04.22.09
Coming Out: LGBT Films at TFF 2009
Probing disparate realms—from politics to adoption, and everywhere in between—this is a guide to this year's LGBT-themed works.
Off and Running
NYU film school grad Nicole Opper followed the subjects of her film for two years in order to be able to tell this story. The family featured in Off and Running is a melting pot, to say the least: two white, Jewish, lesbian parents, one mixed-race adopted son, one young Korean adopted son. And in the center of it all is Avery, an adopted black daughter who decides she wants to contact her biological mother. Avery's quest to reunite with her birth mother strains her relationship with her adoptive family, pushing this documentary into a realm of significant emotional intensity.
Off and Running premieres Sunday, April 26, at 5:00 pm, with more screenings to follow.
An Englishman in New York
John Hurt played English writer Quentin Crisp 34 years ago, in the film adaptation of Crisp's memoir The Naked Civil Servant. Now, Hurt revisits the role of Crisp, playing the man later on in his life, living in New York instead of London. Set in 1981, at the outset of the AIDS epidemic, this poignant drama is sure to draw a powerful response from audiences.
An Englishman in New York premieres Monday, April 27, at 9:30 pm, with more screenings to follow.
The Fish Child
Lucía Puenzo has chosen to attempt that rarest of feats in cinema, a director adapting her own novel for the screen, with '09 selection The Fish Child. Having drawn more than a few comparisons to Thelma & Louise, it's not difficult to see why this film is drawing so much attention. A thriller, a love story, set in Buenos Aires—the film follows the tale of burgeoning desire between Lala (Inés Efron), a daughter of a wealthy Argentinean family, and their maid, Guayi (Mariela Vitale). What's not to like? After her last film, the highly acclaimed XXY, it's clear to filmgoers that Puenzo is a rapidly rising talent in the world of international cinema.
The Fish Child premieres Monday, April 27, at 6:15 pm, with more screenings to follow.
Outrage
One of the Festival's most hotly-anticipated films, Outrage is a stunning work of filmmaking and journalism. The follow up to This Film Is Not Yet Rated, Kirby Dick's latest is a severe indictment of closeted homosexual politicians who openly criticize LGBT lifestyles. With such incendiary subject matter, there is no question that this film is going to stir the pot as much as anything playing at Tribeca this year, and rightfully so. It is altogether uncommon for a filmmaker to go after politicians with the intensity displayed by Dick in his latest film.
Outrage premieres Friday, April 24, at 9:00 pm, with more screenings to follow.
The Boys In The Band
Forty years on, the Stonewall riots remain a decisive turning point in the LGBT consciousness of New York City, as well as the country itself. To honor the 40th anniversary of this watershed event, Tribeca will be screening William Friedkin's The Boys In The Band, released a year after the riots. In addition to that, there will be a screening of Making The Boys, a documentary about the production of the film, as well as the play upon which it was based.
The Boys In The Band premieres Sunday, April 26, at 9:15 pm.
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