Damn These Heels, the longest running LGBTQ Film Festival in the Mountain West, will run July 12 to 14, 2019 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Utah.
Utah Queer Film Festival (UQFF)
Utah Queer Film Festival explores LGBTQ+ issues, ideas, and art through dramatic and documentary films from around the world. For over 20 years, the Festival (formerly Damn These Heels) has provided Utah’s queer community with access to films and events that celebrate, inspire, and highlight queer stories, queer history, and queer joy.
Utah Queer Film Festival (UQFF) started in 2004 (renamed in 2024) and takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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DAMN THESE HEELS, Utah’s LGBTQ Film Festival, Announces 2019 Lineup
Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life directed by Tomer Heymann
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Damn These Heels, Utah’s LGBTQ Film Festival Unveils Lineup – 1985, THE MISANDRISTS, TRANNY FAG and More
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THE MISANDRISTS[/caption]
Damn These Heels, the longest running LGBTQ Film Festival in the Mountain West, returns for the 15th edition from July 20 to 22, 2018 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. The festival explores LGBTQ issues, ideas, and art through independent, documentary, and foreign films from around the world.
New this year, filmmakers of all experience levels are invited to participate in the 48 Hour Film OUT project. On July 13-15, participating film teams are tasked with creating an LGBTQ themed short film in just 48 hours. All films that meet the requirements will be screened during the Festival on Saturday, July 21. The winning film will be screened at Filmapalooza in Paris in 2019 for a chance at the grand prize of screening at the Cannes Film Festival 2019 Short Film Corner.
Patrick Hubley, Director of Programming for Utah Film Center, said, “Damn These Heels is a festival that uses the powerful art of film to celebrate inclusivity, community and individual expression. This year’s line up is full of personality and complexity, we are honored to commemorate the Festival’s 15th year with such a strong range of stories that will provoke thought, spark crucial dialogue and shift our perspective.”
The films selected to screen in the 2018 Damn These Heels Festival are:
1985
Directed by Yen Tan
85 min | 2018 | USA
A closeted young man goes home for the holidays and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family.
Official Selection: 2018 SXSW Film Festival
Cast: Cory Michael Smith, Aidan Langford, Jamie Chung, Virginia Madsen, and Michael Chiklis
ALASKA IS A DRAG
Directed by Shaz Bennett
89 min | 2018 | USA
Fabulous Leo, an aspiring drag superstar who can throw a punch, is stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska.
Official Selection: 2018 Frameline Film Festival, 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival, 2018
Cast: Martin L. Washington Jr., Maya Washington, Matt Dallas, Christopher O’Shea, Jason Scott Lee, and Margaret Cho
ANCHOR AND HOPE (Tierra Firme)
Directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet
113 min | 2017 | Spain
Two women and their best friend living on a canal boat ask: Can we balance love, family, and life and stay united?
Winner: Best Film-2017 Seville European Film Festival; Official Selection: 2018 Guadalajara International Film Festival
Cast: Oona Chaplin, Natalia Tena, and Geraldine Chaplin
CLOSE KNIT (Karera ga honki de amu toki wa)
Directed by Naoko Ogigami
127 | 2017 | Japan
A neglected daughter, a gentle uncle, and his transgender lover knitted together into an unconventional family.
Winner: Teddy Award-2017 Berlin Film Festival, Chromie Audience Award-2017 Filmfest Homochrom
Cast: Toma Ikuta, Kenta Kiritani, Rinka Kakihara
FREELANCERS ANONYMOUS
Directed by Sonia Sebastián
81 min | 2018 | USA
Billie quits her job right before getting married, launching her into a rag-tag world of unemployed women and tech startups.
Official Selection: 2018 FilmOut San Diego, 2018 Frameline Film Festival
Cast: Jennifer Bartels, Megan Cavanagh, Alexandra Billings, and Grace Rex
THE GOSPEL OF EUREKA
Directed by Donal Mosher & Michael Palmieri
75 min | 2018 | USA
Love, faith, and civil rights collide in the south as evangelical Christians and drag queens explore the meaning of belief.
Official Selection: 2018 SXSW Film Festival, 2018 Sheffield International Documentary Festival
Preceded by the short film FAITHFUL directed by Dane Christensen
IDEAL HOME
Directed by Andrew Fleming
91 | 2018 | USA
A bickering gay couple must now deal with the unexpected task of raising a ten-year-old boy.
Cast: Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, Kate Walsh, Alison Pill, Jake McDorman, and Jack Gore
JUST CHARLIE
Directed by Rebekah Fortune
97 min | 2017 | UK
Trapped in the body of a boy, soccer star Charlie is torn between placating her father and shedding this ill-fitting skin.
Winner: Best Feature Film for Youth-2017 Zlin Film Festival; Official Selection: 2017 Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2017 Frameline Film Festival
Cast: Patricia Potter, Scot Williams, HARRY Gilby, and Karen Bryson
LEITIS IN WAITING
Directed by Dean Hamer & Joe Wilson
72 min | 2018 | USA/Tonga
The story of the Tonga Leitis, a group of transgender women fighting intolerance in the South Pacific Kingdom.
Official Selection: 2017 Frameline Film Festival, 2018 Festival International Du Film Documentaire Oceanien, 2017 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
MAN MADE
Directed by T Cooper
93 min | 2018 | USA
A trans men bodybuilding competition reveals unexpected truths about gender, masculinity, humanity and love.
Official Selection: 2018 Outfest Los Angeles, 2018 Frameline Film Festival
THE MISANDRISTS
Directed by Bruce LaBruce
91 min | 2017 | USA
Salacious hell breaks loose within the FLA — a feminist terrorist group — when an injured man appears in their midst.
Official Selection: 2017 Berlin International Film Festival
Cast: Susanne Sachße, Viva Ruiz, Kembra Pfahler
MY BIG GAY ITALIAN WEDDING (Matrimonio italiano)
Directed by Alessandro Genovesi
90 min | 2018 | Italy
In this merry movie of matrimony, Antonio brings his fiancé Paulo to meet his headstrong parents and reveal his sexuality.
Official Selection: 2018 Seattle International Film Festival
Cast: Diego Abatantuono, Monica Guerritore, Salvatore Esposito, Cristiano Caccamo, Dino Abbrescia, and Diana Del Bufalo
MY LIFE WITH JAMES DEAN (Ma vie avec James Dean)
Directed by Dominique Choisy
108 min l 2017 I France
Young director Géraud Champreux goes on a wild and woeful film tour that changes his life.
Official Selection: 2018 Brussels Pink Screens, 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival
Cast: Johnny Rasse, Mickaël Pelissier, and Nathalie Richard
QUIET HEROES
Opening Night Film
Directed by Jenny Mackenzie, Amanda Stoddard, & Jared Ruga
68 min | 2017 | USA
One doctor’s fight against stigma, shame, and ignorance at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis against a conservative religious monoculture.
Official Selection: 2018 Sundance Film Festival, 2018 QDoc
SHAKEDOWN
Directed by Leilah Weinraub
72 min | 2018 | USA | Not Rated
The chronicle of Los Angeles’ black lesbian strip club scene, an underground, illegal, and legendary moment. Mature audiences only.
Official Selection: 2018 Berlin Film Festival, 2017 The Whitney Museum Biennial
SHORT FILM PROGRAM: Reverent
89 min | Various
A short film program featuring serious, heartfelt, and touching LGBTQ+ films from around the globe. Films include Top 10 Places to Visit in Sao Paulo, Beauty, A Kitchen Can Take You Back, Sunset, Spark, Crook – “Lavender,” and Something About Alex.
SHORT FILM PROGRAM: Irreverent
78 min | Various
A short film program featuring hilarious, goofy, crass, but still hard-hitting films from around the globe. Films include Magic H8 Ball, Dropping Penny, I Live Here, Scary Lucy, and Femme.
SISTERHOOD
Directed by Tracy Choi
97 min | 2017 | Macau/Hong Kong/Taiwan
Upon seeing a missing person ad for a friend from her past, Sei decides to revisit Macau and makes a startling discovery.
Nominated: Best Supporting Actress Nomination Fish Liew & Best New Performer Nomination Jennifer Yu-36th Hong Kong Film Award
Cast: Gigi Leung, Fish Liew, and Jennifer Yu
TRANNY FAG (Bixa Travesty)
Directed by Kiko Goifman & Claudia Priscilla
75 min | 2018 | Brazil
Mc Linn Da Quebrada’s electrifying performances (with plenty of nudity) brazenly take on Brazil’s hetero-normative machismo.
Official Selection: 2018 Berlin Film Festival, 2018 Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival
Preceded the short film MY PRICE directed by Fabricio Santiago
TRANSMILITARY
Directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson
93 min | 2018 | USA
Four transgender individuals put their careers on the line by coming out in hopes of attaining the equal right to serve.
Winner: Documentary Competition Audience Award-2018 SXSW; Official Selection: 2018 Frameline Film Festival
WE THE ANIMALS
Directed by Jeremiah Zagar
94 min | 2018 | USA
Manny, Joel, and Jonah tear their way through childhood and push against the volatile love of their parents.
Winner: Next Innovator Award-2018 Sundance Film Festival, Future/Now Award-2018 Montclair Film Festival
Cast: Raúl Castillo, Josiah Gabriel, Isaiah Kristian, Evan Rosado, and Sheila Vand
THE WILD BOYS (Les garçons sauvages)
Directed by Bertrand Mandico
110 min | 2018 | France
Surrealist, adolescent gender-bending sex fueled fantasy nightmare. A maritime adventure.
Winner: Best Director-2018 Vilnius International Film Festival
Cast: Pauline Lorillard, Vimala Pons, and Diane Rouxe
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First Round of Films Announced for 2017 Damn These Heels Film Festival
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Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall[/caption]
The 2017 Damn These Heels Film Festival taking place July 14 to 16, 2017 in Utah at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, revealed the first round of films selected for the festival. The festival features independent, documentary, and foreign films from around the world that explore LGBTQ issues, ideas, and art.
The Festival will open with Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall by director Katherine Fairfax Wright. The film follows Todrick Hall as he launches his most ambitious project yet: the full-scale original musical, Straight Outta Oz.
Patrick Hubley, Director of Programming for the Utah Film Center said, “Through Damn These Heels screenings and events we hope to continue to foster the spirit of inclusion, unity, and tenacity in the Utah community. These films from all over the world show that now more than ever we need to celebrate our shared humanity no matter our race or sexual orientation. These stories need to be told and we cannot wait to kick off our 14th year with such a thought-provoking program.”
The first round of films selected to screen in the 2017 Damn These Heels Festival are:
Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall / USA (Director: Katherine Fairfax Wright)
Todrick Hall launches his most ambitious project yet: the full-scale original musical, Straight Outta Oz. From a small town in Texas to big-time show business, comes an inspiring documentary of grit, perseverance and the redemptive power of art. We watch him struggle to write songs about growing up gay and black in small-town Texas, his difficult relationship with his mom, and the harsh realities of trying to make it in show business. With limited time and budget the odds are against him, but Todrick’s passion and his team of talented performers overcome all obstacles to bring this story to the world. Utah Premiere
Official Selection: 2017 SXSW Film Festival, 2017 Outfest
*Opening Night Film
**Director Katherine Fairfax Wright will attend the festival for a guided discussion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d7geWHf1x8
Free Cece / USA (Director: Jacqueline Gares) – CeCe McDonald survived a brutal attack, only to be incarcerated for defending her life. After an international movement to free her, CeCe emerged as a leader to interrogate the prison industrial complex and inspire women to fight back when attacked. Utah Premiere
Cast: CeCe McDonald, Laverne Cox
Audience Award Winner: Feature Documentary – 2016 Blackstar Film Festival
I Dream In Another Language / Mexico/Netherlands (Director: Ernesto Contreras) – A young linguist travels to the jungle of Mexico to research a language on the verge of disappearing. Once there, he discoverers its last two speakers clashed 50 years ago, and have refused to speak to each other since. Attempting to reunite them, the researcher discovers a secret past—and a forbidden gay love story.
Cast: Fernando Álvarez Rebeil, Eligio Meléndez, Manuel Poncelis, Fátima Molina, Juan Pablo De Santiago, Hoze Meléndez
Winner: Audience Award World Cinema (Dramatic) – 2017 Sundance Film Festival
Political Animals / USA (Director: John Markowitz, Tracy Wares) – A rousing documentary charting the unstoppable force of four lesbian legislators in California who’ve been fighting for LGBT rights and recognition for decades. Utah Premiere
Cast: Carole Migden, Sheila Kuehl, Jackie Goldberg, Christine Kehoe
Winner: Audience Award – 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival, Provincetown International Film Festival and 8 other awards.
Pushing Dead / USA (Director: Tom E. Brown) – When a struggling writer, HIV-positive for 20+ years, accidentally deposits a $100 birthday check, he is dropped from his health plan for earning too much. In this new era of sort-of universal care, can he take on a helpless bureaucracy or come up with $3000 a month to buy his meds on his own? Utah Premiere
Cast: James Roday, Robin Weigert, Danny Glover, Khandi Alexander, Tom Riley
Winner: Audience Award – Frameline 40; 2016 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival; 2017 Ashland Independent Film Festival; 2016 Fresno Reel Pride Film Festival
Signature Move / USA (Director: Jennifer Reeder ) – A hilarious and heartfelt look at modern families and the complexities of love in its many forms. Utah Premiere
Cast: Fawzia Mirza, Shabana Azmi, Sari Sanchez, Audrey Francis, Charin Alvarez
Official Selection: 2017 SXSW Film Festival
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin / USA (Director: Jennifer M. Kroot) – Celebrates one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, following his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels inspired millions to reclaim their lives.
Utah Premiere
Audience Award Winner: Documentary Spotlight – 2017 SXSW Film Festival; Jury Award: Best Documentary – 2017 OUTSHINE Film Festival
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WATCH Trailers for Films in Utah’s Damn These Heels! LGBT Film Festival
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G.B.F.[/caption]The Damn These Heels! (DTH!) LGBT Film Festival in Utah which celebrates its 10th Anniversary, will be held this year during the weekend of July 12-14, 2013. In celebration of the 10th year, DTH! will feature expanded programming with 21 feature films from 9 countries – more than double the films at last year’s festival. The festival opens with G.B.F. and closes with I AM DIVINE.
Below is the complete list of the 10th Annual Damn These Heels! LGBT Film Festival titles along with trailers:
ANIMALS
Directed by Marçal Forés
Not rated | 94 min | 2012 | Spain
Catalan w/English subtitles
This thriller is a very unconventional coming-of-age tale and an intoxicating blend of fantasy and cold reality as it follows a shy teenager’s perilous period when exciting but troubling sexuality enters into his formerly innocent world.
San Sebastian International Film Festival 2012; BFI London Lesbian + Gay Film Festivalhttp://youtu.be/8k4zn6GHD8c
BALLROOM RULES
Directed by Nickolas Bird + Eleanor Sharpe
Not rated | 77 min | 2012 | Australia/Germany
A passionate group of Australian same-sex ballroom dancers battle homophobia, injury and personal drama as they pursue their dream of competing at the Gay Games in Germany.http://youtu.be/kivoyFOZ1ck
BRUNO AND EARLENE GO TO VEGAS
Directed by Simon Savory
Not rated | 97 min | 2013 | UK/USA/France
Earlene arrives at Venice Beach after running from a desperate situation, only to become fast friends with an Australian skater who is also lost. Together, they set out into the desert to find themselves.CHASTITY BITES
Directed by John V. Knowles
Not rated | 95 min | 2013 | USA
In the early 1600’s, Countess Elizabeth Bathory slaughtered more than 600 young women, believing if she bathed in the blood of virgins that she would stay young and beautiful forever. Still alive today, she’s found a perfect hunting ground.http://youtu.be/wwoE2howJPk
CONTINENTAL
Directed by Malcolm Ingram
Not Rated | 95 min | 2013 | USA
The story of Continental Baths, a well-known New York City establishment for gays during the late ’60 to 1974.
South by Southwest Film Festival 2013; Frameline Film Festival 2013; BAMcinemaFest 2013FIVE DANCES
Directed by Alan Brown
Not rated | 83 min | 2013 | USA
FIVE DANCES is a creatively adventurous narrative feature film set in the New York ‘downtown’ modern dance world.
Opening Night, Dance On Camera – Film Society of Lincoln Center 2013http://youtu.be/ZwpI3NzKeZc
FRAUENSEE (Women’s Lake)
Directed by Zoltan Paul
Not rated | 86 min | 2012 | Germany
German w/English subtitles
A middle-aged couple in the German countryside has unexpected visitors that cause trouble in their already tenuous relationship.
Toronto InsideOut Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival 2012; Frameline San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival 2012http://youtu.be/yO32CRL0iqA
FREE FALL (Frier Fall)
Directed by Stephen Lacant
Not rated | 100 min | 2013 | Germany
German w/English subtitles
A promising career with the police, a baby on the way – Marc’s life seems to be right on track. Then he meets fellow policeman, Kay.
Opening Night, New Film! MOMA 2013; Berlin International Film Festival 2013http://youtu.be/Nx-hQkDIkyA
G.B.F. – Opening Night
Directed by Darren Stein
Not rated | 92 min | 2013 | USA
What happens after Tanner is outed by his classmates and becomes the title “gay best friend” for three high school queen bees?
Tribeca Film Festival 2013; Frameline Film Festival 2013; Closing Night – Outfest 2013http://youtu.be/Z6DJSGrfNbk
GOEGRAPHY CLUB
Directed by Gary Entin
PG-13 | 85 min | 2013 | USA
At Goodkind High School, a group of students of varying sexual orientation form an after-school club as a discrete way to share their feelings and experiences.
Toronto InsideOut Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival 2013http://youtu.be/oQb2-a685sw
GORE VIDAL: United States of Amnesia
Directed by Nicholas D. Wrathall
Not rated | 83 min | 2013 | USA/Italy
This is an unashamedly opinionated film. In Gore Vidal’s America, the political coup has already happened.
Tribeca Film Festival 2013 – Framline Film Festival 2013http://youtu.be/wCJlpvPhIPs
HOT GUYS WITH GUNS
Directed by Doug Spearman
Not Rated | 103 min | USA | 2013
Imagine Lethal Weapon if Mel Gibson and Danny Glover were ex-boyfriends.
Frameline Film Festival 2013I AM A WOMAN NOW
Directed by Michiel van Erp
Not rated | 80 min | 2011 | Netherlands
Dutch, German, French w/English subtitles
The first generation of transsexuals who had their sex change in Casablanca back in the mid-1950s to 1960s take stock of their lives.http://youtu.be/pXYs3PFUD9s
I AM DIVINE – Closing Night
Directed by Jeffrey Schwarz
Not rated | 90 min | 2013 | USA
How Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead, became John Waters’ cinematic muse and an international drag icon.
South by Southwest Film Festival 2013; Frameline Film Festival 2013http://youtu.be/AUiX5Llrb58
IN BLOOM
Directed by Chris Michael Birkmeier
Not rated | 87 min | 2013 | USA
The relationship of a young couple disintegrates in the dog days of Chicago summer as the neighborhood is being terrorized by a serial killer.
Toronto InsideOut Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festivalhttp://youtu.be/xOH-JUP4k4Y
LAURENCE ANYWAYS – Centerpiece Screening
Directed by Xavier Dolan
Not rated | 168 min | 2012 | Canada/France
French w/English subtitles
An astonishingly crafted exploration of the 10-year relationship of a male-to-female transsexual with her lover.
Opening Night, Un Certain Regard; Winner, Best Actress; Winner, Queer Palm – Festival De Cannes 2013http://youtu.be/1YjIWEky81M
MARGARITA
Directed by Dominique Cardona + Laurie Colbert
Not rated | 90 min | 2012 | USA
When cash-strapped yuppies fire their teen-aged daughter’s lesbian Mexican nanny, Margarita, they set off a chain of events that lead to her deportation.PEACHES DOES HERSELF
Directed by Peaches
Not rated | 80 min | 2012 | Germany
Peaches herself likes to describe it as “The Jukebox Musical that got a Sex Change!”
Toronto International Film Festival 2013, Sundance London 2013, BAMcinemaFest 2013http://youtu.be/KhNhrKNYvSo
THE RUGBY PLAYER
Directed by Scott Gracheff
Not rated | 90 min | 2013 | USA
The film explores the life of Mark Bingham, one of the passengers of United Flight 93 on 9/11.
Winner, HBO Audience Award Best Documentary – Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2013
Toronto InsideOut LGBT Film Festival 2013SUBMERGE
Directed by Sophie O’Connor
Not rated | 97 min | 2013 | USA
A Gen Y love story presented as a fetish sex drama, submerge explores the need of Gen Y for constant stimulation and instant gratification underpinned by a sense of entitlement.
Frameline Film Festival 2013http://youtu.be/OCizTM7bnik
WHO’S AFRAID OF VAGINA WOLF
Directed by Anna Margarita Albelo
Not rated | 83 min | 2013 | USA
The day after her fortieth birthday, Anna comes to the conclusion that it’s time for the madness to stop. She lives in her friend’s back yard tool shed, her career as a filmmaker isn’t paying her bills and worst of all it’s been ten years since she’s had a girlfriend.
Frameline Film Festival 2013
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8th annual Damn These Heels!: LGBT Film Festival Announces Lineup
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BEGINNERS[/caption]The lineup for the 8th annual Damn These Heels!: LGBT Film Festival (DTH!) was announced today and includes 14 feature films from seven countries screening June 17–19 at the historic Tower Theatre. Salt Lake City, Utah’s only annual LBGT film festival, DTH! showcases the best international and domestic documentary and narrative LGBT films from film festivals around the world.
The festival opens at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, June 17 with the Utah premiere of BEGINNERS. Directed by Mike Mills, largely known for his artwork and music videos, this is his second feature and loosely based on his own relationship with his father, who didn’t come out of the closet until he was in his seventies. An Opening Night Gala Celebration follows the screening. The rest of the DTH! program features films from many of the world’s top film festivals, a one-time-only audience participation event, and a panel discussion presented in partnership with Equality Utah.
All screenings for the festival take place at the Salt Lake Film Society’s historic Tower Theatre, 876 E. 900 S. Individual tickets are $5 and can be purchased online at www.damntheseheels.org beginning May 13. A limited number of all-access passes will be offered for $25 and include access to Opening Night celebrations and all festival film screenings.
Below is the complete list of the 8th Annual Damn These Heels!: LGBT Film Festival films:
OPENING NIGHT FILM
BEGINNERS
Directed by Mike Mills
A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer and that he has a young male lover. (U.S.A., 105 min.)
Official Selection — 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, 2011 SXSW
CENTERPIECE SCREENINGS
CIRCUMSTANCE
Directed by Maryam Keshavarz
A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager’s growing sexual rebellion and control her brother’s dangerous obsession. (Iran/U.S.A./France, 95 min.)
Audience Award Winner, World Cinema Dramatic — 2011 Sundance Film Festival
L’AMOUR FOU
Directed by Pierre Thoretton
This documentary portrays the relationship between fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent and his lover, Pierre Bergé, and the sale of their art collection following Yves’s death. (France, 98 min.)
Official Selection — 2011 San Francisco Film Festival, 2011 Tribeca Film Festival
PANEL DISCUSSION
This panel discussion addresses the ways that so-called queer media has changed and evolved in recent years, as well as explores the ways that queer filmmakers, actors, writers and journalists have brought their causes and interests to mainstream and “straight” media. Panel guests include DTH! 2011 filmmakers, local journalists, gender issue and LGBT experts. Presented in partnership with Equality Utah.
SPECIAL SCREENING
ALL ABOUT EVIL with Peaches Christ in 4-D
Directed by Joshua Grannell
This Utah premiere features Peaches Christ in a Rocky Horror Picture Show–style audience-participating, blood-soaked drag ball that has thrilled audiences across the country. In All About Evil, a mousy librarian discovers her inner serial killer as she works to save the family business — a failing movie house — by making a series of grisly shorts that turn out to be all too real. (U.S.A., 108 min.)
Official Selection — 2010 San Francisco International Film Festival, 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival
REGULAR SCREENINGS
AUGUST
Directed by Eldar Rapaport
August tells the story of two former lovers, Troy and Jonathan, who reunite after a long-ago painful breakup. A seemingly innocent rendezvous turns into an attempt to revive past passions. Only it’s not that simple. (U.S.A., 100 min.)
Official Selection — 2011 Seattle International Film Festival
CODEPENDENT LESBIAN SPACE ALIEN SEEKS SAME
Directed by Madeleine Olnek
This quirky film charts the adventures of lesbian space aliens on the planet Earth and tells the story of the romance between Jane, a shy greeting-card-store employee, and Zoinx, the woman Jane does not realize is from outer space. Meanwhile, two government agents, or “Men in Black,” are closely tracking Jane and the aliens while harboring their own secrets. (U.S.A., 76 min.)
Official Selection — 2011 Sundance Film Festival
DIFFERENT FROM WHOM?
Directed by Umberto Riccioni Carteni
This slapstick comedy pairs a handsome gay politician with a conservative woman in a campaign for mayor. They work together, fight, and eventually have an affair that shakes their lives. But an alternative solution is at hand, and they grab it. (Italy, 103 min.)
Official Selection — 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival
ELVIS & MADONA
Directed by Marcelo Laffitte
Elvis & Madona is a romantic comedy that deals with an unusual subject in a delicate and realistic way: a relationship between a young lesbian, Elvis, and a transvestite, Madona. Nevertheless, it is essentially a love story, proving that love transcends any boundaries. (Brazil, 105 min.)
Official Selection — 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
GUN HILL ROAD
Directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green
An ex-con returns home to the Bronx after three years in prison to discover his wife estranged and his teenage son exploring a sexual transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test. (U.S.A., 88 min.)
Official Selection — 2011 Sundance Film festival
MANGUS!
Directed by Ash Christian
Mangus Spedgewick has had one dream his whole life… he wants to be Jesus — in his high school’s annual production of Jesus Christ Spectacular. Will he get to be their town’s first crippled Jesus? (U.S.A., 88 min.)
Official Selection — 2011 Dallas International Film Festival
THE TOPP TWINS: UNTOUCHABLE GIRLS
Directed by Leanne Pooley
If you see only one documentary about lesbian, country- singing, comedian twins from New Zealand, make this the one! This exuberant film captures the joy the entertaining Topp twins bring to their performances and their daily lives. (New Zealand, 101 min.)
Official Selection — 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, 2010 IDFA Festival, 2010 London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2010 RiverRun International Film Festival, 2010 Seattle International Film Festival, 2010 Provincetown International Film Festival, 2010 Outfest Film Festival
WEEKEND
Directed by Andrew Haigh
After a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time, he picks up Glen, but what’s expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special. (U.K., 96 min.)
Audience Award Winner — 2011 SXSW
WHO TOOK THE BOMP? LE TIGRE ON TOUR
Directed by Kerthy Fix
Girl band Le Tigre is best known for its sociopolitical lyrics, electronic beats, and choreographed dance moves. Shot over the course of the band’s final tour, Who Took the Bomp? follows Kathleen, Johanna, and Jocelyn’s 10-year herstory of celebrating the legacy of feminism. (U.S.A., 67 min.)
Official Selection — 2011 SXSW, 2011 Florida Film Festival, 2011 Independent Film Festival Boston