The 2003 Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is coming to Sarasota this week, and you don't even have to be queer to get excited about that.
Even the staunchest heterosexual will find something to float his or her boat at this promising, weeklong event. All that's required is an open mind, the price of a ticket, and a healthy appetite for interesting movies.
The festival runs from Aug. 22 to 28 at Burns Court and features eight films that effectively serve as a sampling of the state of gay cinema today. Hailing from locales as far flung as England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Brazil and even the good ol' USA, these films run the gamut from musical comedy to romance to pyschosexual thriller, offering something for pretty much anybody.
And if you happen to actually be gay, so much the better. We all want our stories to be told, just as we all deserve the experience of seeing ourselves or someone very much like us up on the big screen. That's one of the main reasons that festivals like this one are so important.
Probably the most high profile of the selections at this year's Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is Camp, an enjoyable little trifle that, strictly speaking, isn't really about gay people at all.
Camp is a movie about special kids, but not the special kids you were probably expecting.
The "special-ness" of the kids in Camp has to do with the fact that these are youngsters who would rather be belting out Broadway show tunes than buying hanging at the mall. Kids with show biz in their blood. Unfathomable and unpopular, these young geeks are the real outsiders, c onsidered way too weird to fit in back at school, and often even within their own homes. The fact that many of them are gay also contributes to their "special" status.
The gay angle, however, isn't really the main focus here. The movie simply shows us a group of young, talented teens — several of whom happen to be gay — as they spend the summer at a place called Camp Ovation. In some ways the camp is like other camps, but it's also a refuge and a retreat where an artistically inclined and gifted young misfit can go to indulge his creative urges and hone his skills.
That's pretty much all you need to know about Camp. Add a slew of song-and-dance routines, a few romantic dalliances, a comedic mishap here and there, and a smidgen of coming of age, and presto: You've got yourself a movie.
The obvious touchstone here is Fame, although you'll find a lot of Meatballs lurking about too. None of that is to say that Camp is a bad film. It may be formulaic almost to a fault, but it's also sweet, silly, engagingly earnest and energetic. The movie barely goes through the motions of pretending to be anything original but, at least in fits and starts, it's still a lot of fun.
Another movie that's almost as big a crowd-pleaser as Camp is The Event, the new film from Thom Fitzgerald, director of The Hanging Garden. Unfolding largely in flashback, as a sort of Citizen Kane-like investigation into the death of a unique young man suffering from AIDS, The Event is a sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious and frequently quite wonderful film, at least for most of its first hour. Sadly, a load of heavy-handed speechmaking and shamelessly manipulative sentimentality begins creeping in during the movie's second half and never quite has the decency to leave. The movie is redeemed by the absolutely astonishing moments scattered throughout, and some strong performances (Olympia Dukakis' chief among them), but you may leave the theater wishing it had all ended a half-hour earlier.
Audience members seeking more challenging fare will want to make a point of checking out The Embalmer, a love story of sorts, albeit one of the strangest you'll ever see. Loosely inspired by a tabloid scandal of some years ago, this atmospheric Italian import details a half-touching, half-grotesque romantic triangle between a physically beautiful young man and woman and a dwarfish embalmer with a bad comb-over and a closeted passion for boys. Director Matteo Garrone conveys the suppressed longing of his character with just the right mix of pathos and absurdity, while depicting the power dynamics fueling the film's relationships with a savage precision that recalls Fassbinder at his best. Not for the timid, but highly recommended.
Probably the most extraordinary film I previewed from this year's festival — not to mention the toughest — was Madame Sata, a glimpse at the early years of one of Brazil's most beloved and notorious transvestite entertainers. Directed by Karim Ainouz (an NYU-trained Brazilian whose pedigree includes work on queer classics such as Poison and Swoon), this award-winning film is as lush as it is grubby, as sensual as it is violent and cruel. The movie perfectly captures its time — the early 1930s — and place — Rio's dirt-poor, anything-goes Lapa neighborhood, home to a Jean Genet-like assortment of artists, poets, pimps, queers and criminals. Exuding a brittle intensity, Lazaro Ramos is absolutely magnetic in the lead role, and the film fairly explodes with the gruesome, glorious poetry of the street.
These are only some of the highlights from this year's festival, but rest assured that there's a lot more to be seen. French director Jean-Claude Brisseau's acclaimed erotic drama Secret Things sounds particularly promising, as does Venus Boyz, a documentary that goes deep inside the complicated world of drag kings (women who dress, perform or live as men). Add a couple of curious comedies and a romance or two to that mix — one about a working class mom with the hots for another woman, and one about a couple of gay hit men for the mob — and you've really got the makings of a film festival for everybody. No matter who you are.
The 2003 Gay & Lesbian Film Festival runs Aug. 22 to 28 at Burns Court, Sarasota. For ticket prices, complete show times and other information, call 941-364-8662 or 941-955-3456.
Film Critic Lance Goldenberg can be reached at lgoldenb@tampabay.rr.com or 813-248-8888 ext. 157.
This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2003.
