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Exploratory films
(by Stacey Rynders - March 17, 2010)
Entering its third year, QFest continues to bring a provocative selection of films and documentaries to the St. Louis stage. A Cinema St. Louis film festival dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer cinema, QFest runs March 28 through 31 at the Tivoli Theatre, located in the Delmar Loop.
Much like last year’s selection, the documentaries are by far the most approachable to general audiences and are stuffed with interesting character sketches and analytical explorations into political and social issues.
Mississippi Queen is a particularly arresting documentary by Paige Williams. Raised in the South and in a fervent Baptist tradition, Paige is a lesbian struggling to reconnect with her parents and understand their discomfort with her sexual orientation. In Mississippi Queen, Paige interviews her parents and ex-gay ministers in an attempt to understand the ex-gay movement. She also talks to her wife and other professor peers to weave a more contextual and analytical story.
Other documentary stories focus more on entertainers, including the success of New Zealand’s the Topp Twins in The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls and the path of folk-rock singer songwriter Ferron in Ferron: Girl on a Road.
However, the feature films are not to be overlooked. Delving into cultural stigmas and humanistic stories, these films deserve to be on a more mainstream stage than they are. Proving itself a true indie film, Eyes Wide Open is an Israeli film that looks at the conflict between one man’s Orthodox Jewish beliefs and his sexual desires. Winner of the John Schlesinger Award for Outstanding First Feature at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Eyes Wide Open is a slow-moving art film with an intriguing saga.
Patrik, Age 1,5 also offers a social portrait of a gay couple attempting to adopt. Not only is the couple blacklisted for adoption, but when all else fails they are given a 15-year-old homophobic boy with a criminal past while expecting a one-and-a-half-year-old baby. The experience not only changes Goran and Sven, but forever alters rebel teen Patrik.
And Then Came Lola flirts with cult favorite Run Lola Run. However, instead of a boyfriend, Lola must fend off bitter ex-girlfriends and angry lesbians in her three attempts to save her career and relationship.
Not to be excluded from the film festival, there are four short films and documentaries that will air prior to select feature-film screenings. These are: Allison, My Love, which looks at the effects of a “simple slip of tongue;” So-Called Living, which parodies the 1990s television series My So-Called Life; Heartland Transport, a documentary short that follows a group of lesbian and gay couples to the Iowa capital after the state supreme court upheld gay marriage; and Gotta Have Pride: The Big Gay Musical, a film shown in conjunction with the feature film The Big Gay Musical.
With a nearly equal selection of American and foreign films and documentaries, QFest brings a range of cultural, social, political and human stories to the silver screen. In total, there are three documentaries, seven feature films and four short films that successfully fulfill Cinema St. Louis’ mission for the festival: “to spotlight the diversity and inherent complexities of living an alternative lifestyle in today’s society.” If you are a fan of cinematography and good stories, then QFest is a rare opportunity.
• Tickets are available at the Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd. For previews of the films, visit www.cinemastlouis.org and watch the YouTube links.
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