Atlanta Film Fest features LGBT flicks


MORE INFORMATION:

Atlanta Film Festival LGBT films
All shows at Landmark Midtown Art Cinemas, except “Vacation!” All times are p.m.

“The Seminarian”
4/29, 7:15; 5/4, 2:45

Pink Peach Shorts I (gay men)
4/30, 12; 5/2, 2:45

Pink Peach Shorts II (lesbians)
4/30, 2:15; 5/3, 3:30

“We Are the Hartmans” 4/30, 7:30

“Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same” 4/30, 10:30; 5/7, 2:45

“What’s the Name of the Dame?”
5/1, 7:30

“Without” 5/1, 9; 5/4, 7:45

“Vacation!” 5/2, 8, Plaza Theatre

“I Am” 5/2, 9; 5/7, 12:30

“Corpus Christi: Playing
with Redemption” 5/7, 2:15

More about those films and others below, but first let’s mention three we couldn’t preview. “Bear Nation,” not to be confused with last year’s “Bear City,” is a documentary by Malcolm Ingram (“Small Town Gay Bar”) that looks into the lives and lifestyles of big, hairy gay guys.

Half a world away geographically and even further otherwise, “I Am” finds filmmaker Sonali Gulati traversing India to speak with parents of lesbians and gays in preparation for coming out to her own mother.

You can be among the first to see “Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption,” showing as a work-in-progress. As in old school Hollywood previews, audience comments will help shape this documentary about an acting troupe bringing “Corpus Christi,” Terrence McNally’s controversial play about a gay Jesus, to less-than-welcoming venues.

Of the features I previewed, my favorite is the least pretentious, “Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same,” Madeleine Olnek’s sweet spoof of ‘50s sci-fi flicks that were made on equally miniscule budgets.

An absurd premise sends three bald females from the planet Zots to Earth to fall in love and have their hearts broken. Two of them date each other but Zoinx (Susan Ziegler) falls in love with shy, lovable Jane (Lisa Haas). A sample of Olnek’s sly, subtle humor: “I have no hair on my head but the pavement matches the concrete.”

“What’s the Name of the Dame?” is a pleaing documentary about the 2004 ABBA tribute album, “ABBAlicious,” by nine New York drag queens. With comments from the likes of Joan Rivers, Bruce Vilanch, Christine Baranski and ABBA’s Benny Andersson, the talk overwhelms the music; but the singing styles are surprisingly diverse and there are some clever videos. On the same program is an excellent short, “Gay Shark Tank,” about online speed dating.

“We Are the Hartmans” seems gayer than it is because Richard Chamberlain is one of the most convincing men in the cast at playing straight.  Hartman is dying. His semi-estranged children want to sell his business, “the only gay-friendly bar in three counties,” while the people who care fight to save it. The anti-chain store message misses the point since a bar is one business the Wal-Marts can’t compete with.

In “The Seminarian,” Ryan (Mark Cirillo) is a closeted student at a conservative seminary who’s looking for love, but the only people able to sustain a relationship in “The Seminarian” are a homophobic straight couple.

Joslyn (Joslyn Jensen) in “Without” is caring for a helpless old man on an island but mooning over a girl, whose identity is withheld for far too long.

“Vacation!” sends four women, former school friends, to a North Carolina beach for a week. Dee-dee (Melodie Sisk) is the only lesbian but each of the others has an intimate moment with her.

Engaging ‘Shorts’

Your festival time would be well spent on the Pink Peach Shorts packages, I for men and II for women. The best of the latter is “Love Is All You Need?” an alternate universe tale of a girl growing up straight in a world where gay is the norm. It evolves smoothly from ironically amusing to darkly tragic.

“Curvature” finds a straight waitress getting hit on by customers in a lesbian bar until a co-worker finds a hot solution to the problem. “Slip Away” wastes the star-power of Thea Gill and Wilson Cruz in supporting roles (and Hal Sparks in a quick cameo) in a heavy-handed romance with a misleading setup about soulmates that’s really a cautionary tale about substance abuse.

“Whispers” and “Civil Union: A Love Story” are equally brief but the first needs to be longer, the other shorter. “Double Fault” plays like a trailer for a feature about a coach-student relationship.

Of the men’s shorts (I saw all but “Animal Drill”) the best are about closeted gay men, a church worker and a husband, in films set 46 years apart: “Yes Man” and “Caught.” One is tapped to star in a commercial promoting Prop. 8; the other is drawn to a public rest room during a police sting.

“Dark Meat” revisits “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” with a gay twist but less wit. I’m not sure what “The First” is saying about a teenager exploring his sexuality, but it’s interesting and doesn’t overstay its welcome.

“Winner Takes All” fascinates as beautiful Gavyn Michaels becomes less attractive as we get to know him, when he goads his lovers into fighting over him. “Who Leads” is too arty and intense to bother making sense.

There will be more LGBT films to choose from at this year’s independent queer festival, Out on Film, Sept. 29 to Oct. 6.

 

Top photo: One of several engaging LGBT films at the Atlanta Film Festival, ‘Love is All You Need?’ imagines a young girl growing up straight in a world where everyone is gay. (Publicity photo)