Queer Paradise

Gender Bias (Mauvais Genres)

Bo, a twentysomething transsexual with a crush on her thug of a neighbor, is in trouble deep as she traverses the dingy, skulky underground of Brussels. Her father is being indicted for his pedophilic past — a past that includes offenses against his young son Baudoin, now Bo — and corrupt Belgian cops are asking her to testify. In the meantime, a Jack the Ripper-like serial killer is maiming transgender prostitutes, and the circle seems to be closing in around the cabaret singer turned girl detective. In a disquietingly sexy crime-thriller film full of twists, turns, and U-turns, Stévenin — who won the 2002 Cesar in France for his portrayal — is the constant, equally adept at inhabiting Bo’s vulnerability and bravado. — Shawn Badgley

Gender Bias screens on Friday, Aug. 22, at 9:30pm.

Gasoline (Benzina)

If Thelma and Louise were Italian and hot for each other, they would cross paths with Lenni (Orioli) and Stella (Sansa) in a lesbian bar somewhere on the Continent. The fugitives of Gasoline are Stambrini’s dark and steamy donations to the female road movie. Girls unite, commit scandal, run for their lives, and leave a fiery trail. Stambrini’s estro-crime spree begins when Lenni’s mother interrupts a lunch-counter nooner between her daughter and the controlling yet diminutive Stella. During Mamma’s effort to rescue Lenni from debauchery, the lovers bring her to a sugary end. Her echoing post-mortal admonitions prevent complete descent into cliché as she warns her daughter about the sacrifice of maternal and erotic love with spare words both painful and beautiful. Because Gasoline runs a mere 85 minutes, it may be a Molotov cocktail of badass and ho-hum worth sipping. — Courtney Fitzgerald

Gasoline screens on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 9:20pm.

Tipping the Velvet Parts I-III

This bold three-part BBC miniseries adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Victorian-era novel of the same name follows the spirited journeys of Nan Astley, oyster shucker, good girl, and recently realized lover of women. Nan’s adventures take her from the comforts and suffocation of close-knit family life in a seaside town to rollicking, horizon-broadening romps through turn-of-the-century London. Her catalyst, siren, and muse is Kitty Butler, a cross-dressing music-hall dandy who captivates Nan and escorts her into all sorts of new ways of being. As is most often the case in these coming-out tales, the heroine finds herself not exactly dancing with the one who brung her, and the mad pursuit of desire while staying true to heart proves tricky for our dear Nan. The production on Tipping is A-1 BBC brilliant, capturing the wistful mist of the English coast as deftly as the dirty underbelly of decadent big-city shenanigans — with some mutoscope-inspired speed-editing thrown in to keep things nice and buoyant. And the acting lives up to the digs: Viewers of all stripes are hereby challenged to not fall in love with Rachael Sterling as Nan. — Kate X Messer

Tipping the Velvet Parts I-III screens on Sunday, Aug. 24, at 7:30pm.

Suddenly (Tan de Repente)

A slow-moving but fascinating study of one weekend in the lives of three women. Mao (Crespo) and Lenin (Hassan) are two hunky, humorless lesbians who hijack a shy, homely saleswoman in the middle of the Buenos Aires streets. They’re not bad people; they’re just bored. Together, the three women flee to the countryside, where their real selves unfurl in unexpected ways. Argentinean director Lerman shot the film in a gritty black-and-white that draws our attention to the subtle, moving performances. With a tone that shifts from dark to light as the women move into the country, Suddenly is always a surprise. It’s also a surprisingly affecting film. — Sarah Hepola

Suddenly screens on Monday, Aug. 25, at 7:15pm and Thursday, Aug. 28, at 7pm.

Only the Good

The fact that Gottfried began filming this generous story of Eric Blanchette’s life and times while an undergraduate at the University of Texas is one thing; the fact that the filmmaker has somehow managed to meld four storylines into 56 minutes is even more impressive. First and foremost, Only the Good is about being the second HIV diagnosis in Austin and the 20 years that followed; secondly, it’s an oral history of growing up gay; thirdly, it’s the oral history of growing up as the son of perennial Austin mayoral candidate and eccentric Ray Blanchette; and finally, in the thread that ties it all together, it’s the story of the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, which Eric is participating in for the first time. A highly recommended debut from an emerging documentarian. — Shawn Badgley

Only the Good screens on Monday, Aug. 25, at 9:30pm in its world premiere, and Thursday, Aug. 28, at 5:30pm. Director Benjamin Gottfried will be in attendance.

Party Monster

This gruesome 1998 documentary examines the notorious “Clubland Murder” of Angel Melendez at the hands of Michael Alig, freak queen of Manhattan nightlife in the Eighties and Nineties. Handsome, bitchy, and shot full with drugs, Alig attracted cult attention with his shock antics — peeing on bartenders, tricking friends into drinking vomit — and later attracted police attention by sawing apart Melendez’s body and dumping it into the river. At only an hour, the film is too short for its subject, and it forsakes insight about Alig for the flash of his party life, although the filmmakers clearly suggest that Alig’s chilling behavior arose from that extreme environment. The screening of the 5-year-old film most likely anticipates the fall release of the feature film of the same name, starring Macauley Culkin as the handsome blond devil. Also, documentarians Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey are aGLIFF favorites, with a growing body of work (101 Rent Boys, The Eyes of Tammy Faye) chronicling modern gay life in America. — Sarah Hepola

Party Monster screens on Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 6pm and Thursday, Aug. 28, at 9:30pm.

Shorts

Shorts screenings at film festivals are usually hit-or-miss affairs, but this year aGLIFF has assembled a collection guaranteed to keep you seated till the end. The disclaimer at the beginning of “D.E.B.S.” reads “Tonight’s presentation is for people who like to watch chicks shoot guns and make out.” Excellent. “D.E.B.S.” follows three superhot superspies as they search for their kidnapped fourth D.E.B., although it seems like bad gurl Lucy in the Skies has more on her mind than just ransom. Making out ensues. Less fun but more thought provoking is “Jared.” All Jared wants to do is impress his mom’s new boyfriend. Trouble arises when he tries to accomplish this by wearing his mom’s dress, make-up, and jewelry. “Gaydar” brings things back to the lighter side when Randy stumbles upon a Gaydar gun at a yard sale and he can’t wait to discover if his hunky office obsession is on his team or not. “Rock Bottom” is much darker and ambiguous in theme and tells the story of an overweight john and the night he spends with his crack-smoking street hustler. Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Two-Headed Boy” is an excellent choice in setting the tone for this short. “The Ten Rules” finishes things up with a survival guide for lesbians. Smart, humorous, well-acted, and also featuring some making out. — Mark Fagan

“D.E.B.S.” screens as part of Girls! Girls! Girls! on Monday, Aug. 25, at 9:20pm; “Jared” screens as part of Teen Beat on Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 7pm; “Gaydar” and “Rock Bottom” screen as part of Boy-O-Rama on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 2:15pm and Sunday, Aug. 31, at 9:30pm; “The Ten Rules” screens as part of Dames Is Poison on Friday, Aug. 29, at 7pm.

Yossi & Jagger

Set in an Israeli military camp, Yossi & Jagger painfully depicts the stark reality of gays in the military and explores the decidedly limited options for men forced to stay in the closet. Jagger (Levi), who earned his handle for his flamboyant rock & roll demeanor, must keep his love affair with his commanding officer Yossi (Ohad) secret. Tension mounts as it becomes clear that Yossi will stay in the closet despite Jagger’s plans for the couple. Fox uses the inhospitable environs as a contrasting backdrop to the furtive yet flourishing love until the surroundings take their toll and the battlefield is paralleled by the strained relationship. — James Renovitch

Yossi & Jagger screens on Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 7:30pm.

Juchitán: Queer Paradise

In 1932, seminal filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein made Que Viva Mexico! featuring the strong Zapotec women of Juchitán, a small city in southern Oaxaca, Mexico. In 1994, Elle magazine ran a dishy story about these “traditionally rebellious” women, characterizing (some might say character-assassinating) them as “red-hot mamas” who take young lovers, henpeck their husbands, and generally run the show. Soon after the Elle fracas, Les Blank collaborator Maureen Gosling made two docs on the same tolerant, indigenous culture. Now it’s Enriquez’s turn. But is Juchitán: Queer Paradise for real? Or is this particular vision of the town’s notorious tolerance for homosexuality a construct of the filmmaker’s imagination and the influential agenda of some crafty local queens? It would have been nice if this engaging documentary about a Mexican burg out of place in the world — antiglobalist, matriarchal, and indigenously relevant — had included the voices of a few actual woman-born women — bi, lesbian, or straight. Without them, the film doesn’t exactly live up to the name “queer paradise,” but remains a lavish story of a community of out gay men and transvestites, as told by a select few — through an insider’s lens trained on fiestas, drunken conversations, and days at work — apparently looked upon fondly by most of the locals, in this myopic yet euphoric tour through the town of Juchitán. — Kate X Messer

Juchitán: Queer Paradise screens on Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 6:30pm, and Friday, Aug. 29, at 5:30pm.

The Gift

Sure, nobody wants to be left out of the party, but this documentary examines a world in which need for belonging drives men to such extremes as to actively seek out HIV, seeing it as a rite of passage, or, as Harvey Fierstein speculates, “entrée into the cool, queer inner circle that being negative denies them.” The title’s “gift” refers to the giving and receiving of HIV; further additions to the lexicon include “bugchasing,” “barebacking,” and “conversion parties.” Hogarth’s method of telling this story — with a vaguely educational-video feel manifest in crude graphics and a too-jaunty electronic score — leaves something to be desired, but the story itself is one that needs to be told. — Kimberley Jones

The Gift screens on Thursday, Aug. 28, at 7:30pm in its Southwest premiere.

200 American

The premise of 200 American seems familiar enough: The juicy hooker with a heart of gold pulls himself up from the dregs of the city to find love and prosperity in a cruel world. Think Pretty Woman with a bucket of K-Y. Things are a bit messier, though, for Ian, an Australian immigrant who turns tricks to pay for his sham-wedding in his quest for citizenship. There’s Conrad, the typical businessprat, who decides to rent him for life, and there are the other office loons. They, of course, hate him or love him or want to screw him blind. Add the world of haute-couture photography into the mix, and there you go, mate: a sexy drama featuring a pretty woman you’d actually want in bed. — David Garza

200 American screens on Friday, Aug. 29, at 7:30pm and Sunday, Aug. 31, at 5pm. Director Richard LeMay will be in attendance.

Bulgarian Lovers (Los Novios Búlgaros)

It’s fun to imagine Spanish director Eloy de la Iglesia riding on that motorcycle with crazed mother Julieta Serrano in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Much of his vision in the film Bulgarian Lovers seems taken from that view — crazed, whipped by the wind, and colored with Almodóvar’s humor. Lovers tells the story of Daniel, a middle-aged Madrid neurotic who gets himself caught in an international uranium-smuggling ring. What? Yeah, exactly. Filled with bulging crotches and hilarious turns, Bulgarian Lovers offers a clever and sexy return to the old-school style of delicious Spanish flamers. — David Garza

Bulgarian Lovers screens on Friday, Aug. 29, at 9:30pm in its Southwest premiere.

People Like Us: Making ‘Philadelphia’

The revisiting of 1993’s Philadelphia might seem somewhat passé at a celebrated gay and lesbian film festival, but this informative doc does a good job of reminding us how groundbreaking the multiple Oscar-winning film really was. People Like Us tells the back-story of the film’s preproduction, casting, shoot, and critical and commercial response via interviews with screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, director Jonathan Demme (who admits some of his motivation for making the film was to counterattack the perceived negative portrayal of gays in his previous film, The Silence of the Lambs), and stars Tom Hanks and Antonio Banderas. Also included is a deleted bedroom scene between the two leads, the omission of which raised the ire of gay audiences a decade ago. — Kimberley Jones

People Like Us screens on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 2pm in its Southwest premiere. Director Jeffrey Schwarz will be in attendance.

No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon

Although recognized as the founders in the Fifties of the groundbreaking lesbian organization Daughters of Bilitis, a group that went from being an underground social society to a powerhouse of activism, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon have hardly rested on their laurels. In fact, it seems as if these two elders of the women’s movement have only begun to fight. This inspirational documentary looks at their feisty lives and political commitments (which include the founding of at least 17 activist groups and involvement in numerous more) and their long love affair, which began in the Forties and continues through today.

— Marjorie Baumgarten

No Secret Anymore screens on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 7pm. Director Joan E. Biren will be in attendance.

Totally Sexy Loser

Most people have problems getting boyfriends; totally sexy losers have problems getting rid of them. That’s the case with Jeremy, anyway, a 29-year-old veteran of 44 breakups whose current relationship seems destined for No. 45. But this time, though he’s fallen out of love, Jeremy can’t seem to break things off — that’s why he must inspire boyfriend Chip to do the breaking-up, instead. In the meantime, Jeremy suffers a series of awkward moments: a doomed dinner date during which, despite mood music and candlelighting, he drops a fork, burns his finger, becomes increasingly irritated, and runs away to throw up. Not a feel-good movie, Totally Sexy Loser deals with the ugly side of monogamy and never quite refutes Jeremy’s initial self-assessment: “I think I’m incapable of love.” — Nora Ankrum

Totally Sexy Loser screens on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 9:30pm.

Die Mommie Die!

Drugs, sex, fratricide, washed-up singers, trust-fund babies, secret plots. It might look like your typical Mendoza brothers story line, but Die Mommie Die! is anything but typical. Employing cinematic styles seen frequently in the melodramatic turns of the Fifties and Sixties, screenwriter and star Charles Busch has created for the screen a campy parody of those same films. Playing the extravagant and snobby Angela Arden (as well as twin sister Barbara), Busch — in drag, of course — exudes faux self-confidence only seen in has-beens and looked-overs. As star-studded as it is kitschy, the innuendo-saturated Die Mommie Die! is a lesson in gay cinema. — Darcie Stevens

Die Mommie Die!, which closes the festival, screens on Monday, Sept. 1, at 7pm.

‘Glitter’ is a Masterpiece: Frank DeCaro

For seven years, Frank DeCaro has appeared on Comedy Central’s brilliant The Daily Show as the host of “Out at the Movies,” a brassy, bratty, and terrifically gay film review segment. Recruited from The New York Observer, where he was working as a journalist, DeCaro became known among TV audiences for an outré persona that embraced the fabulous and the ridiculous. He gave Glitter a rave. He interpreted the animated feature El Dorado as a gay adventure film. In a Planet of the Apes review, DeCaro grew so lusty at the image of Tim Roth in an ape suit that he cried, “Get your hands on me, you damn dirty ape!”

At aGLIFF, he’ll be hosting “Out at the Movies With Frank DeCaro,” where he will screen some of the segment’s greatest hits, including his favorite, Moulin Rouge. “I love to pick on Nicole Kidman, even though I love her. It’s easier to pick on them if you like them.” Other regular sitting ducks include Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson, and Tom Cruise. “When someone is making as much money as they are, you have to deflate them a little bit. I feel like it’s my job to do that.” But there’s one celebrity he won’t touch. “We love Cher, and we don’t make fun of her,” DeCaro says. “And we don’t make fun of Bette Midler, either. These are icons.” But Madonna? Eh, fair game.

The Daily Show retired “Out at the Movies” this year, which means DeCaro missed out on this summer season of turkeys. “The Hulk really screamed for the ‘Out at the Movies’ treatment. Here’s this green muscle man, and where does he head? He ends up in the Castro in San Francisco. And Gigli!” he exclaims. “We would have had to give it the good review.”

“Out at the Movies” will also include clips from DeCaro’s Oscar specials, perhaps a reading, and maybe even some stand-up. “I’m a big ham,” he says, “although not as big as I used to be. I lost 50 pounds, so I’m ready to show people I actually have a waist.”

— Sarah Hepola

“Out at the Movies” with Frank DeCaro takes place on Friday, Aug. 22, at 7:30pm.

Save Yourselves: Jim in Bold

When Jim Wheeler took his own life after a struggle with homophobia, harassment, and depression in his small hometown of Lebanon, Penn., he left behind six siblings and his parents, Susan and Dr. Glen Wheeler. He also left behind a memory that lives on with gay youth across the world — including Benjie Nycum and Mike Glatze, founders of the outreach group Young Gay America. Working with documentarian Glenn Holsten (An Angel in the Village), Nycum and Glatze took a cross-country road trip and shot interviews with gay and lesbian teens. The resulting film, Jim in Bold, eulogizes Wheeler while telling personal stories of strength and survival in America’s heartland.

From his home base in Philadelphia, Holsten discussed growing up gay, parenthood, and his hopes for the film after it screens at aGLIFF. — Marrit Ingman

Austin Chronicle: What surprised you the most about the lives of gay and lesbian youth in the heartland?

Glenn Holsten: Benjie and Mike took the camera on their trip. I stayed in Philadelphia. They would Federal Express me their footage. I would sit in my little office in my house and review it. And via e-mail and cell phone, I would critique it, and then they would make changes. But they took quite naturally to it. I joined them in New Jersey for one of the final interviews at a high school where there’s a GSA, and that was shocking to me because I’m a 40-year-old man, and it’s been a while since I was in high school. [Laughs] When I was in high school, terms like “gay” and “queer” and “fag” were barbs that were shot at me in the hallways. And here were kids talking in an incredibly supportive way with each other, both gay and straight, using terms that they were comfortable with, and that was a big surprise to me.

AC: It seemed very encouraging. I remember Mike talking about growing up in Tumwater, Washington, and how he said, “No, I was never gay there,” and to go from that to seeing the LDS Gay Youth —

GH: They all looked like they were out of a J. Crew catalog!

AC: I thought that people would be living in fear, and they weren’t.

GH: I think the smaller the town is, the more isolated someone might feel. That was Jim Wheeler’s scenario. Lebanon’s a very small town. I think he thought he was the only gay person there. And that’s I think what the goal of Young Gay America’s road trips are, and the goal of this film is to let everyone know that they’re part of a whole community that’s discovering themselves as a group.

Everyone finds an entry point in the film. I hope that young people find an entry point; I hope that people of my age compare their own experiences with what they see now. Gay kids, straight kids, straight parents — I think there’s an entry point for everyone.

AC: So much of Jim’s story is not necessarily about being gay, but about growing up, or about being part of a big family, or about fighting depression, or about being an artist in a community that’s agricultural. It seems almost universal.

GH: Everyone’s felt like they haven’t belonged at one point or another. That’s my long-term dream — we’re working with an organization right now called Working Films. I’d like to raise enough money to re-edit the film to classroom-friendly length, maybe two or three parts that you can use. It’s a really good springboard for discussion. Some people don’t agree with Jim’s choice. They get disappointed that he took his life, that he didn’t fight. But he couldn’t. He just didn’t have the strength.

Jim in Bold screens on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 4:30pm. Director Glenn Holsten will be in attendance.

All screenings take place at Regal’s Metropolitan theatre (I-35 at Stassney), except Girls Will Be Girls, tonight, Aug. 21, 7:30pm, at the Paramount Theatre (713 Congress).

Shorts programs are denoted *.

Evening tickets cost $6.50/aGLIFF members; $7.50/general admission. Matinees (before 6pm): $4.50/aGLIFF; $5.50/general. Tickets may be purchased at the Metropolitan box office. For more information and additional purchase options, call 799-6327 or 799-5764, or visit www.agliff.org.

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Thursday, Aug. 21

7:30pm Girls Will Be Girls

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Friday, Aug. 22

7:00pm Don’t You Worry, It Will Probably Pass

7:30 “Out at the Movies” with Frank DeCaro

9:00 Sugar Sweet

9:30 Gender Bias

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Saturday, Aug. 23

2:00pm *Girl-O-Rama

2:15 *Boy-O-Rama

4:30 Jim in Bold

4:30 Fluff

7:00 Between Two Women

7:30 9 Dead Gay Guys

9:20 Gasoline

9:30 *Age & Innocence

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Sunday, Aug. 24

noon The Experiment

2:00 This Obedience

2:30 School’s Out

4:15 21

4:30 All About My Father

7:00 Gone, but Not Forgotten

7:30 Tipping the Velvet, Parts 1-3

9:30 The Event

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Monday, Aug. 25

7:00pm My Life on Ice

7:15 Suddenly

9:20 *Girls! Girls! Girls!

9:30 Only the Good

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Tuesday, Aug. 26

6:00pm Party Monster

7:15 Do I Love You?

7:30 Yossi & Jagger

9:30 Between Two Women

9:40 *Funny Boys

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Wednesday, Aug. 27

6:30pm Juchitan: Queer Paradise

7:00 *Teen Beat

8:00 Open

9:30 Eden’s Curve

9:40 Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World

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Thursday, Aug. 28

5:30pm Only the Good

7:00 Suddenly

7:30 The Gift

9:20 Robin’s Hood

9:30 Party Monster

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Friday, Aug. 29

5:30pm Juchitan: Queer Paradise

7:00 *Dames Is Poison

7:30 200 American

9:30 Bulgarian Lovers

9:45 Wave Babes

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Saturday, Aug. 30

1:00pm TBA

2:00 People Like Us: Making Philadelphia

4:30 *Reality Bites

5 Manly Men

7:00 *Girl-O-Rama

7:30 You’ll Get Over It

9:20 Lock Up Your Sons and Daughters

9:30 Venus Boyz

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Sunday, Aug. 31

noon TBA

12:45 *Mommy Queerest

2:10 I Exist

2:30 Prom Fight

4:30 Lily Festival

5:00 200 American

7:00 No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon

7:30 *Boys R Us

9:30 Totally Sexy Loser

9:30 *Boy-O-Rama

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Monday, Sept. 1

noon TBA

1:30 *The Cookie Project

2:10 *Send Me an Angel

4:15 Secondary High

4:30 Misbehaving Men

7:00 Die Mommie Die!

7:15 Do I Love You?

9:10 Hooked

9:15 *Boy Next Door