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By: SOVO STAFF
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It’s hard to believe so much time has passed since Atlanta's silver screens lit up for the first Out on Film festival in 1987, but projectors are already rolling again for this year's 20th anniversary celebration gay cinema.
The Oct. 11 screening of "The Bubble" showed the opening night audience the tumultuous love story of two men in Tel Aviv — one Israeli, the other Palestinian. The clashing cultures in the film are all-too close to home for the film's characters and the real-life populations they represent. Look for director Eytan Fox's ultimately devastating lesson in tolerance to reappear in Atlanta again on its own run. It deserves it.
Out on Film runs through Oct. 18 with more than three-dozen feature films and more shorts programs than ever before, as well as special events and film actors and principals appearing alongside their works. The festival also expanded its venue base this year, choosing to screen movies not only at Landmark's Midtown Art Cinema, but also a few select screenings at Theatre Decatur.
Southern Voice selected a few festival entries to offer just a taste of what's to come. Here's our take on what we saw, as well as information on screening times and venues.
‘Whirlwind’
7 p.m. (Midtown Art Cinema)
The director of “200 American” returns with the story of a group of attractive, successful thirty-something gay male friends who encounter sexy, charming Drake, the fresh meat who ups the Yoko factor, wreaking havoc with the boys’ established relationships. The banter is witty and the sex is hot, securing “Whirlwind” a sure spot in gay boys’ hearts.
‘The Two Sides of the Bed
(Los 2 Lados de la Cama)’
9:30 p.m. (Midtown Art Cinema)
‘Two Minutes Later’
9:45 p.m. (Midtown Art Cinema)
‘The Year of Paper’ , 1 p.m.
(Midtown Art Cinema)
In this documentary, Kelly Rouse and Nikki Parker explore the differences between straight and gay marriages by looking at the newlywed year of three couples: two lesbians, two gay men and a heterosexual couple. Commentary from both sides of the marriage debate and snippets on the controversial history of marriage advance the film, but little new ground is broken on the subject.
‘Girl Shorts’
2:30 p.m. (Midtown Art Cinema)
(Second screening Oct. 15, 9:15 p.m. Midtown Art Cinema)
The first of five series of shorts at Out on Film, this lesbian-oriented set includes six works from 12 minutes to 21 minutes in length. From the sex comedy of "Bad Hair Day" to the struggles of coming out in "Family Reunion," and from a look at 1950s England in "Private Life" and modern day lesbian marriage in "Will You," this well-selected shorts feature is mostly 81 minutes of lesbian heaven.
“Will You” plays again on its own Oct. 15.
‘Family Reunion’
2:30 p.m. (Midtown Art Cinema)
‘Another Woman’
3:15 p.m. (Midtown Art Cinema)
‘Boy Shorts I’
5 p.m. (Midtown Art Cinema)
The first of two shorts programs with gay men in mind, this set includes five minutes of fun with our city's own Cheer Atlanta team in the mystery "Murder…Most Fabulous." From the ridiculous that also includes "Gay Zombie" to the sublime in touching segments like "Groucho" and "Prenuptial Tango," this shorts set should be a draw for gay men of every ilk.
‘Nina's Heavenly Delights’
5:45 p.m. (Midtown Art Cinema)
Pratibha Parmar’s feel-good lesbian love story tastes good too, with countless food shots. Returning to Glasgow for her father’s funeral, Nina (Shelley Conn) has to save the family restaurant from being sold to cover his gambling debts. Partnering with Lisa (Laura Fraser), with whom she’d obviously like to partner in other ways, Nina enters the "Best of the West" curry competition. This should be a crowd-pleaser.
‘Lesbian Sex and Sexuality’
5:45 p.m. (Midtown Art Cinema)
Explore what girls like in three episodes from the here! tv series. "Porn Today" examines the growing professionalism of lesbian pornography, introducing Dana Dane, whose Erocktavision makes music-video style lesbian flicks, and Houston Shine, creator of "Crashpad" and "Super Freak." The two directors' different takes on female beauty — Dane unapologetically goes for pretty girls, while Shine celebrates "diversity" in lesbian bodies and gender roles — is both thought-provoking and great eye candy. "Erotic Dancers" profiles several women who, no surprise, prefer dancing for women to dancing for men; "The Evolution of Erotica" takes us from the feminist Porn Wars to the founding of lesbian erotic magazine On Our Backs.
‘The Houseboy’
(GAY MALE CENTERPIECE FEATURE)
7:15 p.m. (Midtown Art ...
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