See What's @ the Boston LGBT Film Fest - Part One

The Boston LGBT Film Festival pushes it forward this year. It opens this Thursday (April 3) at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) with "To Be Takei," the new documentary about actor/activist George Takei -- a month earlier than in past years.

This puts the festival first of the season that runs through the fall where numerous titles travel from festival to festival throughout the country. Being first has its perks for Boston moviegoers with 23 premieres (4 World; 6 North American; 3 U.S.; 7 East Coast; 3 New England).

It also marks the festival's 30th birthday and to commemorate the occasion the Festival is instituting the George Mansour Award in honor of the Boston film icon who started the festival in 1984. Mansour, who just turned 80, will be the award's first recipient at a ceremony immediately prior to the opening night screening at the ICA. And if you attend the post-opening party at Empire, be sure to corner Mansour to find out how a glory hole at the South Station Cinema played such an important role in the making of the festival.

On opening night, there are two social events: a pre-screening reception at 6:30, and a party following the screening. Both are at Empire (adjacent to the ICA). Tickets for the VIP Event, screening and post-screening party are $50.00. Tickets for the screening and post-screening party are $30.00. To purchase tickets online At the party and the screening will be Bill Weber, the editor and co-director of "To Be Takei." DJ Brother Cleve will provide music for event. He has also created specialty cocktails inspired by film titles contained in the 2014 film program

To download the program as a PDF or the app (for iPhones and Android), visit the Boston LGBT Film Festival website.

Below is the first half of the festival schedule. A related post lists the second half. Descriptions courtesy of the Boston LGBT Film Festival:

To Be Takei

East Coast Premiere
Thursday, April 3, 2014 @ 8:00 pm; Institute of Contemporary Art
Director Jennifer Kroot and Bill Weber
USA 2014/Runtime: 90 minutes

George Takei doesn't shy away from digging into his remarkable career and personal life in this delightful and incisive film. Takei and his husband, Brad, have become the poster couple for marriage equality, highlighting homophobia through television interviews and hilarious skits, many of which have gone viral and garnered widespread attention. Whether dishing on William Shatner or parodying the now-infamous comments made by Tim Hardaway, Takei proves time and again why his presence in popular culture remains as fresh and necessary as ever.

Boy Meets Girl

"Boy Meets Girl" is a sexy, romantic coming of age comedy about three twenty year-olds living in Kentucky. Robby (Michael Welch, Twilight) and Ricky, a gorgeous transgender woman and childhood friend, have never dated. Lamenting the lack of bachelors, Ricky considers dating a girl. In walks Francesca, a beautiful woman waiting for her Marine fianc?? to return from the war. Ricky and Francesca strike up a friendship, and maybe a little more, which forces Robby to face his true feelings for Ricky. This is a fun sex/human positive modern fable.

Everybody has Somebody...But Me

Friday, April 4, 2014 @ 7:00 pm; Museum of Fine Arts, Alfond Auditorium
Director: Raul Fuentes
Mexico 2012; Spanish with English Subtitles/100 minutes

A young woman runs towards a parked car. Inside is her secret lover. They embrace passionately. We're at the beginning of the all-consuming love affair between Alejandra and her lover Maria. For Alejandra, Maria becomes an inspiration in her work. Younger and wilder, can Maria live up to Alejandra's expectations and does Maria really want a relationship? Beautifully shot in black and white, this is a sensual film with wry touches of humor.

Ten Year Plan

World Premiere
Friday, April 4, 2014 @ 7:00 pm; Brattle Theatre
Director: J.C. Calciano
USA 2014/90 minutes

Myles (Jack Turner) and Brody (Michael Adam Hamilton) are best friends with two very different ways of finding love. Displeased with their current love lives, they make a pact to be together, if neither finds love in ten year's time. Now two month's shy of their deadline, both friend's set off to do whatever it takes to avoid ending up as each other's last resort.

The Comedian

Friday, April 4, 2014 @ 9:30 pm; Brattle Theatre
Director: Tom Shkolnik
United Kingdom 2012/79 minutes

Ed is at a crossroads in his life. His unrewarding job is getting more frustrating and his career as a stand-up is not taking off. In fact, he's starting to acknowledge he might not be a very good comedian. His love life begins to look promising when he meets artist Nathan, a gorgeous younger man. Yet Ed's feelings are conflicted when he is drawn to his female flatmate. The Comedian is funny and touching, presenting characters who are recognizable and real.

Queer Artivism

Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 1 pm; Brattle Theatre
Director: Ma�a Zia Len�rdi? & Anja Wutej
Slovenia 2013; Multiple languages with English Subtitles/96 minutes

The documentary gives everyone, who doesn't have the chance to travel around to different festivals, the opportunity to experience at least 5 queer film festivals by going to just one film festival/screening. It also opens a space for discussion about the importance of queer film and queer film festivals in today's society. And it is a tribute to all the people who usually remain unseen, but without whom queer films and queer film festivals would not be possible (Description courtesy of festival organizers, filmmakers etc.).

Men In Shorts

Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 1:30 pm; Museum of Fine Arts, Alfond Auditorium
Runtime: 90 minutes

Once again, we bring you the best in men's shorts. You'll laugh; you'll cry (or maybe just tear up a little). Come enjoy a range of shorts that explore men's lives. The program includes:

Squared. Directed by Hieu Tran. USA. 14 min
I Love Hooligans. Directed by Jan-Dirk Buow. Netherlands. 12 min
A Last Farewell. Directed by Casper Andreas. Sweden/USA. 13 min
Holden. Directed by Roque Madrid, Juan Arcones. Spain/USA. 20 min
Barrio Boy. Directed by Dennis Shinners. USA. 8 min
Home. Directed by Paul Hasick. USA. 13 min
Green Light. Directed by Zachary Clarence. USA. 6 min
Joint Effort. Directed by Katie Damien. USA. 8 min
Summer Is But A Season Passed. Directed by J.R. Reid. USA. 6 min
Herpes Of The Lips. Directed by Tonnette Stanford. Australia. 12 min

Queer Women Of Color-Short Films Program

"Dive In Deep - Queer Women of Color Shorts." From a Chinese Butch in the Beat era to the comedic tribulations of preparing a romantic dinner and intoxicating kisses that linger through the decades, dive into the depths of these compelling films and soak up their verve and flair. The program includes:

The Worlds of Bernice Bing , Directed by Madeleine Lim 2013 USA 34min
Remembering Ana. Directed by Priscilla Hale 2013 USA 3min
Ka Mana O Ke Ola. Directed by Megan Kaleipumehana Cabral 2013 USA 7min (in Hawaiian with English subtitles)
Obachan. Directed by Martha Tio Eshleman 2013 USA 4min
Life y Pozole Directed by Candy Guinea 2012 USA 5min
Dinner For Two. Directed by Ami Nashimoto 2012 USA 9min
Your Kiss. Directed by Enajite Pela 2012 USA 6min
Coraz�n de Familia. Directed by QWOCMAP Productions 2013 USA 25min

The Circle

U.S. premiere
Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 3 pm; Brattle Theatre
Director: Stefan Haupt
Switzerland 2014; Swiss with English Subtitles/102 minutes

Zurich: 1958. Bashful teacher Ernst Ostertag and cabaret artist Robi Rapp get to know one another in the Swiss underground organization called "Der Kreis." (The Circle). As the men defend their love, they witness the heyday and decline of this Europe-wide pioneering organization for gay emancipation. This documentary uncovers the fascinating universe of one of the first gay liberation communities. Enriched by impressive conversational records with Ernst Ostertag and R�bi Rapp, the film depicts a decades-long love story and reveals the couple's inspiring self-knowledge and courage.

Floating Skyscrapers

U.S. premiere
Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 4 pm; Museum of Fine Arts, Alfond Auditorium
Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Poland 2013; Polish with English Subtitles/93 minutes

Strong and disciplined Kuba is sideswiped by the feelings unearthed when he meets handsome Mikal. Their connection is instantaneous and intoxicating. Suddenly his comfortable life with his girlfriend Sylwie is less interesting, and after training for fifteen years, his motivation to compete as a top-tier athlete dissipates. Kuba begins a relationship with Mikal. As Sylwie's dreams of a life with Kuba slip away, Kuba accepts who he is and what he wants, only to find himself drowning in the destruction of his desires.

The New Black

New England Premiere
Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 5pm; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Yoruba Richen
USA 2013/80 minutes

The New Black is a documentary that tells the story of how the African-American community is grappling with the gay rights issue in light of the recent gay marriage movement and the fight over civil rights. The film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage and examines homophobia in the black community's institutional pillar -- the black church, and reveals the Christian right wing's strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda.

Kidnapped for Christ

East Coast Premiere
Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 5 pm; Brattle Theatre
USA 2014/85 minutes
Director: Kate Logan

"Kidnapped For Christ" tells the shocking stories of American teenagers who were taken from their homes and shipped to Escuela Caribe, an American-run Christian behavior modification program in the Dominican Republic. When a young evangelical filmmaker is granted unprecedented access to film behind the gates of this controversial school, she discovers shocking secrets and young students that change her life.

My Straight Son

US Premiere
Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 6 pm; Museum of Fine Arts, Remis Auditorium
Venezuela 2013; Spanish with English Subtitles/110 minutes
Director: Miguel Ferrari

Diego is a guy like any other one. He has a regular family and his friends don't have anything special. But there is something that makes him different. He has a heterosexual son. One father, one son. Both of them will need to fix their differences and everything depends on how you look at it.

Women’s Shorts

Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 7 pm; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College; 87 minutes

The wonderful thing about women is their complexity. The women's shorts program tells the beautiful, intricate, and even hilarious stories of women as they embark into the world of love, loss, and everything in between. The program includes:

The Kiss. Directed by Filip Gieldon. Poland. 21 min
Feminin/Feminin. Directed by Chlo� Robichaud. France. 15 min
Between Us. Directed by Ping-Wen Wang. USA. 11 min
Pas. Directed by Caryn Brissey. USA. 3 min
Love Bytes Justin Beaver. Directed by Tonnette Stanford. Australia. 11 min
Gum. Directed by Vic Coram. USA. 3 min
Goodnight My Love. Directed by Kellee Terrell. USA. 10 min
Einsprung Mit Papa. Directed by Paul Bloberger. Austria. 8 min
The Love Remains. Directed by Angela J. Park. USA. 5 min

Drunktown’s Finest

East Coast Premiere
Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 7 pm; Brattle Theatre
USA 2013/93 minutes
Director: Sydney Freeland

"Drunktown's Finest" is a feature film about Gallup, New Mexico. Nizhoni was adopted and raised as a Christian by a white family, transsexual Felixxia dreams of becoming a model, and Sickboy is headed to basic training. We observe the Navajo Nation from the inside out through the eyes of these three unlikely characters. At first our preconceptions are reinforced, but slowly, as each of their lives unfolds, we confront the reality of living in this community, and we see these three aspiring to leave their town behind.

Valencia: The Movie/S

Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 9 pm; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
USA 2013/105 minutes
Director: various

Based on Michelle Tea's queer classic, "Valencia." This film is a collaborative film project. Twenty one queer filmmakers each shot a 5-7 minute short based on a chapter from the book. Valencia the novel put the experiences of an entire generation of lesbians on paper through the lens of one hard-loving and hard-drinking dyke. Punk rockers, riot grrls, and simple, artsy freaks suddenly had a heroine that they could see themselves in.

Drag Shorts

Saturday, April 5, 2014 @ 9:30 pm; Brattle Theatre
Runtime: 90 minutes

We are pulling back the curtain of illusion in this program of shorts -- five stories of inspiration, revenge, reality, love and loss with a lot of heart, sometimes a sharp tongue, and whole lot of glitter. The program includes:

Ladies and Gentlemen: Phatima Rude. Directed by Paul R. King. USA. 25 min
Pepper. Directed by Marc Cleary and Craig Robert Young. USA, 18 min
My Mother. Jay Bedwani. UK. 20 min
Silver Stiletto. Directed by Luke Mayze. Australia. 16 min
The Falceto Drag Club. Daniel Luke Rogers. Australia. 14Min

Gore Vidal: The United States Of Amnesia

Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 1:30 pm; Institute of Contemporary Art
USA 2013/89 minutes
Director: Nicholas Wrathall

No twentieth-century figure has had a more profound effect on the worlds of literature, film, politics, historical debate, and the culture wars than Gore Vidal. Anchored by intimate one-on-one interviews with the man himself, Nicholas Wrathall's new documentary is a fascinating and wholly entertaining portrait of the last lion of the age of American liberalism.

Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth

Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 2 pm; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
USA 2013/84 minutes
Director: Pratibha Parmar

This feature documentary is a unique story of an extraordinary woman's journey from her birth in a paper-thin shack in the cotton fields of Georgia to her recognition as a key writer of the 20th Century. Making history as the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her groundbreaking novel, "The Color Purple", Alice Walker's inspiring journey is also a story of a country and a people at the fault line of historical changes.

Up to the World

World Premiere
Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 2 pm; Brattle Theatre
Director: Alessandro Lunardelli
Italy 2013; Italian and Spanish with English Subtitles/95 minutes

Davide and Loris are brothers and live in a very small village in the north of Italy. While Davide is eighteen years old and gay, Loris is almost thirty and doesn't know anything about his brother's sexuality. Loris and Davide go to Barcelona to watch the match of "Inter". In Spain, Davide falls in love with Andy, an Ecology Activist from Chile. Andy invites Davide to go with him to Santiago and the boy follows him. Far from the provincialism of his city, things don't go as Davide imagined...

Two Weddings and a Funeral

East Coast Premiere
Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 4 pm; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Jho Kwang-soo Kim
South Korea 2012, Korean with English Subtitles/106 minutes

To keep their sexual orientation a secret, a gay man and a lesbian woman gets married. Now they have to juggle their identities to fool parents and co-workers, all while trying to find real love.

Reaching for the Moon

Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 4 pm; Institute of Contemporary Art
Director: Bruno Barreto
Brazil 2013, English/118 minutes

Based on the true love story of Elizabeth Bishop and Lota de Macedo Soares. Frustrated poet Elizabeth Bishop travels to Brazil and encounters the beguiling architect Lota de Macedo Soares. Initial hostilities make way for a complicated yet long-lasting love affair that dramatically alters Bishop's relationship to the world around her. Anchored by magnificent lead performances from Miranda Ottoand Gl�ria Pires, "Reaching for the Moon" is an intimate snapshot of the search for inspiration, wherever and however you find it.

It’s All So Quiet

Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 4 pm; Brattle Theatre
Director: Nanouk Leopold
Netherlands 201; Dutch with English Subtitles/93 minutes

Helmer, a single farmer in his fifties, lives with his aged, bedridden father in the Dutch countryside. His working days are marked by the visits of milk collector Johan, a man of his own age for whom Helmer holds a secret fascination. One day Helmer decides to renovate the house, buying himself a new double bed and moving his father upstairs. His life gains even more momentum, when adolescent farmhand Henk comes to help him out.

Rainbows are Real

Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 6 pm; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Ritesh Sharma
India 2013/51 minutes

A movie based on Transgenders, the "in-betweens" that are shunned by society, unaccepted and forced to make ends meet through sex work. It revolves around the lives of three transgenders - their work, their homes, their difficulties, their childhood, their relationships, their hobbies, and their normality. This is not only a story of the dark and difficult life of the transgenders, but also of their beautiful journeys filled with psychedelic and vibrant colors of the "vibgyor" that will engross us and captivate us.

Film is preceded by:
From Leonard to Leona - Ah Kua No More. Directed by Larry Tung. Singapore. 2013. 35 min

'From Leonard to Leona' is a documentary film about the life and work of Leona Lo, who is a transgendered activist in Singapore.

Skanks

Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 6 pm; Brattle Theatre
Director: David McMahon
USA 2014/85 minutes

In religion and football-obsessed Alabama, a group of actors bond while producing an original drag musical. In the winter of 2012 a community theatre in Birmingham, Alabama mounted an original musical, 'Skanks in a One Horse Town.' 'Skanks' follows the actors and creators from rehearsal through performance and after, at work, at their homes, and with their families. The cast of amateur performers bond to form a family of sorts while creating the unconventional show in a conservative Southern city.

Film is preceded by: Coming Out. Directed by Taylor Gahm. USA. 2013. 7 min

Tanner's coming out of the closet takes an unexpected turn, testing the limits of love and acceptance in his family.

Lilting

East Coast Premiere
Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 8 pm; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: Hong Khaou
United Kingdom 2014/91 minutes

Lilting is a touching, intimate film about finding the things which bring us together. In contemporary London, a Cambodian Chinese mother mourns the untimely death of her son. Her world is further disrupted by the presence of a stranger. We observe their difficulties in trying to connect with one another without a common language, but through a translator they begin to piece together memories of a man they both loved.

Finding Neighbors

New England Premiere
Sunday, April 6, 2014 @ 8 pm; Brattle Theatre
Director: Ron Judkins
USA 2013/96 minutes

A comedic drama about three sets of Los Angeles neighbors who are searching for true connection. Six months late on a book delivery, stay-at-home graphic novelist Sam Tucker has succumbed to a full-on mid-life and creative crisis. Sherrie, the provocative girl-next-door, offers him an easy and willing distraction. But it is Sam's budding friendship with another neighbor, Jeff, which helps him begin to reconnect with his creative thread.

Test

New England Premiere
Monday, April 7, 2014 @ 7 pm; Fenway Health Center
Director: Chris Mason Johnson
USA 2013/90 minutes
FREE SCREENING

Test lovingly portrays the uniquely exciting and harrowing era of 70s San Francisco as young Frankie (spectacularly lithe real-life dancer Scott Marlowe) navigates gay life in the big city alongside the travails of being an understudy in a modern dance company and his evolving relationship with fellow dancer Todd (the hunky Matthew Risch). It's the classic test of skill and character. But a very different test looms on the horizon for them. As Frankie and Todd's friendship deepens, they navigate a world full of risk... and hope.

Devil's Cleavage

Tuesday, April 8, 2014 @ 7:00 pm; Paramount Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room, Emerson College
Director: George Kuchar
USA 1975/130 minutes
FREE SCREENING

Partial inspiration for Zippy the Pinhead and eulogized by the NY Times as "a national treasure," George Kuchar, with his twin brother, Mike, practically invented the campy, no-budget, anti-professional, tasteless, gender-bending underground style later embraced by John Waters and others. He made over 500 films in his career. Tonight we feature two of his best: "The Devil's Cleavage" is a farcical send-up of Douglas Sirk-style melodramas, made "as if Sam Fuller and Sternberg had collaborated in shooting a script by Tennessee Williams and Russ Meyer" (Chuck Kleinhans, Jump Cut).

Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda

Tuesday, April 8, 2014 @ 8:00 pm; Brattle Theatre, Harvard Square, Cambridge
Director: Michael Lucas
USA 2014/78 minutes

Michael Lucas emigrated from Russia in 1995, settled in New York in 1997 where he began Lucas Films, one of the most successful adult male film companies in the world. In recent years he's turned to political activism, public speaking and documentary filmmaker. Last year he returned to Moscow to film a documentary about the growing human rights abuses against the LGBT community in his homeland. In the months prior to the passing of the controversial edict that bans Russians from speaking favorably about homosexuality (called the Gay Propaganda law), Lucas interviewed gay men and women about life in Putin's Russia and their fears for the future. His film is an absorbing, first-hand report on a community under assault. ""After the Olympics, I believe there will be a major crackdown on gay people from the authorities and from the Russian mob. That is why it is so important to tell Russia's LGBT story now." Lucas said in a recent interview."