P International GLFF
The 13th annual Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (PIGLFF) gets started this Thursday night (July 12-24) and there looks to be a lot of great movies, parties, and special guests to keep everyone entertained in Philly for 13 days and nights straight. There are a growing number of new filmmakers every year pushing limits with original concepts and experimenting with newer formats like digital video.
What is notable about this annual festival, the largest on the East Coast, is how it makes use of the International part of its name. There are 34 features from 19 countries outside the US (plus a large number of shorts) listed in the catalogue and on the festival website (posted below).
While American films generally reflect what's happening here, what I like about the foreign films is that they may give us insight as to what’s going on artistically and politically in other societies, while touching on common emotions. You could also be exposed to fashion trends or music that hasn’t made its way to the States yet.
Plus, there are a lot of hot looking people in the world, so why to limit yourself to checking out dudes and dykes in one city – or country? Expose yourself. And those foreign accents can drive you wild with desire!
Don’t worry about the subtitles because after a while you won’t notice them. You might just find that you’re learning a new language. But as a precaution, when you attend the festival and need a translation, get out your glasses and read what they’re talking about.
For tickets and general information, check the festival website: http://www.phillyfests.com/piglff/home.cfm
Centerpiece films:
The Witnesses, directed by André Téchiné, Wild Reeds (1994), Strayed (2003), Changing Times (2004), Nominated for a Golden Bear award at this year's Berlin Film Festival
The Bubble, directed by Eyan Fox, Walk on Water, Yossi & Jagger
Notables
Anger Me, doc about filmmaker and "Hollywood Babylon" author Kenneth Anger
Here’s Looking at You, Boy doc on the history of gay and lesbian film with lots of familiar faces
One to Another, co-director Jean-Marc Barr was a featured actor in 2005 festival favorite Côte d’Azur, also acted in Le Divorce, 2003
The Picture of Dorian Gray Duncan Roy directed AKA, which played at PIGLFF 2002
Times Have Been Better was the recent winner of Best Foreign Narrative Feature Award at New Fest in NY and features Arnaud Binard from Grande École (2004)
Two Homelands: Cuba and the Night, doc about the gay community in Havana, features poetry by oppressed Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, subject of Before Night Falls
· ARGENTINA Glue
· AUSTRALIA 2:37
· BRAZIL The Daughters of Chiquita
· CANADA 533 Statements (L); Finn’s Girl (L); Lonely Child
· CHINA, CANADA, FRANCE The Chinese Botanist’s Daughters (L)
· FRANCE One Night Stand; One to Another; Times Have Been Better; The Witnesses
· GERMANY Four Minutes (L); Here’s Looking at You, Boy; Two Homelands: Cuba and the Night
· GREAT BRITAIN Anger Me; Love and Other Disasters; Nina’s Heavenly Delights (L); The Picture of Dorian Gray; Rag Tag (Great Britain, Nigeria); Tick Tock Lullaby (L)
· HUNGARY Men in the Nude
· ISRAEL The Bubble
· ITALY Cover-Boy The Last Revolution; Shelter Me (L)
· JAPAN Boy’s Love
· PHILIPPINES Pantasya
· ROMANIA Love Sick (L)
· SOUTH AFRICA Black Beulahs
· SOUTH KOREA No Regret
· SPAIN The Two Sides of the Bed
· TAIWAN Eternal Summer; Spider Lilies
· Thailand The Victim
(L) = Lesbian focus
