TIGLFF and the Tampa Museum of Art join together to show films. Back
The Tampa Museum of Art will be joining the 22nd Annual Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in an exciting new partnership, acting as a third venue and featuring some of the most compelling work of the festival.
Screening at The Museum is the very best in recent documentary film covering a variety of topics ranging from contemporary art (HOW ARE YOU, THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE & ADVOCATE FOR FAGDOM) to real life crime mystery (GONE) to important social issues (GEN SILENT, PHOTOS OF ANGIE & THIS IS WHAT LOVE IN ACTION LOOKS LIKE) to insights into fascinating LGBT stories from around the world (I AM, RENT BOYS & THE SISTERHOOD) to touching insights into personal issues (CANCERPANTS & ORCHIDS).
This is a rare opportunity to see documentaries that will be unavailable elsewhere. These films are funny, riveting, thought provoking and shocking and they represent some of the most innovative film, art and journalism being created today. They have won awards at film festivals and been shown in similar institutions across the country and around the world.
TIGLFF Program Director KJ Mohr explained, “There is no better venue for these extraordinary documentaries and we are thrilled that they will be showcased at the Tampa Museum of Art. Documentary is probably my favorite genre and there is more great work being produced today than ever before. It was painfully difficult to choose from the choice crop of offerings, but these 12 films represent the diversity, humor, informative value and entertaining nature of contemporary documentary filmmaking, all of utmost relevance to the LGBT community and to humanity at large.”
FULL MUSEUM PROGRAM:
Friday, October 7
Tampa Museum of Art
6:30pm
HOW ARE YOU
Jannik Splidsboel, 2011, Denmark, 58 min.
“Art isn’t supposed to start a revolution,” Ingar Dragset says. Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset may not claim responsibility for starting any culture wars, but these two Danish-Norwegian artists have directed art world coups that would leave a mischievous grin on any self-respecting agitator’s face. The documentary chronicles some of Elmgreen and Dragest’s most significant artistic projects and processes beginning in 1995, when they first met, fell in love, and began working with each other. As much as the film is about how Elmgreen and Dragset raise important contemporary issues and create conceptual work that balances dark humor and refined aesthetics, it is also a realistic love story between two men as their relationship evolves over time.
Preceded by:
GANESH LAGERFELD
Joseph Faura, 2011, US, 2 min.
A complex animated collage of beefy freakish manhood across history and mythology.
8pm
GONE
Gretchen Morning & John Morning, 2011, US/Austria, 85 min.
When asked to describe her son in one word, all Kathy Gilleran can say is "gone." Thus begins the gripping confessional documentary of the disappearance of her son, Aeryn. Aeryn was living in Vienna, Austria and working at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) when Kathy, a retired police officer from Ithaca, NY, received a phone call with news that Aeryn had essentially disappeared. Kathy rushed to Vienna to search for her son and try to piece together what may have happened to him. Speaking directly to the camera for most of the film and mixing in footage she shot herself while in Vienna, Kathy details her frustration with the local police and the constant holes she uncovers in the investigation into Aeryn's disappearance.
Sunday, October 9
Tampa Museum of Art
Noon
GEN SILENT
Stu Maddux, 2011, US, 70 min.
Both a celebration of LGBT elders and a call to action, Gen Silent explores the disturbing phenomenon of elder LGBT folks going back into the closet in order to avoid abuse and homophobia in nursing homes and within elder care. It exposes how LGBT people who fought the earliest battles for equality today face so much discrimination, poor quality of life in health care/long-term care due to repression. This doc focuses on a small group of professionals in Boston who are trying to change the isolation and fear that our elders can experience, with heartening results. Touching stories of longterm loves and personal transformations punctuate this report to which we must all pay attention and consider.
1:30pm
I AM
Sonali Gulati, 2011, US/India, 75 min.
Sonali Gulati never came out to her mother and, after her passing in India, Gulati wondered what it would have been like. The longing to know about how her mother may have reacted became so strong that, while traveling to India to clean out her mother’s house, Gulati began talking to LGBT Indians and their mothers about what it’s like to come out and be queer in India. Over the subsequent five years, she talked to folks on the street in India (where gay marriage is completely legal), activists who stressed the importance of identification, mothers who took their time coming to acceptance, a prince who suppressed his gay feelings for years, gay sons who find comfort in Hinduism, run-aways from families attempting “honor killings,” and a doctor trying to homeopathically cure gayness. But the best treatment for Gulati proves to be the company of the many Indians who are living their lives out and proud.
3:00pm
RENT BOYS (DIE JUNGS VOM BAHNHOF ZOO)
Rosa von Praunheim, 2011, Germany, 84 min.
First inspired to investigate the lives of rent boys by the murders of high profile johns like Versace and Pasolini, controversial Director Rosa von Praunheim gives us a fascinating documentary about five young men who perform sex for money in Berlin. He confronts the suppression, stigma, and hatred that young male prostitutes face living on the fringes of the German capital. Most of the hustlers are immigrants (largely Roma from Eastern Europe) acting out of desperation and necessity. Von Praunheim accompanies the young men as they work in bars, porn movie theaters, and on the street. He examines their reasons, shares their stories and above all, reveals the internal strength that gives them their strong will to survive.
4:45pm
CANCERPANTS
Nevie Owens, 2011, US, 80 min.
At the crossroads of life and breast cancer, with her partner at her side and a strong lesbian community behind her, Rochelle Poulson became a warrior. Just back from the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, the sporty and good-humored Rochelle was just 36 years old when she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. With comedy and cutting reality, Cancerpants tracks Rochelle as she goes through diagnosis, chemotherapy, lumpectomy, double mastectomy, radiation treatments, and CAT scans. But the film is also a testament to the power of the extraordinary dyke community and family that rallied around her with overwhelming support.
6:30pm
THIS IS WHAT LOVE IN ACTION LOOKS LIKE
Morgan Jon Fox, 2011, US, 73 min.
In an early example of the power of social media to spark change, this documentary tells the story of how Zach Stark, whose posts on Myspace about being forcibly sent to Love In Action (LIA), caused international outcry. Immediately after coming out at 16, Zach’s parents decided to send him to LIA’s Christian based reform program for youth called Refuge. But as Zach began to learn about the program - from shaming and blaming to conversion therapy and social isolation – he became overwhelmed with trepidation. He vented his feelings on his blog, never dreaming that his posts would spread virally to classmates, local activists, and ultimately CNN, the New York Times, and Good Morning America. This film shows how one young voice inspired a global response that led to the closing of Refuge and showed the world what the love in action really looks like.
Preceded by:
SPIRAL TRANSITION
Ewan Duarte, 2010, US, 4 min.
A mother comes to grips with losing her daughter, and the filmmaker, who is transitioning genders, asks for her mother’s blessing.
8:30pm
THE BALLAD OF GENESIS & LADY JAYE
Marie Losier, 2011, US, 65 min.
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye is a fascinating doc about a devoutly pandrogynous couple that illustrates the transformative powers of love and art. One of the couple is Genesis P-Orridge, founder of legendary pre- and post-punk groups including Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, which merged performance art with rock music. Defying artistic boundaries, Genesis has re-defined his art as a challenge to the limits of biology. In 2000, Genesis began a series of surgeries in order to more closely resemble his love, Lady Jaye, who remained his artistic partner for nearly 15 years until her death in 2007. It was the ultimate act of devotion, and Genesis’s most risky, ambitious, and subversive performance to date: he became a she in a triumphant act of artistic self-expression.
Preceded by:
BEST TEXT
Anthony Paull, 2011, US, 4 min.
The latest video from lesbian-fronted Sarasota band MeteorEYES.
Monday, October 10
Tampa Museum of Art
6:30pm
THE SISTERHOOD
Roger Horn, 2010, South Africa, 74 min.
Among the vineyards of Stellenbosch, South Africa, exists The Sisterhood of Pietie, Hope and Rollie- farmhands by day, divas by night. Hope aspires to win the local drag queen pageant, Rollie dreams of finding a husband and retaining the local drag queen crown, and Pietie struggles with his religious upbringing while obsessing over his roses, chickens, and pigeons. These transgender wine workers confront prejudice at every turn, from their own farming communities, transgender city dwellers, and the world at large, yet this extraordinary tale of country queerdom manages to find the fabulous in the fraught and offer a portrait of triumph in togetherness rather than loneliness in victimization.
Preceded by:
SARAH
Cliku Thuo, 2011, US, 10 min.
Sarah introduces the true stories of two queer Gikuyu women from the same village in Kenya who never met. It begins to explore queer identity within an African context and contemplates why some stories get told while others do not.
8:30pm
PHOTOS OF ANGIE
Alan Dominguez, 2011, US, 55 min.
This moving and powerful documentary chronicles the life and death of Angie Zapata, a transgender teen who was murdered in rural Colorado in 2008. In a tragic real life courtroom drama, it documents the first case successfully tried as a hate crime murder. Including extensive interviews with Angie’s family about her journey of self-discovery, the doc also tracks transgender lives across the globe, gets insights from transgender activists and LGBT orgs fighting hate-crimes, and discusses hate crimes legislation - and the mysterious nature of her killer.
Preceded by:
FINDING JUDY 
Gary Riotto, 2011, USA, 8 min
A kid with a Judy Garland obsession, who also happens to imitate her voice astoundingly, just wants to entertain people and make them happy. Singing that started as a way to deal with bullying in high school, has lead to greater things, as he persuades people to laugh WITH him, not AT him.
Tuesday, October 11
Tampa Museum of Art
6:30pm
ORCHIDS: MY INTERSEX ADVENTURE
Phoebe Hart, 2011, Australia, 60 min.
Gen X filmmaker Phoebe Hart always knew she was different growing up – but she didn’t know why. This award-winning documentary traces Phoebe’s voyage of self-discovery as an intersex person (formerly termed hermaphrodites). Learning only in her teens that she was born with 46 XY (male) chromosomes, Hart now seeks to understand her own story and the stories of others affected by this complex and often shameful condition. With an upbeat attitude, help from sister Bonnie (also born with the condition) and support from partner James, Hart drives across Australia, interviewing individuals whose struggles and victories mirror and differ from her own. Some advocate systemic change ending shame and controversial genital surgeries, while others debate coming out or staying closeted with a stigmatized secret. Questioning rigidly defined constructs of gender, sexuality, and normality - often with lively humor - Orchids is the first film to look at intersex from a positive perspective. This engaging and compelling story is a beautiful portrait of survival, courage, reconciliation, and what it means to be perceived as "different."
Preceded by:
MARIQUITA
Grela Orihuela and Bill Bilowit, 2011, US, 10 min.
One Sunday at an upscale Miami home, a 10-year old boy takes advantage of his tia's well-attended birthday party to make a very personal announcement to his family.
8pm
ADVOCATE FOR FAGDOM
Angélique Bosio, 2011, France, 91 min.
Bruce La Bruce is a father of transgressive gay cinema. But who is he really? In Advocate for Fagdom testimonies are combined with rare archival images that trace La Bruce’s homocore past in Toronto through the auteur’s underground film success with such seminal works as Hustler White, Super 8 ½ and LA Zombie. Artists and friends all join in a game of interpretation. John Waters, Bruce Benderson, Harmony Korine, Gus Van Sant, Richard Kern, Rick Castro, Vaginal Davis and others deliver their impressions of and confessions about what Bruce La Bruce and his perversion has meant to the world. Meanwhile, the provocateur himself guzzles from a flask as he talks about his life and his shyness. Everything blends into a fascinating portrait of a singular person blessed with singular talents, someone who relishes making people uncomfortable only to make them enjoy it, an anti-hero at war not with a system but all systems.
