video i Season 12
#1210 – Original Airdate: Mon, April 23rd at 10pm
GAY AND LESBIAN
Highlighting important voices seldom heard in the mass media
SWEET LIFE (Dir. Tom Keegan)
Two men jump out of their cozy bed on a very important morning. In the kitchen, bowls, spoons and an old mixer wait impatiently as the lovers get to work blending mountains of sugar, tons of butter, wine, books, and even the odd shoe into what promises to be a fabulous concoction. As the mysterious batter bakes, their pace grows into a frenzy and they whip their cottage and themselves into a frothy fantasy. When the kitchen timer rings, what comes out of the oven changes their life forever. For more information about the film contact frameline.org.
Filmmaker Bio
Tom's Keegan's award-winning short film Sweet Life played on the NHK in Japan, and has screened throughout the world at film festivals from Los Angeles to Milan, Italy. He calls the film a "non-fiction fairy tale" as it features himself, his life partner, Davidson Lloyd, and their real-life daughter. He is currently in post-production on a feature-length documentary, Make Art/Stop AIDS, about a gay American family who spend a year in India using the arts to fight AIDS. Born and raised in New York, in previous incarnations Tom was also an actor, performance artist, and post-modern choreographer. He has also cast and directed a number of high-profile video games, including The Chronicles of Riddick with Vin Diesel, Van Helsing with Hugh Jackman, Men of Valor with Sean Astin, the upcoming The Darkness with Lauren Ambrose, Kirk Acevedo and Mike Patton, as well as Barbie: Secret Agent.
HOWDY PARTNER (Dir. Christie Herring)
Features an interview with the filmmaker
The term partner has become the convention for describing committed gay and lesbian relationships. But what does this word mean? Even the longhand - Domestic Partner - has a different legal meaning depending on country, state, and city. Praised for its parity and criticized for its ambiguity, the word partner can be liberating for some but remains frustrating for others. During a time when defining gay and lesbian relationships, through words or legislation, frames a national debate, Howdy Partner is a spirited visual meditation on how one slippery word means more - and, consequently, less - than we may think. For more about the film and filmmaker, go to: christieherring.com.
Filmmaker Bio
Christie Herring recently received her M.A. in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford University and currently lives in San Francisco where she works in independent film and online media. Herring began making films directly after receiving her undergraduate degree from Duke University, when she collaborated with Andre Robinson in producing and directing Waking in Mississippi. In addition to shooting, editing, and producing film, Herring has worked in public health research, anti-violence outreach, and virtual reality gaming.
KATYDID (Dir. Scott Boswell)
Katydid is a short comedy about love and sibling rivalry. Young Skye just wants to have a date for once without his family getting in the way. When twin brother Leif manages to lure the girl away once again, Skye turns to his best friend only to discover a secret that changes everything. The twin brothers are left to face each other in a long needed confrontation. To learn more, go to: scottboswell.com.
Filmmaker Bio
A native of Normal, Illinois, Scott Boswell studied film as an undergraduate at The University of Wisconsin-Madison and The University of Utrecht in The Netherlands. In May 2004, he completed his MFA in Cinema at San Francisco State University. His award-winning short, One Fine Morning (2002), has played in more than 25 festivals internationally and is distributed by Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre. His thesis short, Katydid (2004), won the Best Narrative award at the Media Arts Festival and is distributed by Frameline. In 2005, Scott directed Spin the Bottle, a short written by Joshua Grannell that is currently playing in festivals in the U.S. and Europe. In 2006, Scott finished writing two feature-length screenplays: Uninvited and A Good Kid, both represented by Kolstein Talent Agency in New York. For his work at the Bay Area Video Coalition, Scott runs The Factory, a multi-award winning video production program for teens in downtown Oakland. Scott resides in San Francisco.
ACT OF FAITH (Dir. Dan Bree)
Can one be gay and Muslim at the same time? In the history of Islam, love between men is a century-old phenomenon. Yet Koranic tradition forbids choosing a mate of the same sex. Kyriell, an Imam's son, struggled with reconciling his love for men with his love for Islam, and eventually came back to the faith. Pakistani-born Arslan came to see that there is no compromise in Islam and threw religion away. Iftekhar, a Muslim community leader, admits that Islam needs to be brought into the 21st century. Through the words of these men, the conflict between traditional Islam and non-traditional sexual identity is laid bare, and the struggle of gay Muslims is brought into the open. To learn more you can contact the filmmaker at: debris7@gmail.com.
Filmmaker Bio
Dan Bree produced and directed the short documentary film, Act of Faith which won the Best Documentary Award at the 2003 Planetout.com Short Movie Awards and has shown at over 55 film festivals worldwide, as well as on the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) show Zed.
Dan is currently Director of Video Production at Act Now Productions, a sustainability media agency in San Francisco. Previously, he was a Producer and Writer at Michael Hoff Productions, in Emeryville, California, where he produced one-hour and half-hour programs for the National Geographic Channel, and The History Channel. His programs have covered such diverse topics as the Berlin Wall, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, speedboat racing, and historic battles through time. Before working in television, Dan developed video projects for corporate clients, such as Cisco, Autodesk, and Purina. Dan also worked as an editor on the hit independent film, Melvin Goes to Dinner, and a pilot for Comedy Central, Highway to Oblivion, both directed by Bob Odenkirk. Dan began working in film and television in 1991, as an editor on the PBS documentary, Campus Culture Wars.
LAST FULL SHOW (Dir. Mark Reyes)
Features an interview with the filmmaker
The joys and sorrows of forbidden love are explored in this poignantly-crafted short film. Affluent teenage student, Crispin, gets his kicks after school by cruising the dark underbelly of the Manilla gay scene - an old movie theater frequented by other cruisers. During a film, Crispin is noticed by two hardened cruisers, Gardo and Jess. They watch as he rejects the advances of an old man and Jess dares Gardo to seduce him. Gardo accepts and the two discover an instant attraction and soon find themselves falling in love. Over countless movies, their relationship blossoms and they quickly drum up the courage to express their love outside the movie theater despite the dangers ahead. To learn more about this film go to: markvreyes.com.
Filmmaker Bio
Mark. V. Reyes emerged on the Independent film scene with his coming of age story, Last Full Show. The film's unique vision brought Mark critical acclaim as it screened at various film festivals across the globe in and winning the grand jury prize in short filmmaking at the Turin Intl Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Mark moved to San Francisco from Manila in 2000 to study film at the Academy of Art University. During his time in film school, he wrote and directed several short films and participated in numerous productions in the Bay area. Growing up watching a mélange of international films has molded him into the filmmaker he is today. Having lived in both the Philippines and the US, Mark as developed a unique sensibility as an auteur. He has recently completed principal photography on his short film God only knows and is working on his first full-length feature screenplay.