Uplift Magazine

Gay Lives Through a Lens

By: Sarah Barnes, 27.03.2008 | Comments (1)

Today marks the beginning of the 22nd London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (LLGFF), a two week long celebration of queer cinema. Around 200 features and shorts from around the world will be giving us an eyeful, and the extravanganza wouldn’t be complete without exciting events to bring everyone together.

Thrilling films not to be missed this year include french director Céline Sciamma’s ‘Water Lilies’, a tale of heart stopping adolescent love. Though the film is the 27 year old’s first, it was the toast of Cannes and is bound to be a hit here too. The LLGFF also gives us a second chance to catch more mainstream films that may have passed us by the first time around. These include ‘The Walker’, a Paul Schrader film about a gay socialite who acts as an escort to Washington DC’s society ladies. Woody Harrelson’s turn as the escort who finds himself caught up in a murder case has been applauded as the performance of his career. ‘I’m Not There’, the unusual Bob Dylan biopic, gets another airing. Seeing the multiple identities of one man explored, especially in the segment where Dylan is played by Cate Blanchett, should prove to be re-invigorated when viewed in the queer context of the festival.

But perhaps features are not for you, and you’d rather start your exploration of all films queer with a tentative toe-dip into the world of shorts. Well, there’s plenty on offer for you! Shorts are grouped with groups in mind, so you can take an evening out to enjoy feminist explorations of female sensuality, or transgender critiques of Hollywood roles.

Ladyfest London is sponsoring the shorts night on Sunday March 30th. Entitled ‘A Samuri in My Bathroom and other hand-made pleasures’ the programme of low-budget short fiction films from the UK, Germany, Canada and the USA promises to be a poke in the eye for convention with classic epic films being remade and given a queer once-over. There will also be ‘dyke dancing and erotic imaginings’, including Jules Nurrish’s lesbian homage to the Gilbert and George dancing sculpture ‘Bend It’. Ladyfest organiser Kanchi Wichmann is really excited that Ladyfest London are sponsoring the night; “We feel that often there’s really cool things happening on the women’s/queer scenes, but that we’re isolated from each other rather than building a bigger sense of community. So this is a chance for us to share our ‘crowds’ and to intersect with each other creatively.” LLGFF co-programmer Anna Dunwoodie shared the sentiment; “We feel the LLGFF and Ladyfest share a commitment to women-made and queer-made work that challenges convention.”

If watching films isn’t enough for you, and you want to take a step behind the lens, then this year the LLGFF are offering film making workshops as part of their events programme. Other events include ‘Happy Birthday Bette Davis!’, an evening to celebrate the centenery of the birth of the ‘All About Eve’ star, and a Transfabulous comedy and cake night. There is also plenty of fun to be had for free, from sexy sashaying at Out Ballroom (Sunday March 30th) to discovering your skills as a fluffer at Amy Lamé’s pom pom workshop (Saturday April 5th).

LLGFF plays at the Southbank British Film Institute in London from March 27th to April 10th. The festival will then tour the UK. Go to the LLGFF website for more details.