Freeheld / I Just Wanted to Be Somebody May *15, 16, 25
*Opening Night Q&A w/Cynthia Wade, reception
For the Bible Tells Me So May 16, 17, *21
*Q&A w/Daniel Karslake & Chrissy Gephardt
Lagerfeld Confidential May 17, 19
Water Lilies May 17, 22
Saturn in Opposition May 18
Philadelphia May 18 Q&A w/Ron Nyswaner
The Witnesses May 18
A Jihad for Love May 20, 23
Black, White + Gray: Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe May 23–25, 28
You Belong to Me May 24, 26
Boystown May 24
Chris & Don May 25, 26
The Believers / Casting Pearls May 25–27

Sponsored by Adam R. Rose and Peter R. McQuillan

Group Tickets are available for this series. Click Here for a flyer to print out for your organization (pdf).

Freeheld SHOWTIMES/TICKETS Cynthia Wade	FREEHELD May *15, 16, 25 Cynthia Wade. 2007. 40 min. NR. US. Lieutenant Films. "Intimate and unflinching...sure to have a long-lasting hold on viewers." (Chicago Free Press) Freeheld follows the legal battle of Lt. Laurel Hester, a New Jersey police officer dying of cancer, as she desperately fights to transfer her pension to her domestic partner. After spending 25 years investigating crimes and protecting the rights of victims, Hester finds herself pitted against shockingly reactionary local officials. Both love story and tense legal drama, "if ever there was a rallying cry for the full rights of marriage, it's this excellent and truly heart-breaking film" (Washington Blade). Shown with I JUST WANTED TO BE SOMEBODY Jay Rosenblatt. 2007. 10 min. US. A reflection on singer Anita Bryant’s life and her impact on the gay liberation movement in the '70s. *OPENING NIGHT May 15 at 7:30: Q&A w/Freeheld director Cynthia Wade, winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject. Cynthia Wade is a NYC-based documentary filmmaker who grew up in Croton-on-Hudson. Winner of dozens of awards in addition to the Oscar, she teaches digital cinematography at The New School. A reception follows the screening. Tickets: $9 (members), $13 (nonmembers)
SHOWTIMES/TICKETS Daniel Karslake & Chrissy Gephardt	FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO May 16, 17, *21 Daniel Karslake. 2007. 95 min. NR. US. First Run Features. "A brave and noble...effort to heal a gaping wound in our society." (Salon.com) This quick-paced documentary blew audiences away when we showed it in "Global Watch" last fall, and we're excited to have it back, this time with director Daniel Karslake and Chrissy Gephardt as our guests on May 21. Chiseling away at the ways in which the Good Book is used to sanction antigay discrimination, it focuses on five religious Christian families— including that of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Eugene Robinson—learning to reconcile their beliefs with their love for a gay or lesbian child. *Q&A May 21 at 7:15: filmmaker Daniel Karslake & Chrissy Gephardt, LGBT activist and daughter of Representative Richard Gephardt. Tickets: $9 (members), $13 (nonmembers)
SHOWTIMES/TICKETS	LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIAL May 17, 19 Rodolphe Marconi. 2007. 89 min. NR. France, English/French with subtitles. Koch Lorber Films. "A rare glimpse into... one of fashion's most fascinating figures." (Harper's Bazaar) We all recognize the pony-tailed man in the pinstriped suit and extravagant jewelry, but do we know what really goes on behind Lagerfeld's trademark sunglasses? This incisive documentary introduces us to a surprisingly affable, intellectual insomniac with a deep thirst for literature and the arts. Crammed with inside information about the fashion world as well as Lagerfeld's strong opinions, the film gives a full portrait of the man who once proclaimed, "Fashion is ephemeral, dangerous, and unfair."
SHOWTIMES/TICKETS	WATER LILIES May 17, 22 Céline Sciamma. 2007. 85 min. NR. France, in French with subtitles. Koch Lorber Films. "Sciamma's portrayal of girl-to-girl sexual rituals is as profound as it is rare on screen." (Variety) After its splashy debut at Cannes, Water Lilies' arrival on these shores is preceded by plenty of buzz and lavish reviews. From its rap-infused opening at a synchronized swimming practice—all lithe young bodies making beautiful patterns— this hip, energetic drama tells of desire, competition, and sexual awakening among teenage girls. Provocative and stylish, it captures the heterosexual and same-sex crushes, shifting relationships, and angst of being a teenage girl in the hot summer with no adults anywhere on the horizon. Recently debuted in NYC at "New Directors/New Films."
SHOWTIMES/TICKETS	SATURN IN OPPOSITION Sun. May 18 Ferzan Ozpetek. 2008. 113 min. NR. Italy, in Italian with subtitles. Strand Releasing. "Highly accomplished and delightful." (indieWIRE) From the Italian-Turkish director of the award-winning Facing Windows comes a sensitive exploration of friendship and family in modern Italy. Beautiful locations, such as the grand streets of Rome, and a lively soundtrack serve as backdrops for the story of 30-something hottie Lorenzo (Luca Argentero), his partner, and their circle of gay and straight friends. All is well until sudden tragedy forces relationships to shift and the circle's axis to tilt.
SHOWTIMES/TICKETS	THE WITNESSES Sun. May 18 André Téchiné. 2007. 112 min. NR. France, in French with subtitles. Strand Releasing. "One of the finest fiction-film accounts of a free yet frightful moment in time." (Newsday) An elegant new drama from André Téchiné (Wild Reeds), The Witnesses features a cast of captivating young French actors—Johan Libéreau, Emmanuelle Béart, Julie Depardieu, Sami Bouajila. Starting in what Téchiné calls "the happy days," a time when sexual experimentation was free of guilt and fear, the characters' intersecting lives are forever altered when beautiful, spirited Manu is stricken by a mysterious new illness. "A compelling study in human strength and weakness...a penetrating, even essential narrative" (indieWIRE).
BUY TICKETS Ron Nyswaner	PHILADELPHIA with screenwriter Ron Nyswaner May 18 at 4:30 Jonathan Demme. 1993. 125 min. PG-13. US. Sony Pictures Entertainment. The first major Hollywood film to confront AIDS and homophobia. Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia stars Tom Hanks as a gay lawyer infected with HIV who's fired from his stuffy firm, Antonio Banderas as his lover, and Denzel Washington as the attorney who joins forces with them. A story of unlikely friendship and courage, Philadelphiawon two Academy Awards and signaled the beginning of new, more realistic depictions of homosexuality in mainstream media. Q&A: Ron Nyswaner's screenplay for Philadelphia received nominations for the Golden Globe,Writers Guild, and Academy Awards. His other screenwriting credits include Smithereens, Mrs. Soffel, Love Hurts, Soldier's Girl, and The Painted Veil, which he also produced. Tickets: $6 (members), $10 (nonmembers)
SHOWTIMES/TICKETS	A JIHAD FOR LOVE May 20, 23 Parvez Sharma. 2007. 81 min. NR. US/UK/ France/Germany/Australia, in various languages with subtitles. First Run Features. "A compassionate portrait of devout Muslims struggling to reconcile their faith and sexuality." (The Guardian, London) The first documentary exploring the coexistence of Islam and homosexuality. With many Muslim scholars declaring that homosexual activity is punishable by death, gay life in the non-Western Islamic world is unsurprisingly confined to the lonely shadows. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma traveled to 12 countries over 5 1/2 years to meet his faith's most unlikely storytellers. As these brave lesbian and gay Muslims reveal their predicament with moving honesty, A Jihad for Love looks to a time beyond a hostile present.
SHOWTIMES/TICKETS	BLACK,WHITE + GRAY: A PORTRAIT OF SAM WAGSTAFF AND ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE May 23–25, 28 James Crump. 2007. 77 min. NR. US/Germany, in English. Arthouse Films. "A finely drawn portrait." (New York Sun) Almost 20 years after his death Robert Mapplethorpe remains an iconic figure who rocked the art world in the 1970s with his notoriously explicit homoerotic photographs. But Mapplethorpe might have toiled in obscurity if not for Sam Wagstaff, his older, charismatic, and devilishly handsome lover and patron. An established curator and collector, Wagstaff was a longtime champion of modernism and the art of photography. This documentary tells the story of his evolution from straitlaced preppy to scenemaker, as he and Mapplethorpe transformed the world of photography and helped define the burgeoning gay-rights movement. Featuring interviews with Patti Smith and other contemporaries.
SHOWTIMES/TICKETS	YOU BELONG TO ME May 24, 26 Sam Zalutsky. 2007. 82 min. NR. US.Wolfe Releasing. "Nifty little suspenser... smart and offbeat." (Variety) No one could have anticipated the disturbing consequences of Jeffrey's decision to move into Rene's building after Rene put an end to their brief affair. From obsessive stalking and encounters with an unhinged landlady to an abandoned rental and a missing tenant— things go from bad to much, much worse. Reminiscent of other apartment-building thrillers such as Polanski's Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant, this film tells a subtle and increasingly unsettling suspense story.
BUY TICKETS	BOYSTOWN (Cheucatown) Sat. May 24 Juan Flahn. 2007. 100 min. NR. Spain, in Spanish with subtitles.TLA Releasing. "Lively quasi-farce." (Variety) Boystown starts out as a brisk-paced romp as Victor, a smug Madrid real-estate agent, develops a plan to cash in on the creation of an upscale "gayborhood"—Almodóvar's colorful outrageousness comes to mind. With big gentrification plans afoot, he purchases several apartments only to be foiled by existing occupants, mostly elderly grandmothers, who have no intention of leaving. Things turn dark when Victor takes matters into his own hands.
SHOWTIMES/TICKETS	CHRIS & DON May 25, 26 Tina Mascara/Guido Santi. 2007. 90 min. NR. US. Zeitgeist Films. "A fusion of art and love that's deeply moving." (L.A.Weekly) In 1953 uppercrust British writer Christopher Isherwood was 49 and living in L.A., part of a circle that included the likes of W. H. Auden, Igor Stravinsky, and Aldous Huxley. Then one day he spotted teenage California boy Don Bachardy on the beach, and the unlikely pair fell madly in love. It was a bond that endured until the end of the writer's life, which Bachardy, by then an accomplished portraitist, memorialized in a famous series of paintings. This lyrical documentary celebrates the enduring May–December love of two openly and unapologetically gay men in an era before it was common to be out.
The Believers SHOWTIMES/TICKETS Casting Pearls	THE BELIEVERS May 25–27 Todd Holland. 2006. 80 min. NR. US. Frameline. "Engaging...might set more than a few conservative Christian mindsets reeling." (Variety) Full of rousing gospel music, The Believers profiles the award-winning Transcendence Gospel Choir, the world's first transgender group of its kind. As we see and hear the chorus rise from shaky beginnings to its impressively polished presence today, we follow some of its members through their transformation as they battle fears that changing one's gender goes against the word of God. An illuminating portrait of the complex intersection between faith, gender identity, sexuality, and social justice. with CASTING PEARLS Andrea James. 2007. 7 min. NR. US. Frameline. A short comedy starring the incomparable Calpernia Addams as an actress on a hectic series of auditions. She's bombarded by comments both funny and cruel, but she carries on, an example to transgender people everywhere.
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