The folks at KQCF and SeLFF have come out with the list of films for the film festival. It runs over ten days from June 6th to the 16th. Each year that I’ve attended the film fest I’ve noticed that the organizers strive to provide an array of different LGBT themed films, especially hidden gems that you might not have heard of otherwise let alone see on the big screen.
This year the Opening film is Out in the Dark by Michael Mayer. The film is a star crossed romance between a Palestinian student and Israeli lawyer. After the screening a discussion of queer cinema in Korea with director Kim Tae Yong will follow.
Below you can find a chronological schedule of the films. I’ll highlight the ones I’m probably going to check out!
June 6th
10:30: Vito (2011) 93 min USA, English Korean Subs
The story of Vito Russo, founding father of the gay liberation movement, author of “The Celluloid Closet,” and vociferous AIDS activist in the 1980s.
12:30: Kiss Me (2011) 105 min Sweden, Swedish Korean Subs
Young woman engaged to be married finds herself in an affair with her stepmother’s lesbian daughter.
14:30: Parade (2011) 115 min Serbia, Serbian Korean Subs
A homophobic, middle-aged, Serbian gangster ends up sacrificing himself to protect Gay freedom in his country. RADMILO (35) and MIRKO (30) are young and successful gay couple, and they would be a happy couple anywhere else except in – Serbia.
19:30: Out in the Dark (2012) 96 min Israel, Hebrew, English w Korean subs
drama centered on the love affair between two men on opposite sites of the Mid-East conflict: Palestinian student Nimer and Roy, an Israeli lawyer.
KMK: I haven’t seen any of these films. The Swedish film looks promising but my language skills aren’t up to snuff. I check any out it would be Out in the Dark.
June 7th
12:30: Ashes of Time (1994) 100 min Hong Kong Chinese, w Korean Subs
A broken-hearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings.
Apparently this is a re-cut, re-edited, remastered into a shorter tighter film, but I also suggest seeing the original.
14:30: For the Invisible (2012) 80 min Korea, Korean w English Subs
42 year old Trans woman starts her day delivering newspapers. Even though she works all day, she gets paid half of what others make because of her identity number starting with 1. What must she do as a pre op trans woman to get an identification number that starts with 2?
Raz on Air (2012) 31 min Korea, Korean, w English Subs
Raz, a broadcasting jockey reveals her life confronting obstacles to who she is.
17:00: A Map for a Talk (2012) 81 min Chile, Spanish w English Korean Subs
A MAP FOR A TALK is an independent project, an intimate play evolving around three main characters: an adult woman, her mother and her female lover. Two days in their lives occur in two opposing setting, everyday life in the demanding metropolis of Santiago and a sailboat trip cruising a beautiful bay. The three character remain trapped in a claustrophobic confrontation. The film dialogs with ‘Knife in the water’ from the side of women, an intense character drama with many involuntary humorous scenes. The eternal, never completed quest of seeing and recognizing the other as they are or, at least, as they want to be seen
19:30: Call Me Kuchu (2012) 87 min Uganda, English Luganda w Korean Subs
In Uganda, a new bill threatens to make homosexuality punishable by death. David Kato – Uganda’s first openly gay man, and his fellow activists work against the legislation while combating persecution.
23:00: Love or Whatever (2012) USA, English w Korean Subs
Corey had it all – a successful career, a sister who’s his best friend and most of all, a bright future with his boyfriend. But, when the boyfriend dumps him for a woman, Corey sets off on a wild journey of self-discovery that leads him to new love and a life-changing choices.
01:00: Bear City 2: proposal (2012) 114 min USA, English w Korean Subs
Kathy Najimy lays den mother to the returning cast of ears, boys and cubs for a Bear Week bachelor party in Provincetown.
04:00: J. Edgar (2011) 137 min USA, English w Korean subs
J. Edgar Hoover, powerful head of the FBI for nearly 50 years, looks back on his professional and personal life.
KMK: I can’t say enough good things about Wong Kar Wai. This film is haunting and arresting. He delves into themes of love, heartache, betrayal and like all of his flicks they grab you by the heart. I’m not sure how this recut version will hold up to the original, but I’ll check it out. I would think Happy Together would make a better match for this festival. Still check out Chunking Express, In the Mood for Love, 2046.
June 8th
10:30: Keep the Lights On (2012) 101 min USA, English w Korean subs
In Manhattan, filmmaker Erik bonds with closeted lawyer Paul after a fling. As their relationship becomes one fueled by highs, lows, and dysfunctional patterns, Erik struggles to negotiate his own boundaries while being true to himself.
12:30: A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) 98 min Hong Kong, Chinese w Korean subs
Ning Tsai-Shen, a humble tax collector, arrives in a small town to carry out his work. Unsurprisingly, no-one is willing to give him shelter for the night, so he ends up spending the night in the haunted Lan Ro temple. There, he meets Taoist Swordsman Yen Che-Hsia, who warns him to stay out of trouble, and the beautiful Nieh Hsiao-Tsing, with whom he falls in love
14:30: Short Films 80 min
17:00: Grape Candy (2012) 104 min Korea, Korean no subs
Sun-joo is busy preparing for her upcoming wedding, but her fiance plans to go on a business trip with her former best friend.
19:30: Facing Mirrors (2012) 88 min Iran, Farsi w Korean subs
Rana has chosen a path in order to support her family, while Adineh (Eddie) has fled his home and city to escape his complicated situation as a transsexual man prevented from living as his true self by his family. They find themselves on the same journey and caused to know each other in a better way.
June 9th
10:30: Love Free or Die (2012) 82 min USA English, w Korean subs
A documentary on Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop who set a precedent in New Hampshire state politics, and the battle for LGBT people to receive full acceptance in the faith.
12:30: A Better Tomorrow (1986) 97 min Hong Kong, Chinese w Korean subs
A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break
14:30: Short Films 2 90 min
17:00: Frauensee (2012) 86 min Germany, German w Korean subs
A glorious weekend in the waning days of summer. The protagonist, Rosa, is a guardian of the lakes in the magical hinterland north of Berlin and she is a professional fisher. Her lover, Kirsten, lives in a lakeside bungalow, and together the couple play host to two young students on a weekend break from Berlin. The four womens intense sexual attraction is fuelled be their profoundly different hopes and wordviews
19:30: Bear City 2: proposal (2012) 114 min USA, English w Korean Subs
June 10th
12:30: White Night (2012) 75 min Korea, Korean no subs
Won Gyu returns to Seoul where he teams up with Tae jun whom he met on the internet. Travelling together they pick up threads of Won Gyu’s past where not everyone is allowed to love.
14:30: Untouchables (2011) 112 min France, French w Korean subs
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caretaker.
17:00: Parade (2011) 115 min Serbia, Serbian Korean Subs
19:30: Two Weddings and a Funeral (2012)106 min Korea, Korean w English subs
To keep their sexual orientation a secret, a gay man and a lesbian woman gets married. Now they have to juggle their identities to fool parents and co-workers, all while trying to find real love.
June 11th
12:30: Crush and Blush (2012) 100 min Korea, Korean no subs
Mi Sook Yang a frumpy high school Russian teacher has been crushing on her colleague Jong cheol Suh, but things change qhen a pretty new teacher shows up.
14:30: Suddenly Last Summer (2012) 37 min Korea, Korean no subs
No it’s not the Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Cliff, and Katherine Hepburn screen adaption of Tennessee Williams’ play, but it is about a student who relentlessly hits on his teacher… Maybe it should be called statutory? Lets hope it’s a college student.
Going South (2012) 45 min Korea, Korean no subs
Gi Tae spikes Jun yeong’s coffee and whisks him away. When he awakens their secrets unravel.
17:00: For the Invisible (2012) 80 min Korea, Korean w English Subs
Raz on Air (2012) 31 min Korea, Korean, w English Subs
19:30: Kiss Me (2011) 105 min Sweden, Swedish Korean Subs
June 12th
12:30: Short Films 80 mins
14:30: Facing Mirrors (2012) 88 min Iran, Farsi w Korean subs
17:00: Keep the Lights On (2012) 101 min USA, English w Korean subs
19:30: J. Edgar (2011) 137 min USA, English w Korean subs
June 13th
12:30: Short Films 2 90 min
14:30: White Night (2012) 75 min Korea, Korean no subs
17:00: Grape Candy (2012) 104 min Korea, Korean no subs
19:30: Love or Whatever (2012) USA, English w Korean Subs
June 14th
12:30: Day’s of Being Wild (1990) 94 mins Hong Kong, Chinese w Korean subs
Set in the 1960’s a Yuddy learns from a drunken exprostitue who raised him that she’s not his real mother. The revelation shakes him and the two women who love him. Another Wong Kar Wai gem.
14:30: Call Me Kuchu (2012) 87 min Uganda, English Luganda w Korean Subs
17:00: Untouchables (2011) 112 min France, French w Korean subs
19:30: Love Free or Die (2012) 82 min USA English, w Korean subs
23:00: A perfect Ending (2012) 110 min USA, English w Korean subs
Rebecca has a very unusual secret, one that not even her best friends know about. The last person on earth she expects to reveal it to is a high priced escort named Paris.
01:00: Frauensee (2012) 86 min Germany, German w Korean subs
04:00: A Map for a Talk (2012) 81 min Chile, Spanish w English Korean Subs
June 15th
10:30: Two Weddings and a Funeral (2012)106 min Korea, Korean w English subs
12:30: Bride with the White Hair (1993) 87 min Hong Kong, Chinese w Korean subs
The sensitive swordsman Cho Yi-Hang is tired of his life. He is the unwilling successor to the Wu-Tang clan throne and the unsure commander of the clan’s forces in a war against foreign tribes and an evil cult. One day, he meets the beautiful Lien, a killer for the evil cult who is equally unsatisfied with her situation, but their love angers both the Wu-Tang clan and the evil cult.
14:30: SelFF Film Project 120 min
17:00: Crush and Blush (2012) 100 min Korea, Korean no subs
19:30: Out in the Dark (2012) 96 min Israel, Hebrew, English w Korean subs
June 16th
10:30: Suddenly Last Summer (2012) 37 min Korea, Korean no subs
No it’s not the Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Cliff, and Katherine Hepburn screen adaption of Tennessee Williams’ play, but it is about a student who relentlessly hits on his teacher… Maybe it should be called statutory? Lets hope it’s a college student.
Going South (2012) 45 min Korea, Korean no subs
Gi Tae spikes Jun yeong’s coffee and whisks him away. When he awakens their secrets unravel.
12:30: Vito (2011) 93 min USA, English Korean Subs
14:30: A perfect Ending (2012) 110 min USA, English w Korean subs
17:00:
19:30: The Sex of the Angels (20120) 105 min Spanish w Korean subs
Struggling martial artist and dancer Bruno loves his girl Carla, but when he meets fellow dancer Rai, serious sparks fly opening the couple up to new possibilities.
That’s quite a line up. I’ve noticed that a lot of these films really don’t have a queer angle. Still, I’m down with the wu xia especially since the awesome Brigette Lin who’s a pan sexual gender bending tour de force.
So I applaud the decision to be a bit diverse! None have English subs so its probably best to download them, sigh.
