Ben Cohen, a U.K. rugby star athlete and founder of the StandUp Foundation based in Atlanta to combat bullying and homophobia in sports, will be in Atlanta June 11 for a screening of "Legalize Gay" as part of Atlanta Pride's Stonewall month of events. Tickets go on sale for the event today at 3 p.m.
The screening is a collaboration of the StandUp Foundation, Atlanta Pride Committee and Out on Film, Atlanta's LGBT film fest that had its world premiere at the festival last October.
A Q&A with Cohen will take place after the movie screening at Midtown Art Cinema.
Cohen, a straight ally, is the first straight sports star to focus his philanthropic efforts on LGBT causes.
Despite the recent focus on bullying in schools, many LGBT kids face their worst bullying at home. Take your pick from new films about these two kinds of bullying – or see both.
Old school meets new in “Leave It on the Floor,” a refreshing musical set in the ball scene immortalized by Jennie Livingston in “Paris Is Burning,” or at least its West Coast equivalent.
It begins when the mother of the teenaged protagonist, Brad (Ephraim Sykes), finds out he’s gay and throws him out of the house. (It’s OK. He steals her car.) Brad lands on his feet and discovers another kind of house in the ball scene, where his guide is Princess Eminence (Phillip Evelyn) of the House of Eminence.
Gay filmmaker Patrik-Ian Polk of “Noah's Arc” and “Punks” fame will release his latest feature “The Skinny” for a special one-week showcase in Atlanta.
“The Skinny” centers on a group of four young black gay men and their best lesbian friend who arrange a reunion in New York City a year after graduating from Brown University.
Though the film is a comedy, Polk says that serious issues affecting the LGBT community are addressed in the film, including HIV/AIDS, infidelity and date-rape.
When Jesus said, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend,” cosmetic surgery was not an option.
Genesis P-Orridge (of the industrial bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV) and Lady Jaye Breyer had the nip/tuck option and took it.
Rather than having children together they decided to “create a new person” by having themselves surgically altered to look like each other.
Judging from available information, there will be as many LGBT faces on movie screens this spring as on the committee drafting the Republican platform. Even Focus Features, which gave us “Beginners” last year and “The Kids Are All Right” the year before, has nothing to offer.
While hoping for some surprises, we’ll mention a few titles that still should interest our readers.
Fresh from their Oscar triumph with “The Artist,” The Weinstein Company has two films with Atlanta dates to be announced. “Bully” is the documentary about school bullying that’s stirred up a storm because of the Restricted rating that will keep unaccompanied youngsters from seeing it.
Andy Ditzler loves George Kuchar. And he wants to share his love of this gay legendary filmmaker with you.
Film Love, a series that "provides access to great but rarely-screened films, and promotes awareness of the rich history of experimental and avant-garde filmmaking" is curated by Ditzler for Frequent Small Meals.
On Friday, Feb. 24, the series will show several shorts by Kuchar, including his masterpiece "Hold Me While I'm Naked," as part of a tribute at 8 p.m. at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Kuchar died last September and this is one of ongoing tributes Ditzler is planning for him.
"My admiration for him is so unbounded," Ditzler says. "There are few filmmakers who are as fun and interesting."
From the first shot of its ten-year-old protagonist, “Tomboy” is a study in gender identity and expectations.
Young Zoé Héran grounds the film with an amazing performance as the lead character, who moves to a new neighborhood and self-identifies to the local kids as Mikael, “the new boy in the building.”
But at home, Mikael is Laure, and writer-director Céline Sciamma (“Water Lilies”) includes a full-frontal shot of the female-bodied child emerging from the bathtub to show us the conflict between the character’s two identities.
Laure has an overworked father (Mathieu Demy), a very pregnant mother (Sophie Cattani) and a tres femme six-year-old sister, Jeanne (Malonn Lévana), with whom she’s very close. In many ways their new home represents a new beginning and we learn next to nothing about their old life.
Back in the 1980s, actress Glenn Close portrayed the character of Albert Nobbs in a celebrated stage play — and the part stayed with her so long, she vowed to one day bring it to the big screen. It took 30 years but “Albert Nobbs” is finally opening in theaters next week, with Close reprising her role.
In the film, Albert Nobbs is a waiter at a notable hotel circa 19th century Dublin. A fixture there for 17 years, Albert is exceptionally good and devoted to the job. Yet Albert has a secret: Underneath the waiter attire Albert is really a woman.
When she meets mysterious painter Hubert (Janet McTeer) and strikes a bond, Albert realizes — perhaps for the first time in her life — she is not alone in the world.
Producers Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn admit “Albert Nobbs” was a difficult project to get off the ground, taking several years. For Curtis, who worked with Steven Spielberg for 15 years as his assistant, “Albert Nobbs” was the most difficult project of her life to jump-start.
GA Voice editor Laura Douglas-Brown was featured on AM 1690 | The Voice of the Arts this week in a bi-weekly segment highlighting upcoming arts and entertainment events and LGBT community news featured in our upcoming issue.
In this week's segment, Laura discusses our cover story, an in-depth preview of the 2012 GOP primary elections, previews Atlanta's upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend events and highlights the new Focus Features film "Pariah."
The new film “Pariah” treads where few Hollywood features dare to go — detailing the coming out process of a young African-American lesbian.
“Pariah” stars Adepero Oduye as Alike, a poetry-loving 17-year-old living at home in Brooklyn with her parents, Audrey (Kim Wayans) and Arthur (Chris Parnell). Alike begins to realize she is a lesbian. Her best friend Laura (Pernell Walker) is already out and Alike starts to wonder what it would be like to have a girlfriend.
Director Dee Rees, producer Nekisa Cooper and actresses Oduye and Wayans were in Atlanta late last year to promote the film.
“Pariah” is based on a short film director Rees made in 2007, which in turn was influenced by a similar-themed feature.