Queerguru’s Top Picks of Must See Films as NY’s NEWFEST kicks off PRIDE MONTH

37 years ago, a NYC-based queer film movement was born. Founded in 1988 in direct response to the AIDS crisis, The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival has been a tentpole of NYC’s queer cultural scene. In the subsequent years, NewFest has expanded into a film and media organization with year-long programs to serve all facets of the LGBTQ+ community. Starting today, for the next 5 days, is NEWFEST PRIDE.  With an eclectic mix of queer cinema it is  THE most perfect way to kick off PRIDE MONTH, and so here are QUEERGURU’S TOP PICKS OF MUST SEE FILMS.

 

 

ENIGMA : made by the trans filmmaker Zachary Drucker, who, in this documentary, has paired the life of April Ashley, a legendary much-beloved Brit trans life story with that of French pop singer/model Amanda Lear.  By the end of this 95min film from HBO, you eventually realize why Drucker chose to show both of these trans women’s lives side by side, but whilst it serves to show April as the most courageous and honest woman, Amanda paints herself as someone still in total denial of her life story even when she is presented with indisputable facts of her reality  UNMISSABLE

 

 

HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY Since the hate-spewing Trump was returned to the White House to begin his vicious campaign of revenge and retribution, the silence from the Democrats and the opposition has been deafening. It’s as if they all gave up collectively and rolled over to play dead.  Thus, watching Sam Feder‘s excellent doc HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY at its is perfect timing. It’s the story of the battle to preserve trans rights in this extremely paranoid political climate that seems hell-bent on destroying that community.

Even though the odds are stacked against them the fight to preserve trans rights is very much alive and in the good hands of Chase Strangio.  He’s a trans lawyer and activist, and the deputy director for transgender justice and staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.  His passion for his work is exhilarating and infectious, and it is impossible not to feel so completely involved as Feder follows him preparing to be the first ever trans person to argue a case in the US Supreme Court. 

 

 

JIMPA this new drama film stars the incomparable Brit Oscar winner Olivia Colman as Hannah who travels to Amsterdam with Frances her non-binary teenager to visit her gay grandfather played by John Lithgow. When Frances wishes to stay with their grandfather for a year, Hannah is forced to re-examine her parenting and her past. This is based on a true story from the family history of writer /director Sophie Hyde and is the film’s Esat Coast Premiere ……  and  it wll be playing in a multitude of US queer film fests this summer 

 

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PLAIN CLOTHES Top of our list this year of highly anticipated movies was this feature film debut of writer/director Carmen Emmi. His PLAIN CLOTHES is a love story that turns into a thriller set in 1997 that reminds us of how our community was harassed and persecuted as some authorities still bore anger that homosexuality had been legalized. Starring Brit heartthrob Russell Tovey, the ‘love story’ part of Plain Clothes is both sad and sexy but it is impossible not to be totally captivated.  The sad part is that although this is set in the dark part of queer history, in this present uncertain political, it could very easily rear its ugly head again 

 

 

 

 

SOME NIGHTS I FEEL LIKE WALKING, a queer indie road movie by Filipino director Petersen Vargas, which had its UK premiere at London’s BFI Flare Film Festival.  Vargas has taken themes of queer chosen family, the Duterte crimes, police/authority oppression, the ending of life, rich versus poor and marginalised living and fashioned an intense, fast-paced film that gives an interesting insight into Filipino life. Shot entirely at night, the cast (chosen from hundreds of applicants) have a strong bond and chemistry. There’s a rawness to the film, with many shots filmed on handheld cameras and involving the public, that gives it an authenticity. The scenes of intimacy also feel real, ranging from the emotionless, transactional ‘no kissing’ escort hook ups, to the tenderness of real love.

 

For further information and the whole program

 

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