Just past Madison Square Garden, if you can weave through its mass of disoriented tourists, beneath the neon moniker of the New Yorker hotel, you’ll find a disproportionate number of same sex couples, groups of men with distinct fashion sense, packs of women and yet nary a high heel – all them congregating outside the Loews 34th Street movie theater. And if you’re keen enough to glance inside to the lobby, you’ll see why: NewFest, New York City’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Film Festival (June 5-15) is in residence for just over a week in this, its 20th year.
As a gay filmmaker living in New York City, I was eager to take in NewFest’s slate of films. With so much change and progress over the past 20 years, I wondered how NewFest would assert its continued relevance as a means of relaying the gay experience in a city where same sex displays of affection are as common as the rats in the subway, or bagels with lox.
What I found is that this assertion came quickly and with a direct-ness that New York City has earned as one its most defining characteristics. In speaking with the festival’s artistic director, Basil Tsiokos, he cited the fact that as a LGBT festival with a twenty year history, NewFest does not just present films that might cross over with wider, more mainstream audiences, but it cultivates a community – and effectively bringing that community together year after year is at least as essential as picking the next big thing in LGBT film.
Fittingly in this anniversary year, NewFest drew both its community and the next big thing. It became apparent that NewFest’s perennial community had arrived at the opening night gala screening of
Tru Loved. The film is a sunny insight into coming-out in a diverse present day LA community, and it proved the perfect pop tart to ignite a giggly crowd ready to celebrate. Reacting like high school students themselves, it was clear that this audience was a special, filled not just with industry and programmers but New Yorkers who are vocal in expressing their affection for what universally draws audiences to the cinema, its evergreen ability to entertain.
It took a little longer to find the next big thing in LGBT film, but it finally came wrapped up as NewFest’s closing night gala film.
Were the World Mine (pictured above) is a grounded yet spectacular musical that follows its protagonist Timmy as he’s cast as Puck in his prep school, all male version of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Real life mirrors drama as the Shakespearean verse reveals the recipe for a love potion, which Timmy spreads throughout the entire town, transforming its inhabitants into love-struck homosexuals for a brief period before the spell is broken at the play’s performance. Director Thomas Gustafson succeeds where many before him have failed in updating Shakespeare for modern audiences. The film hinges on a young cast who deliver engaging performances most notably Tanner Cohen as Timmy, and Wendy Robie as Ms. Tebbit, the drama teacher. These actors draw us in to the magic of music, love and Shakespearean language, and the film boasts beautiful cinematography and superb art direction.
Rest assured, not all of NewFest focused on high school romance. Winner of the best documentary feature prize
Be Like Others chronicles the lives of Iranian men who transition from male to female in order to abide by their country's law, which explicitly bans homosexuality as punishable by death.
Pageant, the Audience Award winner for best feature follows contestants for Miss Gay America, and had NewFest’s aforementioned vocal community cheering as if the competing drag queens were standing before them in the flesh.
Japan Japan captures the wanderlust of a young Israeli man who dreams of life in Japan. Filmmaker Lior Shamriz distinguishes himself with a quiet style reminiscent of Lynne Ramsay or Sofia Coppola, while he effectively captures the angst of the modern age.
Bi the Way a smart and cleverly entertaining doc takes a stab at understanding trends in bi-sexuality in America through the stories of a handful of young people spread out across the nation. These subjects present us with wisdom beyond their years, in understanding that no two minds think alike, and what could be more complex and personal than sexual preference? We can look at data, or read quotes from experts, but until we take the time to stop and examine what’s different and challenging, we haven’t understood much at all. And thus we elucidate the importance of NewFest’s indelible mark on the LGBT, Film and New York communities.
Labels: Festivals
# posted by Jason Guerrasio @ 7/08/2008 10:45:00 AM
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