12:00pm
ROME AND JULIET
Rigler Theatre
Dir. Connie S.A. Macatuno, 2007, Phillippines, 135 min.

Juliet, a conservative young preschool teacher from a modest family, is soon to be married to Marc, a handsome and successful man from a prominent family. Overwhelmed by her many commitments, Juliet hires Rome, a beautiful and independent businesswoman, as her wedding planner. A special and deep friendship develops between the two women, evolving into something that neither of them has previously experienced or can even explain. As Juliet's wedding day approaches, they confront their feelings for each other and consider the potential consequences of their situation, which holds the possibility of alienating them from their families, their friends, their entire culture. Director Connie S.A. Macatuno and her cast deliver a heartfelt and powerful story about a love so strong that neither family, social mores, fear nor even the lovers' own inexperience can dampen it.

3:00pm
IN THE FIRE (EN EL FUEGO) /  DAUGHTERS OF CHIQUITA
Dir. Dante Alencastre, 2007, USA/Peru, 35 min.
Dir. Prisciilla Brasil, 2006, Brasil, 52 min.

In IN THE FIRE (EN EL FUEGO), Peruvian trans women are literally thrown to the dogs by police in a “Roman circus” of violence. Despite the danger of living openly in a conservative, corrupt country, these Peruvians prosper and persevere. They earn advanced degrees, work with children and stand up for themselves, effecting a change in the status quo for their LGBT community. In DAUGHTERS OF CHIQUITA, On the second Sunday of October, over two million Catholics descend on Belem for the procession of Our Lady of Nazareth. Following the procession, tens of thousands of queers, drag queens and transsexuals camp it up at Chiquita's Party in celebration of gay pride. Attacked by other religious groups since 2004, Chiquita's Party struggles to stay alive and crown their Chiquita drag superstar at each year's festivities. A colorful look at an undocumented queer movement, it also explores the complex relationship between religion and homosexuality in contemporary Brazil.

4:00pm
QUEER WOMEN OF COLOR SHORTS
Spielberg Theater

At once graceful and rude, these films are lyrical portraits of the kaleidoscopic experiences, fantasies, and provocations of queer women of color who take hold of their freedom and create poetry for the future.

SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN, Dir. Charlotte Young Bowens
This raw short captures the chance laundromat encounter between a woman and the son she was forced to abandon years ago.

SLANG IT LIKE YOU OWN IT, Dir. Letesa Bruce
Shades of meaning challenge a Black lesbian from the suburbs in this laugh-out-loud comedy.

THE SAINT, Dir. Erin Wood
Darkly humorous, the picture of a Mammy is more than black and white.

WALLOW, Dir. Sarah Beth Harris
Sometimes serious, sometimes silly, a confused new filmmaker struggles to find a story amongst her many ideas.

60 YEARS OF THE SAME, Dir. Jolie Harris
The legacy of racism in Higher Education is told through the stories of early Black educators and the voices of current students.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE..., Dir. Kiki Zerrudo
This compelling documentary examines the challenges of a queer single mum raising a male child.

PRAY TING AI FLY, Dir. Vanessa Huang
This experimental short is a meditation on migration, memory and survival; a love poem for family, earth, wind, and water; a prayer call for flight and transformation.

ESCRITO, Dir. Monica Enriquez
A lyrical film about the contradictions of being a queer immigrant in the U.S.

FASHION RESISTANCE TO MILITARISM, Dir. Kim Alvarenga
A fresh and provocative look at the military's influence on fashion and popular culture.

 

6:30pm
DON’T GO
Dir. Amber Sharp, 2007, USA, 60 min.
Rigler Theatre

A self-described “Melrose Place” meets “The L Word” meets “227”, DON'T GO is a refreshing take on the ensemble cast dramedy. Written and directed by Amber Sharp, the highly entertaining pilot episode of DON'T GO introduces a cast of sexy, multicultural characters living in a Los Angeles fourplex. Pansexual drama abounds in the complicated lives of a beautiful lawyer, a hot African American butch woman and her sex shop owner girlfriend (Guinevere Turner), an Indian woman escaping her traditional family (Nisha Ganatra, CHUTNEY POPCORN), and a gorgeous gay (or possibly bisexual) interior designer. With all its unexpected soap operatic twists and turns, DON'T GO beautifully balances intrigue and romance with humor and pathos, all the while challenging stereotypes and mainstream representations of people of color with fierce authenticity. 

Plus shorts: THE PRETTY BOY KING OF HOLLYWOOD, Dir: Maurice Lopez and GAY BASH, Dir. Camrin Pitts

7:00pm
OUTFEST LEGACY PROJECT COLLECTION SCREENING
VERA
Dir/Scr: Sergio Toledo, 1987, Brazil, 85 min.
Spielberg Theatre

A special screening, VERA is a remarkable moving story ahead of its time.  Before ‘gender queer’ or ‘transgender’ entered our vocabulary, there was Bauer, born as Vera. An orphan and poet, eighteen-year-old Bauer has left the isolated world of an orphanage for a professional job at a research facility.  Challenged at work and at home to conform to conventional gender norms and conflicted with feelings for Clara, a striking woman who tests Bauer’s sexuality, Bauer must grapple with issues of masculinity and gender expression. Weaving flashbacks from Bauer’s days in the orphanage with an eclectic score, Toledo crafts a beautifully surreal story of isolation, love and identity.

* This print originated from the Outfest Legacy Collection at UCLA.  The Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation is a partnership between Outfest and the UCLA Film & Television Archive. For more information, visit outfest.org/legacy. 

9:30pm
STARRBOOTY
Q Rating – Explicit Sex
Dir. Mike Ruiz, 2007, USA, 83 min.
Rigler Theatre

Legendary drag glamazon RuPaul kicks butt as Starrbooty - supermodel/secret agent/vixen extraordinaire - in this gut-busting exploitation film that would make John Waters proud. When Starrbooty learns her niece has been kidnapped by her archrival, Annaka Manners, a villainous body-parts broker, Starrbooty's only option is to go undercover as a street hooker to rescue her. The one big snag in our heroine's plan? In order to infiltrate the prostitution underworld she has to gain street cred by going “all the way” with the johns. That's just how dedicated Starrbooty is. Audacious, salacious, popping with scandalous full-frontal nudity and chock-full of delectably insane characters, costumes and gratuitous hair, STARRBOOTY features a supporting cast of gay porn studs (Michael Lucas, Gus Mattox, Owen Hawk) drag queens (The Lady Bunny, Candis Cayne) and a special appearance by queer pop star Ari Gold.

Plus short: DISCOPEDIA, Dir. Ho Tam
A night in AsianXpress at the Club 5ive in Toronto.