The Southern California LGBT film festival circuit kicks off in San Diego this month, and it promises to be a tasty experience whether or not one gorges on candy, ice cream or other sweet treats during its 37 screenings. FilmOut, now in its 19th year, will take place June 9th –11th at the historic Observatory North Park Theatre.
Several world, American, West Coast and California premieres are included, as well as award-winning features from both the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals along with a variety of LGBTQ short films. Many filmmakers and cast members will be in attendance and participate in question & answer sessions with audiences.
This year’s Opening Night film is especially worthy of attention. It will be the San Diego premiere of Del Shores’ long-awaited A Very Sordid Wedding. A cinematic sequel to 2000’s hilarious, gay classic Sordid Lives (there was also a short-lived TV series follow-up in 2008), it reunites original cast members Leslie Jordan, Bonnie Bedelia and Ann Walker while adding Whoopi Goldberg, Caroline Rhea and Alec Mapa, among others. Writer-director Shores and many cast members will be in attendance for the movie’s June 9th screening. They can also be found at the fest’s Opening Night party at the Sunset Temple directly across the street from the theater, which will run from 10:00 pm to midnight.
Jennifer M. Kroot’s fascinating and inspiring documentary The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin will serve as the fest’s Closing Night film as well as the film’s West Coast premiere on Sunday, June 11th. It explores the life and work of its celebrated, title author/activist. The screening will be followed by a Closing Night party at West Coast Tavern (how appropriate) in the upper theatre lobby from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm.
In between Friday and Sunday nights are such attention-grabbers as the Girls Centerpiece film Signature Move, about a Pakistani, Muslim lesbian who falls in love with a bold Mexican woman (West Coast premiere); Josh Howard’s timely documentary The Lavender Scare, detailing the US government’s history of persecuting LGBT citizens (Festival Spotlight); and the poly-sexual tale Even Lovers Get the Blues from Belgium (West Coast premiere and International Spotlight).
After nearly two decades of success, FilmOut San Diego continues to “annually affirm the ongoing integrity and boundless imagination of our community and the artists who tell our stories,” according to a press release. The festival’s Board of Directors believes its work is an integral part of an ongoing effort to build a vibrant, affirming and sustainable LGBT community in San Diego County.
Rage is proud to once again serve as a sponsor of FilmOut, as well as to co-present the 2017 Boys Centerpiece screening, Something Like Summer. A West Coast premiere, this romantic drama with musical moments will screen the evening of Saturday, June 10th. Cast members as well as Carlos Pedraza, one of the film’s producers, will be in attendance. (See interview with Pedraza below.)
My personal favorite of the men’s films selected for this year’s fest that I have previewed is the Irish crowd-pleaser Handsome Devil. It will be screening at FilmOut on Sunday, June 11th prior to its local theatrical release. Reminiscent of early 1990’s gay coming-of- age movies from the UK like Beautiful Thing and Get Real, it is about two roommates at a conservative all-boys school who gradually connect on a deeper level. Acclaimed and super-cute actor Andrew Scott (Spectre, Professor Moriarty on the BBC’s Sherlock) plays the school’s new English teacher, who has a secret or two of his own.
Something Like Summer is shaping up to be one of the most popular entries on this year's LGBT film festival circuit. This ambitious romantic-drama traces the 12-year relationship between handsome young Ben and Tim. Ben (played by Grant Davis) is an aspiring but shy singer when the pair first meets in high school, while Tim (Davi Santos of recent Power Rangers fame) yearns to be a painter. The film explores their developing talents as well as their tumultuous, on again-off again affair. It even includes seven songs performed powerfully by Davis.
Carlos Pedraza serves as one of the movie's producers. The Bogota, Colombia-born filmmaker has a number of gay and mainstream credits to his name, including the award-winning 2011 feature Judas Kiss and two popular Star Trek web series. He recently spoke with me prior to the West Coast premiere of his latest at FilmOut.
How did this project come together?
One of the producers, Tom Ly, created his own production company to acquire the rights to the book, written by Jay Bell. He came across us (Pedraza and partner J.T. Tepnapa) when Judas Kiss was playing festivals and brought us on board. We began the process of development and fundraising. It took five years in all for the film to get made.
The film is beautifully shot by its director, David Berry. Isn't it unusual for the same person to serve as both director and cinematographer?
It was sort of a decision that was forced upon us but it was a happy accident. J.T. had been slated to direct but became ill a few days into shooting so David stepped in to take over. He was already shooting the film so he had been well prepped. He did a great job in both capacities.
And is Something Like Summer properly termed a musical?
We struggled with that in pre-production. It has songs but not really full-blown production numbers. We ultimately embraced it since so many people were referring to it as a musical. Since it was filmed even, there have been so many other musical films and network TV episodes that it kind of makes sense now. Glee was still on when we first started developing the film but that was about it.
How did you find such a great young cast?
We did a traditional casting process for the two leads with auditions and postings. One of our producers knew Davi's agent so there was already a connection there and he was the first we cast. We cast a wide net for the role of Ben, looking all across America and even Australia and England, as well as for the female lead. We were so lucky to get Ajiona Alexus (who plays Allison, Ben's best friend), who currently plays the younger Cookie on TV's Empire and is in Netflix's 13 Reasons Why.
There is a sequence in the movie set in Paris, France. Did you actually shoot in Paris? It seems like that would have cost a lot.
That was actually shot in Portland, Oregon, with the help of CGI. I lived in Portland and am very familiar with the city. One side of the river in Portland was Paris and the other side was Chicago (laughs). I was familiar with a local French restaurant that we used for the restaurant scene.
Would you say there is a moral or message in the film you would like viewers to take away?
Yeah, there's a couple of things. I would say at the center the theme is courage. It's about coming out and not being afraid. Even though Ben comes out as gay in the 9th grade he has to handle other things in his life with courage, like singing and relationships. The other message is about finding and defining who you are. That's a process that friends and other people can help us with but each of us has to decide for ourselves.
What's next for you?
There are three or four things that we're exploring right now. Two are adaptations, one is a biopic and one is a science fiction project. We are looking to see how much financial interest we can get from Something Like Summer, which is working out well so far. The trailer has really taken off and is generating interest everywhere. It has over 1,000,000 views in the Philippines of all places (laughs)!
For the full fest schedule and to purchase tickets or an all-access VIP pass, visit the FilmOut website.
Preview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film and stage critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.
