Last night at Oxford Film Festival was Community Film Night, and it truly was amazing. It seemed as if the entire artistic community of Oxford came out to celebrate local film.
An added plus was having an Assistant Director credit for "Checked In," the 2019 Community Film directed by my friend Connor King, lensed by the wonderful Christina Huff and produced by OXFF director, Melanie Addington. Who knows, maybe next year you will see my directorial debut?!
Tomorrow really kicks things off for me as I finally get to show the world the films I programmed in the LGBTQ category.
Interestingly enough this year's batch of films goes back to 2017 with "At the End of the Day." Shortly before the submission deadline for last year's festival, this wonderful film was submitted and immediately landed at the top of my list to come to Oxford. Unfortunately things didn't work out, and I was crushed. BUT...the show must go on, and it did.
Then comes 2018. This year we had so many incredible options that I still had to reject films that I loved, but something was missing. I was feeling a strong need to program a movie that would serve as an antidote to the negatively and suppression we were feeling as an LGBTQ community. Not a documentary...a narrative feature that would leave the audience feeling hopeful.
A quick google search told me that "At the End of the Day" had done well on the film fest circuit but had yet to score a release date. (It has one now, which is awesome!) I crossed my fingers and reached out to the director asking him to resubmit. He did, and to my delight, we are showing the film...finally!
We have so many other incredible features this year as well...some fantastic Southern LGBTQ docs - "Gospel of Eureka" and Malcolm Ingram's Southern sequel of sorts to "Small Town Gay Bar," "Southern Pride." Several of the film's subjects will be in attendance which should make for an incredible q&a. We also have one of the absolute best documentaries I have seen this year, queer or otherwise, "Call Her Ganda."
Not to mention the other narrative films..."Jules of Light and Dark" a beautiful film we almost didn't get about the relationship between Maya, who recently breaks up with her girlfriend, Jules (played by Betsy Holt who will be in attendance!), after a car wreck and Freddy (the wonderful Robert Longstreet!) who discovers the couple after the accident.
And, "Giant Little Ones," which takes the coming out story and flips it in a unique and completely truthful way.
There are so many wonderful options, and I could go on and on about them, but you can read about them all for yourself here:
LGBTQ FILMS at Oxford Film Festival
The reason we have more films this year? Melanie applied for a grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) which allowed us to program additional features...which I then manipulated (with permission!) into a 2nd shorts block. Queer Edge.
A long, long time ago...some time in the summer of 2018 Melanie sent me a text about a film called "Hippopotamus." There may have been a couple of eggplant emojis in that text...which certainly intrigued me.
A couple of years ago there was a film submitted that involved some pretty explicit material, and I was apprehensive to program it...partly due to the fact it was my first year and also because it really stood out in its edginess. When it comes to programming a block, for me there are so many factors that go into it. As a group of films they need to have some sort of narrative through line. I also want the block to represent our entire community not only in the characters the films portray, but also behind the scenes. Standing out can actually do more harm than good when fitting the pieces of the puzzle together.
Once I watched "Hippopotamus," a thriller set in a gay clothing-optional resort, I found it less edgy in its use of male nudity, and more so in its writing/direction. This was one heck of a Queer movie. Next came "All We Are," directed by casting director turned first time director, Will Stewart, who grew up in Mississippi before moving to LA. This was a film I knew I wanted to program from the start but wasn't exactly sure how it would fit in a "traditional" shorts block.
A couple of weeks (or months?! Who knows?) later came "River," a film and character...forced to confront a (not so distant?) world where they must come to terms with who they are versus societal dictations. Also "Pepper," a film so unusual that it not only baffled the screeners but also me, despite absolutely loving it. I KNEW I wanted to show this film to an audience to let them judge it for themselves.
Suddenly, the idea of a separate experimental, edgy shorts block came to me.
"Sell Your Body" fit right in, speaking directly to my queer quirk sensibility and finally, right before it was go time came "Hiding in Daylight," the perfect companion to "River," showing a realistic "utopia" post gay purge and the lighter and bawdy "How I Came Out" followed by the very fun "Queen for a Day."
Our first screening of Queer Edge shorts is sold out, but you can still come to the added screening Friday night at 10:40pm. More information and descriptions are here:
Queer Edge Shorts
The creation of the Queer Edge Shorts category allowed for the LGBTQ+ Shorts category to open up to a wide variety of films that told a different type of story. Isn't it cool that we are in a time of queer filmmaking where we can begin to differentiate between ideas? The days of telling one type of LGBTQ story is over.
Each of the LGBTQ+ shorts take a look at relationships. With loved ones, family, ourselves...even television characters.
LGBTQ+ Shorts
One of the first to be submitted was "The Dress You Have On." A discovery challenges a couple to question the foundation of their relationship in director Courtney Hope Therond's wonderful short. In the experimentally told "home alone, baby blue," actor/director John e. Kilberg explores the trappings of his character's mind upon returning to his family home after a loss.
In three very different stories we see the relationship between parents and the LGBTQ children. A Mom makes a shocking discovery after left to pack her daughter's home after a tragic car accident in "Light in Dark Places." In "The One You Never Forget" we see Carey, nervously preparing for his first dance while his parents try to document the occasion. And finally there is "The boy who wanted to fly" which takes place in Madrid in the 80s.
Last but not least we have "You Say Hello" directed by OXFF alum, Lovell Holder. A young gay man retreats to his family home to end his life only to reconsider his plans after meeting up with a hustler.
BUT, THAT'S NOT ALL!
We have two more shorts playing before features. First is "Leia's Army," which was conceived after director Oriana Oppice attended the 2017 Women's March and met a young out teen who attended the march without telling her conservative parents. "Leia's Army" plays with "Call Her Ganda."
Playing with "Gospel of Eureka" is director/cinematographer Michael Williams's "A Son Inherit." This is by no means Michael's first film (he has had several at Oxford before) but this is his first to tell a fully LGBTQ story.
No comments:
Post a Comment