug
homophobic. Events and the talisman bring these two together.
The thug rejects Eric's advances; he prefers to murder and
steal, yet he does like Eric's singing which he hears on
a stolen IPod. The film is ethereal and mystical in tone,
but because it sits on the cusp of artistic surrealism and
cutthroat reality, it meanders without credibility. Making
reference to Russia's utter disdain for homosexuality, the
story presents disconnected episodes of heightened dramatic
hyperbole. Russia's lost and misbegotten have nothing to
hold on to except a bottle of vodka and invisible dreams.
Without direction or democratic laws to protect each and
every citizen, including all homosexuals, the country with
its cold winter becomes a metaphor for endless misery. Despite
the unique feel of the film and the credible acting, the
plot suffered. One either liked it or ended up sinking into
a state of quasi consciousness.
3.0
-- SUCH GOOD PEOPLE , Stuart
Wade
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Two married gays, Alex (Randy Harrison from Queer
as Folk) and Richard (Michael Urie from Ugly Betty)
end up house sitting in a lovely LA dream home for a couple
who operate a non-profit organization in Bhutan. They often
travel there to help orphans in a school, but this timr
they don't come back. In fact, they are murdered. While
minding the gorgeous nest, the two hilarious men find a
stash of almost $1 million and they start thinking they
could buy this house they so love. But one of the guys has
an evil half-sister who is intent on buying the house too
by cashing in the stash that she knows is hidden in the
house; she is involved with the supposed do-gooder couple
regarding the smuggling of pills to Bhutan. She also knows
about the money when she overhears them talking about their
lucky find,. But where it is, she does not know. A ransom,
a canine kidnapping, a porpoise charity, a priceless dragon
artifact and a disabled lawyer who is a killer converge
in the screwball plot. Greed can cancel out initial magnanimity,
but in the end, we discover that the generous gain. This
is a fun, feel-good film full of clandestine conspiracies,
mistaken accusations and funny characters popping up along
the way.
2.5
-- DAS
PHALLOMETER (THE PHALLOMETER), Tor
Iben
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A comedic seven-minute film. An Iranian refugee is arrested
on a side road at an open border crossing in the dark. He
is taken into custody. He claims asylum because he is a
homosexual, and he will be killed in his country if he stays.
To ensure he is telling the truth, the trio of police administer
a 'phallometric test.' A device is placed onto his penis
and on a screen an explicit image of two guys getting it
on is projected right before his eyes. The graph shows his
blood flow is accelerated as the line of the phallometer
graph hits its highest point. He 'passes' the test. They
all congratulate him as they welcome him to his new country.
It's funny, concise and effective.
2.2
-- SNAILS
IN THE RAIN, Yariv Mozer
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
This Israeli film, set prior to the computer age, introduces
Boaz (Yoav Reuveni), a beautiful well-built man who keeps
receiving anonymous love letters form someone who knows
his every move. A stalker for sure, Boaz is upset, yet very
intrigued by the man's confession's of love for him. It
turns out to be his Semitic language professor. Boaz is
married, but he's had some encounters with men during his
army days, and although he repelled the men coming onto
him, he did allow them to kiss him with sexual fire. Boaz
is terribly confused by his dual sexuality. It is a coming
out genre film, but the ending shows his conservative upbringing
is stronger than his urge to come out as a gay guy. Based
on the short story, "The Garden of Dead Trees,' by Yossi
Avni-Levy, this film is based partly on true events. Overly
explicit in sexual depiction, it turned into a homo-erotic
piece of audience voyeurism rather than a dramatic film
intent on capturing the inner turmoil haunting the main
character and how it affected his entire life. The flashbacks
to his army days appeared to be inserted in a fragmented,
simplistic manner without regard to the syntax and pacing
of the film.
2.4
-- I REALLY
LIKE YOU, Jason Karman
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
In only 13 minutes, we witness how Mike from Newfoundland,
a possessive homosexual, takes his obsessive love for his
younger boyfriend to the ultimate end: murder. Mike wants
to marry him, but the young fellow is not into marriage.
Lonely Mike's proposal happens during a camping trip. Mike
does not take his lover's reply of rejection well, so he
fatally stabs the young beau. Fast forward to another province
and Mike is working in a diner. A young gay man enters,
and soon both dudes are getting it on in the bathroom. When
Mike says they should hang out, the stranger says their
encounter was just a casual passing and exits the bathroom
where their tryst took place. Mike follows him out, grabs
a kitchen knife and attacks him. But this time, the sharpest
cut of all ends up in mean Mike's belly. This clever short's
theme is not relevant only to gays. It focuses on the lethal
dangers of possessiveness -- a vile trait that affects all
whose love is tainted by jealousy and the desire to own
the object of your affections.
2.3
-- GUIDANCE,
Pat Mills
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A misfit man who is a failed actor plays a tape he made
in the studio for self-empowerment. He assumes the identity
of Rolland Brown, a motivational guidance counselor on the
Internet and gets a job as a guidance counselor at a high
school. He drinks with the students in his office, encourages
them to smoke dope and basically subverts any middle-class
value his family has tried to instill in him. He clearly
has an identity crisis -- much like the student's he 'counsels.'
It's a whacky film that stars the director himself -- a
cute comic who knows how to laugh at himself and make us
laugh too.
2.1
-- PELUCAS
(WIGS), José Manuel Serrano
Cueto
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A fifteen-minute film that features Lola Marcelli, in the
role of an actress named Mary Formell. She is in her dressing
room and will not leave it to come and get her award in
the hall. Her girl friend is a makeup artist and convinces
her to either wear one of her wigs or her scarf. In the
end, she enters the hall to full applause. Radiantly smiling,
she seems to have come to terms with her chemotherapy and
the disappearance of her hair. The film is inspired by the
real life bravery of the director's wife, Cuca Escribano,
a cancer survivor.
3.0
-- TRU
LOVE, Kate Johnston & Shauna
MacDonald
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A gem of a love story that conveys the confusions and irrational
behaviour when one unexpectedly hurdles oneself into a bi-sexual
relationship -- an event of surprise, wonder and torment,
especially when one's adult life has always followed the
straight and narrow. Two women fall in love despite a 30-year
age gap. Tru is the younger one who is pretty good at snagging
women of all ages, including Alice, the older woman who
has a daughter that was implicated at one time with Tru.
Complex Tru is not good, however, at maintaining relationships.
The film reveals the emotional rollercoaster ride of love
in an age of rules gone wrong and mother/daughter relationships
that disappoint. Tru
Love is a heartwarming film that without being explicit
captures the 'Tru' nature of love's unstoppable tug for
all involved and the trauma it can produce. The acting was
superb. Kudos to Shuana Johnston for her spirited independence
honed with understated emotion in the role of Tru, and to
Kate Trotter as the effervescent Alice.
![Canadian Tire Repair Scam [2211 boul Roland-Therrien, Longueuil] = documents-proofs](../2010_v9_n5/./images/mapleleaf.jpg)
