Category Archives: Film Festivals

NewFest: The NY LGBT Film Festival turns 25 this year, celebrating beginning this Friday, September 6 and running through Wednesday, June 11. After a dozen years at its helm, I left the festival after its 20th anniversary in 2008. Since then, the event has gone through many changes, most recently beginning a welcome partnership with LA’s Outfest, and relocating to the fantastic Film Society of Lincoln Center. While NewFest has scaled back considerably over the past five years, screening only 19 features and just over 30 shorts this year, these new relationships promise a resurgence and renewed focus in future editions.

Four documentary features and one hybrid make up the nonfiction component of this year’s festival. Notably, three of these are very well-regarded Sundance alumni: Christina Voros’ KINK, an inside look at a BDSM porn company; Marta Cunningham’s VALENTINE ROAD, a heartbreaking exploration of a homophobically motivated school shooting; and Travis Mathews and James Franco’s INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR., a speculative recreation of lost scenes from CRUISING. Also screening are Scott Gracheff’s THE RUGBY PLAYER (pictured), on gay 9/11 hero Mark Bingham; and Jeff Roy’s MOHAMMED TO MAYA, following a brash woman through her MTF surgery.

In just two days, the international film industry and cinephiles alike will descend on our neighbor to the North at the Toronto International Film Festival. The 38th edition of the event, which was known as the Festival of Festivals for its first two decades, runs through Sunday, September 15, providing North American audiences with their first opportunity to sample some of the standouts from key European fests like Cannes, Venice, and Locarno, as well as a staggering number of world premieres. Over 40 documentary features, including new films, hybrids, and retro classics, will screen out of nearly 300 titles, giving nonfiction junkies plenty to pay attention to. I’ll be in attendance for the first half of the festival, which also includes the two-day Doc Conference, checking out as much as possible. What follows here are the films on the top of my must-see list: Continue reading →

The Telluride Film Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, recognizing this achievement by expanding to five days, beginning today, Thursday, August 29 and concluding this coming Monday, September 2. For many, the event marks not only the end of Summer, but the beginning of Awards season. Annually cultivating an impressive lineup of standouts from Cannes, and some of the most eagerly anticipated films of the latter half of the year, Telluride offers attendees an opportunity to enjoy a more intimate sneak peek at many titles that will screen the following week at Toronto to much larger, and often more business-minded, crowds. Though I’ve never been to the festival, many friends who have regularly attended have sworn by it, likening the small Coloradan resort town to a film lover’s paradise, a serene setting in contrast to the stress that often accompanies larger events. Organizers have cultivated this sense of wonder and excitement, withholding the public announcement of their lineup until the day before the festival begins, in contrast to standard operating procedure of virtually every other fest. It’s a testament to their power as curators and to the trust they’ve engendered over the decades that attendees are willing to make the trek out on blind faith, but they’re rarely disappointed with the range of offerings. These consist of more than three dozen new feature-length films, in addition to various retrospective programs, shorts, conversations, and unannounced sneak previews. Of the features, more than 20 are documentaries. The following runs down many of the more intriguing selections, with full descriptions available by downloading Telluride’s program guide. Continue reading →

The oldest film festival in the world, the Venice International Film Festival, opens its 70th edition tonight, and continues through Saturday, September 7. Together with Locarno, Telluride, Toronto, and the New York Film Festival, Venice is one of the key film events of the late Summer/early Fall, introducing the latest slate of high profile titles that will figure on cinephiles’ must-see lists. Decidedly more focused on fiction offerings, only 20 new documentary features screen in the fest’s relatively tight 100-strong lineup, which is split between the larger official selection and two smaller autonomous sections programmed by independent film associations. The following offers a brief overview, highlighting the more notable nonfiction scheduled to screen: Continue reading →