Tag: LGBT films

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Trailer: “About Ray”

Here’s the official synopsis:

ABOUT RAY tells the stirring and touching story of three generations of a family living under one roof in New York as they must deal with the life-changing transformation by one that ultimately affects them all.

Ray (Elle Fanning) is a teenager who has come to the realization that she isn’t meant to be a girl and has decided to transition from female to male.

His single mother, Maggie (Naomi Watts), must track down Ray’s biological father (Tate Donovan) to get his legal consent to allow Ray’s transition.

Dolly (Susan Sarandon), Ray’s lesbian grandmother is having a hard time accepting that she now has a grandson.

They must each confront their own identities and learn to embrace change and their strength as a family in order to ultimately find acceptance and understanding.

Coming soon to theaters.

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Heath Ledger Was Almost Not Cast In BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN Film

Diana Ossana, the screenwriter for the highly acclaimed film version of Brokeback Mountain, recently appeared on The Michelangelo Signorile Show to talk on the film’s 10th anniversary.

During the chat, the writer shared that Heath Ledger was at one point considered not “macho” enough.

Via Huffington Post:

[Ennis] was the most difficult role to cast. And that seemed to be the perpetual problem as we went on. And even a little bit for [director] Ang [Lee].

“Another actor had committed [to the role of Ennis] and we had suggested Heath. But the studio [Focus Features] didn’t feel he was macho enough.

“I thought that was a rather odd comment. But we just sort of stuck with it. And when that [other] actor backed out — and he did, after three months — I called Heath’s agent. It was interesting.

“Early on, Ang had wanted both the boys to be lifting weights and get all buff. Heath said, ‘You know, I’m the ranch hand [in the film]. I wouldn’t have time to be lifting weights. I’m kind of scrawny and young.’ He said, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ So he didn’t.”

You can rent the devastatingly moving film with exceptional work by both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal on iTunes.

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Short Film: “Dylan”

DYLAN is a short film written and directed by Elizabeth Rohrbaugh and is based on a interview done with Dylan Winn Garner.

The film follows a young trans man as he explains his story, his exploration in the trans community, his family’s acceptance of his identity, and ultimately his physical and emotional transformation.

Shot in Coney Island at dawn, the film shows as Dylan literally sheds the layers that have been weighing him down for so many years, and finds a freedom in self love and acceptance.

Rohrbaugh hopes that Dylan can show transgender individuals, (particularly youth), who may be struggling, that they are not alone in this process and that what is waiting for them on the other side is worth it.

An official selection at several important film festivals like Outfest (this coming July 12th) in Los Angeles, the Boston LGBT Film Festival, the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and the St. Louis International Film Festival, the short is timely and relevant as transgender rights and understanding come front and center in the LGBT world.

Watch the compelling film short below and find more about the film’s journey on Facebook here.

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LGBT Film: “Tiger Orange”

Award winning LGBT-centric film Tiger Orange is available on VOD today from WolfeOnDemand:

Chet (Mark Strano, Out To Kill) and Todd (Frankie Valenti aka former adult star Johnny Hazzard) are estranged gay brothers who grew up in a small town in Central California to a homophobic, working class single father.

While bad boy Todd ran off to Los Angeles and is now out and proud, Chet stayed at home (and mostly closeted) to run the family hardware store and care for their ailing father until the father’s recent death.

Broke and homeless, Todd returns to the brother he left behind. As long-simmering resentments boil to the surface and the pair confront their differences and similarities, Tiger Orange serves up a poignant depiction of family dynamics and small town life — and the journeys we each must take.

WINNER! Outfest 2014 –
Grand Jury Award Best Actor Mark Strano

WINNER! LesGaiCineMad 2014 –
Grand Jury Award Best Film & Best Actor Frankie Valenti

WINNER! Sacramento International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2014 –
Audience Favorite

WINNER! Cinema Diverse: Palms Springs Gay & Lesbian Film Festival –
Audience Favorite

WINNER! Reeling: The Chicago LGBT International Film Festival –
Bronze Reel in Narrative Features

WINNER! San Luis Obispo Film Festival –
Best Narrative Feature

Frankie Valenti

Mark Strano
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Short Film: “3 Eras Of Gay Sex In 3 Mins”

Creative and thought provoking.

From the director:

Leo Herrera, a NYC-based visual artist, filmmaker, writer and advocate with a focus on cataloging and presenting gay history, today announced his latest work “3 ERAS of GAY SEX in 3 Minutes” an original piece illustrating 3 generations of gay sex in three-minutes, featuring Pre-Stonewall cruising; 1970’s/80’s Leather BDS&M; and Present Day App usage, filmed in NYC and San Francisco.

Instead of presenting gay history as sexless or focusing solely on AIDS, the film celebrates Gay Communication in its most sensual form, through the glances, codes and technological breakthroughs that have allowed gay sex and gay communities to flourish through generations of oppression.

(h/t Boy Culture)

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Trailer: Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine

The award-winning documentary Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine opens today in New York City, Houston, and Portland, Oregon, with more cities added (Los Angeles and Chicago) beginning next week.

Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine explores the life and tragic death of Matthew Shepard, the gay student brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in one of the most notorious hate crimes in U.S. history.

From the official website:

Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine follows director Michele Josue, a close friend of Matt’s, as she travels to pivotal locations in Shepard’s life, interviewing other friends and family members, and gaining insight into the beautiful life and devastating loss of Matthew Shepard.

While we’ve come a long way in the last fifteen years, LGBT inequality and hate crimes are still very real today, and parts of Matt’s story are unfortunately still very much a part of young people’s realities. Though framed through a very personal lens, Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine tells a universal story that highlights the responsibility we have now to make sure young people around the world are not at risk of falling victim to the same story ending Matt was.

You can find a list of screenings across the US and Canada here.

Watch the trailer below.

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Trailer: “The Way He Looks”

Coming of age film and official Oscar entry for Brazil, The Way He Looks is easily one of the year’s most beautiful stories of young love.

The film focuses on a gay character who, with more than one challenge in life, faces the complications of friendship, love and impending adulthood.

Ghilherme Lobo is captivating as “Leo,” a blind teenager who struggles with bullies in school and parents who are afraid to let their son have independence. The arrival of Gabriel (Fabio Audi) opens the door to what may be the next chapter in life as the two teens explore more than friendship.

The Way He Looks opened across the US on November 7th. Click here for official website.

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Anatomy of a Scene: “Pride”

The new movie “Pride” has received a lot of attention for it’s universal message of different groups of people coming together for a common cause.

In the film, U.K. gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984.

In the clip below, narrated by director Mathew Warchus, he explains some of the choices made in terms of music, and camera angles to capture a turning point in the film when the miners of the small town in Wales begin to accept the group of gay men who have come to help.

Great scene, great energy. Go see the film if you can.  Currently in limited release.

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Trailer: “Pride”

Winner of the Queer Palm at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Pride tells the true story of a group of gay and lesbian activists who rallied together to raise money for struggling families affected by the U.K. miners strike’ in 1984.

The film was directed by Matthew Warchus, who also directed the first Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, which was my last Broadway appearance 🙂

Via press release:

PRIDE is inspired by an extraordinary true story. It’s the summer of 1984, Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers is on strike, prompting a London-based group of gay and lesbian activists to raise money to support the strikers’ families.

Initially rebuffed by the Union, the group identifies a tiny mining village in Wales and sets off to make their donation in person. As the strike drags on, the two groups discover that standing together makes for the strongest union of all.

Released this week in select theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco this weekend.

Watch the trailer below, and check out the official website here.

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NewFest, NYC’s largest LGBT film festival, July 24 – July 29th

A joint collaboration of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and OutFest, New York City’s largest LGBT film festival – NewFest – began last night and will continue through July 29th.

NewFest’s programming includes the annual NewFest: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, one of the most comprehensive showcases of international LGBT film in the world as well as year-round filmmaker and screening events.

Screenings take place at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater – 165 W. 65th Street.

Click here for schedule and to purchase tickets, and check out the trailer for the festival below: