The first Q+P+P "blog about town" asks participants of current and upcoming local queer-friendly film festivals -- Tasveer's South Asian Film Festival, the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, HUMP -- to write up short-short critiques of films thinking about how they engage questions of queerness, how they might function as public scholarship, and what provocations they make about intersection of queer scholarship, performance, art, and technology. To take up this blogging challenge, simply attend a film, post your critique as a comment to this thread, provide film info and a very brief summary, and engage the prompts above -- all under 250 words. One film per comment. Post as many as you'd like. Q+P+P will collect these mini-critiques and use them as part of our November Reading Group discussion. Blog away!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Blog About Town: Film (Festivals) as Public Scholarship
The first Q+P+P "blog about town" asks participants of current and upcoming local queer-friendly film festivals -- Tasveer's South Asian Film Festival, the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, HUMP -- to write up short-short critiques of films thinking about how they engage questions of queerness, how they might function as public scholarship, and what provocations they make about intersection of queer scholarship, performance, art, and technology. To take up this blogging challenge, simply attend a film, post your critique as a comment to this thread, provide film info and a very brief summary, and engage the prompts above -- all under 250 words. One film per comment. Post as many as you'd like. Q+P+P will collect these mini-critiques and use them as part of our November Reading Group discussion. Blog away!
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The Q Center at UW-Seattle is holding a film festival this quarter:
ReplyDeletePlease Join the Q Center for a Queer Documentary Film Screening Series This Fall
We will hold a talk, screening and a discussion forum for the following three films throughout the quarter in Allen Auditorium (Allen Library) at 6 p.m.
On October 29th, come see “For the Bible Tells Me So”
http://www.forthebibletellsmeso.org/indexa.htm
For the Bible Tells Me So: Join Reverend Monica Corsaro and UW Professor James Wellman for a screening of this ground-breaking, award winning documentary that tells the story of American Christian families and how they navigate the realization of having a gay child. The film offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity. We will discuss the church sanctioned anti-gay bias, biblical literalism, and contextual biblical interpretation with an eye to ancient history and culture.
In November 18th, come see “All Aboard: Rosie’s Family Cruise”
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/allaboard/index.html
All Aboard: Join civil rights organizations Lambda Legal and Legal Voice for a screening of this film which makes a positive, progressive statement about what “family” means today. Rosie O’ Donnell and her family are joined by hundreds of other gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight families on a weeklong trip from New York City to the Bahamas and back in a judgment-free setting. We will discuss the state of marriage equality and queer adoption in Washington State and the U.S.
In December 16th, come see “I Exist”
http://www.arabfilm.com/item/307/
I Exist: Join special guests made up of UW faculty, staff and students for a screening of this timely glimpse into the lives of queer Americans of Middle Eastern descent who must frequently combat negative stereotypes regarding their sexuality, religions, cultures and race. As Muslims, Christians and Jews, from Armenia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon and Sudan, they have all struggled to accept themselves and their sexuality despite the threat of disapproval from family, friends, culture and western xenophobia.
On Saturday, October 17, I went to see the "Boys Shorts" program, a collection of short films (as described by the program below):
ReplyDeleteFrom first-time lovers to the dearly departed, this lively collection of shorts will introduce you to some of the finest filmmaking finds of the year.
FREQUENT TRAVELER
Patricia Bateira; 2007; Portugal; 8 min. (subtitled)
Airport security procedures can seem like a pain. But when the men in charge are smokin' hot, it’s pure pleasure.
NON-LOVE-SONG
Erik Gernand; 2009; US; 8 min.
Two lifelong friends. One secret longing. When words fail, there might be a song that says it all.
THE ISLAND
Trevor Anderson; 2008; Canada; 5 min.
What would happen if all gays were banished to an island? In this animated short, it’s wilder than you can imagine.
AFTER ALL THAT
Michael Culpepper; 2009; US; 17 min.
Three years after Hurricane Katrina, one small Mississippi Gulf Coast town still lies in ruins. The lives of three men meet at the intersection of past and future in a portrait of a world where nothing will be the same.
SOMBRERO
Nathaniel Atcheson; 2008; US; 12 min.
A blind date at a Mexican restaurant takes a turn for the hilarious. Make mine a double!
TRANSATLANTIC
David Quantic; 2009; US; 12 min.
Two couples on either side of the Atlantic share a mysterious connection.
WIG
Todd Holland; 2009; USA; 21 min.
Sometimes life can get hairy, as seen in this touching and comical look at dealing with loss.
I am fond of shorts mainly because they often force the writers/directors to be really focused with their arguments and to compress a lot of meaning into a few minutes. From the above list, I was particularly struck by Non-Love-Song, Transatlantic, and Wig. All three films try to articulate what "love" and "desire" are. Whether the love between two best friends (one straight, one not, or?), the love that spans two continents via two bodies but only one shared consciousness (in the US, a hetero woman, and in Germany, a gay bear), or the love of a son for his recently passed mother (by wearing his mother's wig), these shorts reconfigure the normative expectations about intimacy, erotics, and devotion.