Friends of the Festival is proud to announce the selection of I Can’t Think Straight as its March Film Series Film. I CAN’T THINK STRAIGHT will screen on Wednesday, March 18th, at the Muvico Baywalk Theatres, in St. Petersburg, FL. Fans of Lisa Rey and Sheetal Sheth will be thrilled to see the lead actresses reunited after the success of last year’s festival favorite, “The World Unseen.”
In the upper echelons of traditional Middle Eastern society, Reema and Omar prepare for the marriage of their daughter Tala. But back at work in London, Tala encounters Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating Tala’s best friend Ali. Tala sees something unique in the artless, clumsy, sensitive Leyla who secretly works to become a writer. And Tala’s forthright challenges to Leyla’s beliefs begins a journey of self-awareness for Leyla. As the women fall in love, Tala’s own sense of duty and cultural restraint cause her to pull away from Leyla and fly back to Jordan where the preparations for an ostentatious wedding are well under way. As family members descend and the wedding day approaches, the pressure mounts until Tala finally cracks and extricates herself. Back in London, Leyla is heartbroken but learns to break free of her own self-doubt and her mother’s expectations, ditching Ali and being honest with her parents about her sexuality. When Ali and Leyla’s feisty sister Zara help throw Tala and Leyla together again, Tala finds that her own preconceptions of what love can be is the final hurdle she must jump to win Leyla back.
I CAN’T THINK STRAIGHT will screen Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 , 7:30pm at the Muvico Baywalk Theatres in St. Petersburg, FL. Tickets for the screening are $9.00 for adults and $7.00 for students, and may be purchased in advance for will-call pickup or at our web site, www.cliptampabay.com.
For additional information visit www.cliptampabay.com or call the Friends of the Festival offices at 813-879-4220 or 727-848-0735.
Recently nominated for the “Best Supporting Female” Spirit Award, Misty Upham will participate in a discussion after the screening of FROZEN RIVER at the National Geographic headquarters on March 5th at 7 p.m.
Frozen River is the story of Ray Eddy, an upstate New York trailer mom who is lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling when she meets a Mohawk girl who lives on a reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border. Broke after her husband takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide, Ray reluctantly teams up with Lila, a smuggler, and the two begin making runs across the frozen St. Lawrence River carrying
illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the trunk of Ray’s Dodge Spirit.
Film Screening: Model Sunday, February 22 | 1:00 pm
In conjunction with the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs, 1913-2008, Liz Goldwyn will introduce filmmaker Frederick Wiseman’s documentary Model, which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the fashion industry in 1980.
Dir. Frederick Wiseman, 1980, B&W, 129min.
Bing Theater | Free; tickets required-available at the box office one hour before the program.
In conjunction with the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs, 1913-2008, Lauren Greenfield will present her documentary Thin, which follows the lives of four young women battling anorexia. The screening will be followed by a Q&A between Lauren Greenfield and Charlotte Cotton, curator and head of the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department. Book signing to follow.
When: Friday, Feb 6th, 8pm
Where: Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N. Alvarado Street (@ Sunset Blvd) Los Angeles, CA 90026
What: Short film screenings, followed by Q& A. Tickets are $10 at the door.
RSVP at: staff@hollyshorts.com
Friday’s lineup includes the following shorts:
JAY VS. LIFE “JAY vs. LIFE” Directed by Greg Murnion (gregmurnion@yahoo.com) A comedy about the tragedy of struggling through life’s second-quarter without feeling completely pathetic. Jason Campbell (JAY) is a Caucasian hip-hop producer who lives in NYC in his ex-girlfriend’s storage closet. He’s about to learn a valuable lesson: it’s all about who you know.
…LESS THAN KIND
“…less than kind” Written and Directed by Christopher Morrison (christophermorrison2@gmail.com) Roman, always known as the liar of the family, reluctantly returns home to his estranged siblings and dying mother with a shocking message. Why has he come home now? What will his presence mean for his brother and sister? Has he come home to help or hinder? Examining what makes a family work ‘…less than kind’ takes us to the heart of a family in crisis.
FOR TOMORROW
“For Tomorrow” Directed by Kenneth Kokin (heidi@tomsshoes.com) TOMS Shoes was founded in 2006 when American Traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended the children of an Argentine village and found that they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created a company that would match every pair of shoes sold with a pair given to a child in need. One for One. Along with a group of family, friends and staff, Blake returned within a year to that same village in Argentina with 10,000 pairs of shoes to match purchases from caring TOMS customers. This is their story. This inspiring documentary follows TOMS Shoes during what has become known as the TOMS Shoe Drop Tour.
SALVATION TEXAS
“Salvation Texas” Directed by Mark Apicella (markapic@cox.net) A father sees only one way to take away his daughter’s pain: kill the man responsible. But is justice worth the cost?
ATTACK OF THE KETTLES
“Attack of the Kettles” Directed by Dave Cain (dave.cain@gmail.com) When Spencer learns the truth, he must warn his friend Dave about the tea kettles secret agenda! Will he be in time to save either of them?
I DENTI
“I Denti” Directed by Joshua Courtade (leederry@gmail.com) The Man. The Woman. The Boss. The Heavy. These are the players in ‘I Denti’, a strange and comic tale of greed, betrayal, and remarkable oral hygiene. Jason Stratton, Natalie Poston, Steve Owsley, and Nic Angel star in this unique parody of foriegn art house thrillers.
Austin Gay & Lesbian Independent Film Festival (aGLIFF) will begin its Monthly Screening series with THROUGH THICK AND THIN, a documentary by filmmaker Sebastian Cordoba, who will be in attendance. This screening is also a collaboration with the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum’s Altered Lives: An Immigration Film Series.
THROUGH THICK AND THIN follows the extraordinary stories of seven bi-national gay and lesbian couples whose lives are dramatically affected by the current state of immigration laws in the United States. Cordoba intimately captures integral moments of each of the couples as they struggle to stay together at whatever cost, sometimes demonstrating that love does not conquer all.
For some couples, this means immigrating to a different country, while others try to maintain a semblance of normalcy by commuting between distant places overseas. And, for some of them, in which the foreign partner is already illegal, they try to keep things as they are while avoiding the scrutiny of immigration enforcement.
The immigration rights issue is a sensitive and personal one to the director, Sebastian Cordoba, who will join us to discuss the film and his own experience as he was in a binational relationship with an American citizen and has struggled with this very issue first-hand. In fact, he was able to maintain a working visa status by producing this documentary.
aGLIFF will host a launch party for its Monthly Screening Series as well as the launch of the Texas State History Museum’s Immigration Film Series outside the Spirit Theatre following the screening.
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009 Time: Screening 7pm, Launch Party 8:30pm Place: The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum’s Spirit Theatre Admission: $5
This screening is free for Members of aGLIFF, AFF, AFS, Cine las Americas, and TSHM.
Friends of the Festival ‘Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival’ announce the selection of NOAH’S ARC: JUMPING THE BROOM as its February Film Series Film. NOAH’S ARC: JUMPING THE BROOM will screen on Saturday, February 21, at the Muvico Centro Ybor Theatres in Tampa, FL.
Noah, Alex, Ricky, Chance and their significant others travel to Martha’s Vineyard for a weekend wedding getaway. Drama ensues as one-by-one their relationships start to crack under the pressure of closer examination. Newly successful screenwriter Noah looks to his friends for advice as he prepares to move his relationship to a more serious level while struggling to keep his first studio movie alive. But the friends are of little help as they juggle their own issues. Elder statesmen Chance and Eddie attempt to scratch their seven-year itch but worry their marriage has permanently lost its spark. And playboy Ricky flaunts his barely legal college student fling in the face of his monogamous friends but hides a surprising secret that threatens to rock the house. Add to the mix Alex’s crazy-making wedding prep, a closeted superstar rapper, a high-maintenance studio exec, and a surprise visitor and you’ve got the makings of a hilarious and poignant romantic comedy.
NOAH’S ARC: JUMPING THE BROM will screen Saturday, February 21, 7:00pm at the Muvico Centro Ybor Theatres in Tampa, FL. Tickets for the screening are $9.00 for adults and $7.00 for students, and may be purchased in advance for will-call pickup or at our web site, www.cliptampabay.com.
FirstTech, one of the first and longest running Apple resellers in the country, will be screening “Welcome to Macintosh” on Saturday, February 7th at 4pm. The screening will take place at the Suburban World Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The showing is free for individuals who have passes, which are only available at FirstTech, 2640 Hennepin Ave So, Minneapolis and will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Julio Ojeda-Zapata, consumer-technology reporter and columnist for the St Paul Pioneer Press, and features co-directors Rob Baca and Josh Rizzo as well as Wayne Wenzlaff a local figure and early Apple pioneer who is featured in the film.
Earlier that same day members of the Washington Apple Pi user group will also gather to view Welcome to Macintosh.
Washington Apple Pi is an international user group with a history spanning three decades to the dawn of personal computing. The “Pi” continues to serve users of the very first personal computers as well as users of the most modern, advanced systems through its meetings, magazine, computer bulletin board and internet services.
The screening will take place at the Pi Clubhouse in Rockville MD at 10:30am. Seating is limited, so those who would like to attend must RSVP email (via wap website). A discussion and pre-recorded interview with the filmmakers will follow.
The award-winning film “Rain in a Dry Land” (U.S.A., 2006, 82 minutes) traces the experience of two immigrant Somali Bantu families as they make their way from African refugee camps to urban America and face profound challenges in adjusting to a new life.
The film will screen Tuesday, Feb. 10, as part of the Labor and Community Film Series. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Rondo Library, corner of Dale and University in St. Paul. Admission is free and open to the public. [via]
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