KIP AOKI / KAOKI@STARBULLETIN.COM Highlighting
gay filmsThirty-one features, shorts
and documentaries express
a range of views
As one of the longest-running gay and lesbian film festivals in the country (outside of San Francisco and Los Angeles), the annual Honolulu gathering has always been popular with guest filmmakers.
"This year, more are wanting to come," said the festival's director of film programming Connie Florez. "They're even paying their own way here, although we're helping them find places to stay while they're here."
With the festival now encompassing a manageable four days (down from 10), expect a whirlwind surrounding its 31 screenings of features, shorts and documentaries, expressing a wide range of gay and lesbian viewpoints.
"We're a lot smaller community than the numbers found in L.A. and New York," Florez said, "and even the New York festival has had its troubles, having to reorganize themselves after running in the red the previous year. The uniqueness of our festival is that our steering committee and staff are all volunteers."
Florez, who's been with the festival for seven years, said the Honolulu festival has always been about building long-term relationships with filmmakers -- especially helping those in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands -- and reaching out to the local community.
Florez recommends the following films being offered at this year's festival. (Go to www.hawaiiscene.com/HGLCF/festival03/index.htm for additional information about all the films.)
>> "Politics of Fur": A stylized feminist reworking of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant" is about Una, a powerful L.A. music executive and relationship wrecker, who is doted on by her gay boy-toy personal assistant in her pristine and minimalist apartment. But the entrance of a punk rocker threatens to put Una's life out of control. Actress Katy Silverstone and writer-director Laura Nix will attend. Screens at 9 p.m. tomorrow.
>> "A.K.A.": A young and restless working-class British man finagles a job in a high-end art gallery and, assuming the identity of an aristocrat, infiltrates the jet set and enjoys the good life while being pursued by a wealthy playboy with an attractive boyfriend. The film was entered at this year's Berlin and Sundance Film Festivals, and offers three perspectives of every scene by dividing the screen into three parts. Screens at 8 p.m. today as the opening-night feature with the short "Boychick."
>> "I Am a Straight Filmmaker Working in a Gay Bathhouse ... ": The title says it all. Producer-director Ron Patricio will be at the screening of his 6-minute video short. Screens at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
>> "Starcrossed": The first narrative drama from Margaret Cho Productions is about two female newspaper workers who share the same office. In order to woo her horoscope-obsessed co-worker, the other secretly takes a job as the paper's astrologer, conveniently manipulating their horoscopes so that it appears they were destined to meet. "Starcrossed" is described as "a lesbian romantic comedy with a French twist." Cho's partner and director Lorene Machado and actress Eve Buignes will attend. Screens at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow.
>> "Thorn Grass": Based on the life and death of a transgendered 16-year-old Navajo youth, who was killed in a hate crime in Cortez, Colo., Florez said, "It's an experimental short that'll knock your socks off. We got shivers down our spine after seeing it." Writer-director D.R. Hammer will be at the screening, at about 6:30 p.m. tomorrow.
>> "American Mullet": Another Berlin and Sundance festival entrant, this entertaining video documentary shows director Jennifer Arnold interviewing people of different walks of life (including lesbians who don't want "girly hair") about their love for the short-in-front-and-sides-and-long-in-back hairstyle. Screens at 4 p.m. Sunday.
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