Tag: gay film

Getting Go: the Go Doc Project

Getting Go: the Go Doc Project, Director and Writer Cory Krueckeberg

College boy, Doc (Tanner Cohen, Were The World Mine) is obsessed with a well-known NYC go-go dancer, nicknamed Go (Matthew Camp). He befriends his hunky crush with the intention of shooting a movie about what it’s like to live in his skin. Camera in hand, he follows his subject across the city: into bars, onto rooftops and dance floors and ultimately his bedroom. But as they grow closer, flirtation blurs the line between subject and filmmaker until a steamy night together solidifies deeper feelings. Cory Kruekeberg’s explicit directorial debut explores the thrill and danger of getting exactly what you wished for.

Funny, sexy movie with a great story starring both Tanner Cohen and Matthew Camp. Nothing else needed in this great film.

My thanks to MandaBear83 for putting together this great clip with the song “Overture” from the “Sundark and Riverlight’ album by Patrick Wolf  (That song was a good choice!)

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Michael Akers, “Morgan”

Morgan: Directed by Michael Akers; Produced by Michael Akers, Sandon Berg and Israel Ehrisman; Starring Leo Minaya and Jack Kesy

After an accident leaves him paralyzed from the waist down, Morgan Oliver, a gay bicycle racer, is first seen wallowing in a state of depression, drowning his sorrows in beer as he watches bicycle racing (the sport that at once defined his sense of purpose and drove him to his catalytic accident) on television. He meets Dean Kagan who helps him through the way and a romantic relationship develops between the two. Once Morgan knows about the New York Haven Cycle Race, he decides to take part in the race.

Michael Akers and Sandon Berg planned on writing a story about a paraplegic while casting for an earlier film Phoenix. A young, handsome wheelchair-using paraplegic actor had submitted his portfolio for a possible role in a film. Although the screenplay for Phoenix had been written and no role was envisioned for a paraplegic acting role, they were intrigued enough by him personally, they decided to write a screenplay around a paraplegic athlete. After many interviews with other wheelchair-using gay men, their collection of stories became the basis for the film Morgan.

Stefan Haupt, “Der Kreis (The Circle)”

Der Kreis (The Circle) : Swiss Docudrama directed by Stefan Haupt, 2014

The Circle (German: Der Kreis) is a Swiss docudrama film, released in 2014. Written and directed by Stefan Haupt, the film depicts the social network that revolved around The Circle, a gay publication in Zurich in the 1940s and 1950s, which was scapegoated for the murders of several gay men in the city.

The film focuses in particular on the story of Ernst Ostertag and Röbi Rapp, a schoolteacher and a drag entertainer who enter a lifelong romantic relationship through their involvement in the group. The film intersperses a scripted dramatic depiction of the story, in which the couple are portrayed by Matthias Hungerbühler and Sven Schelker, with documentary interviews with the real Ostertag and Rapp. The film’s cast also includes Marianne Sägebrecht, Anatole Taubman, Antoine Monot, Jr., Stefan Witschi and Markus Merz.

The film won the Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival, as well as the Panorama Audience Award. North American distribution rights were subsequently acquired by Wolfe Video. It was selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but was not nominated. Director Stefan Haupt said “it’s an honour to represent Switzerland”.

A engrossing film that shows how far we have come and what others endured.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Javier Fuentes-León, “Undertow”

“Undertow” Written and Directed by Javier Fuuentes-León

Miguel (Cristian Mercado, “Che: Part Two”) has lived his whole life in the small Peruvian fishing village where he now awaits the imminent arrival of his first child with his pretty wife, Mariela (Tatiana Astengo).  But Miguel keeps a large secret and when Santiago (Manolo Cardona, “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”), a painter shunned by the denizens of the town for being homosexual, disappears, Miguel’s very soul is pulled down by the “Undertow.”

Writer/director Javier Fuentes-León makes his feature film debut with this Peruvian-Colombian drama film chosen to represent his country for the Foreign Language Film Oscar.  Stunningly photographed by Mauricio Vidal, “Undertow” is about a ghost caught between his lover’s private shame and a town’s public traditions.  Mercado creates a complex man who remains likable even as he struggles with his own identity and machismo.

“Undertow” had been gestating since 1996, when the director Javier Fuentes-León wrote the very first scene. Originally conceived of as a supernatural revenge thriller about a fisherman having an affair with a prostitute, Javier decided to change it after coming out of the closet himself, in an attempt to explore more interesting themes and material.

The film shot in Cabo Blanco, Peru, won the World Cinema Audience Award in the Dramatic category at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S.A. Other Audience Awards included Cartagena, Montreal, Miami, Chicago, Utrecht, Lima, and Galway, as well as Jury Awards in Madrid, San Francisco, Seattle, Toulouse, and Philadelphia. It received a nomination as Best Latin American Film at the 2011 Goya Awards in Spain.

A great film. Javier Fuentes-Leon is a great writer and director. The photography and use of symbolism in this film both make this a movie that must be seen.

Song “I Know Him So Well” is performed by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson

Gus Van Sant, “Mala Noche”

“Mala Noche”: Directed by Gus Van Sant

“Mala Noche (Bad Night)” is a 1985 American drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy, Last Days), based on an autobiographical novel by the Oregon poet Walt Curtis. The film was shot in 16 mm, mostly black-and-white.

With its low budget and lush black-and-white imagery, Gus Van Sant’s debut feature “Mala Noche” heralded an idiosyncratic, provocative new voice in American independent film. Set in Van Sant’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, the film evokes a world of transient workers, dead-end day-shifters, and bars and seedy apartments bathed in a profound nighttime, as it follows a romantic deadbeat with a wayward crush on a handsome Mexican immigrant. “Mala Noche” was an important prelude to the New Queer Cinema of the nineties and is a fascinating capsule from a time and place that continues to haunt its director’s work.

Gus Van Sant’s “Male Noche” is available on Netflix disc and through Hulu and Prime subscription services.

Marcelo Briem Stamm, “Solo”

 

“Solo”: Written and Directed by Marcelo Briem Stamm; Starring Patricio Ramos, Mario Veron, and Carlos Echevarria

A sexy, romantic and uncomfortably chilling tale of love and deception from first time director Marcelo Briem Stamm. Handsome middle class Manuel (Patrico Ramos), hurt by his previous relationship and bored being alone, meets Julio (Mario Veron), a rugged, lonely, unemployed young man in a chat room. The two eventually meet up in person and the sexual spark is quickly ignited. And while sex is satisfying and frequent, it is their collective problems with intimacy, trust and the fear of being hurt that make them hesitant to commit fully.

As their relationship develops, both reveal secrets from their past but these revelations might be real, imagined or outright lies. All is revealed in this romantic, passionate drama/thriller that offers a shocking, strangely satisfying conclusion.

A great film; search for it. Just watching Mario Veron in this film is worth the effort of the search.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Aluzio Abranches, “Do Começo ao Film”: Film History

Aluizio Abranches, “Do Começo ao Fim”, Computer Graphics, Film Gifs (Rafael Cardoso and João Gabriel Vasconcellos), 2009, Cinematographer Ueli Steiger, Soundtrack André Abujamra

“Do Começo ao Fim (From Beginning to End)” is a 2009 Brazilian romantic drama film written and directed by Aluizio Abranches. The film stars Rafael Cardoso as Thomás and João Gabriel Vasconcellos as his brother Francisco. In their early stage of life, Gabriel Kaufmann is in the role of Thomás at age six and Lucas Cotrim plays Francisco at the age of eleven. Júlia Lemmertz is in the role of their mother, who gave birth to Francisco in her first marriage and Thomás in her second marriage to husband Alexandre played by Fábio Assunção. 

“Do Começo ao Fim” was filmed almost entirely in Rio de Janeiro with parts filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For its premier, nine copies of the film were released in Brazil in 2009. Despite the limited release, the film became one of the top ten most-watched Brazilian films in that year. In 2010, it was released in DVD form in Brazil with success; after its premier in France, the first edition of the DVD and Blu-ray sold out in less than two weeks. 

The film was shown in 2010 at the Seattle International Film Festival in May, the Frameline Film Festival (the oldest LBGTQ+ film festival in the world) in June, and in July the Outfest Film Festival and QFest. The film which dealt with homosexuality and incest received mixed reviews.

“Pageant”

“Pageant” directed by Ron Davis and Stewart Halpern-Fingerhut, 2008

“I got that rush–and a whole lot more that I wasn’t expecting–watching Pageant, a 2008 documentary from Ron Davis and Stewart Halpern-Fingerhut that chronicles the 2005 plight of five men on a mission to be crowned the 34th winner of Miss Gay America. Far more than just a peek inside one of the more intriguing (and overlooked) pageants around, the film provides a window inside the lives of some very intriguing individuals.

Pageant works on so many levels, it might surprise you. It’s funny, endearing, emotional and entertaining–and this comes from someone who’s (at best) indifferent to drag, which has never done anything for me. The film draws you in not only with the fanfare and tense competition (the filmmakers couldn’t have asked for a better lead-up to the announcement of the winner), but also with its powerful human interest element.” – Cameron McGaughy,  DVD Talk