Utah Queer Film Festival (UQFF)

[caption id="attachment_3936" align="alignnone" width="550"]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 Festival

http://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 2013

FIVE 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 2013

http://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 2012

http://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 2013

http://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 2013

http://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 2013

http://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 2013

http://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 2013

I 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 2013

http://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 Festival

http://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 2013

http://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 2013

http://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 2013

SUBMERGE
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 2013

http://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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[caption id="attachment_942" align="alignnone"]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

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