Authority trembles under the threat of laughter. From camp to satire, from Hothead Paisan to Diseased Pariah News, humor has been a consistent force in the queer political imagination and continues to play an important role as a communication strategy in our movements. The short films in this collection use a variety of means to criticize, undermine, ridicule and exaggerate the excesses of heterosexual consumer culture...and in doing so, they simultaneously question our own dearly held identities, values and assumptions. Images and ideas in this series stay with us, as persistent questions linger about cherished queer icons, aspirations, desires and community. Perhaps absurdity is a reasonable response to a gay moment dominated by marriage and conformity. In the face of assimilation, enjoy this
collection of unwholesome, hilarious and gloriously subversive shorts!
Curated by the Festival Programming Committee.
TRT: 71 min.
Fagette
Ali Cotterill, 2008, USA, video, color, sound, 4 min.
What is the opposite of Gender Dysphoria? F-A-G-E-T-T-E! Athens Boys Choir, A.K.A. Harvey Katz, stars in this life affirming and undeniably fierce music video.
F/F
Charles Lum, 2007, USA, video, color, sound,10 min.
This film juxtaposes San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair, an annual S/M gathering, with the Fryeburg Fair in New England, an autumn festival. In a spectacle of celebration, music and dance, similarities and differences are exposed for comparison. Each of these uniquely American festivals casts the other in a new light.
Je Dis Non Ali
James Eshom, 2008, USA, video, color, sound, 8 min. NY Premiere
A woman seeks repeatedly to enact her desires, to touch and taste, and is told “I said No” at every turn. What are the consequences of succumbing to the perpetual restrictions on
female desire? The struggle for liberation is framed by references to 1960’s European New Wave images.
Momma, Wrap My Coffin in the AIDS Quilt Cuz It’s Cold in Hell
Jake Yuzna, 2007, USA, video, color, sound, 4 min.
Jarring images of injured bodies and bursting bodily emissions with music by Gay Beast.
Womb Raider
Katrin Kremmler, 2006, Germany, video, color, sound, 6 min. US Premiere
An animated short about getting your period! A Uterine superhero rock star challenges us to listen to our bodies.
Killer Dykes in the Brain
Kerstin Honeit, Jenny Hauke, 2007, Germany, Beta SP, color, sound, 10 minutes
No matter how tiny the sample size or how contrived the findings, scientific studies of the differences between gay and straight brains get wide play in the mainstream media. Taking direct aim at the obsession with examining the brains of homosexuals, here we see a clear illustration of exactly what happens in the mind of woman during her lesbian awakening.
My Name is Pochsy: An Industrial Film
Karen Hines, 2008, Canada, video, color, sound, 7 min. US Premiere
A mercury-poisoned factory worker is alone in a beautiful wasteland. She carries out her duties and shares her personal philosophy. Pochsy grapples with life, death and taxes through affirmations from sources like the Dali Lama, “The Secret,” and the Wal-Mart Mission Statement.
Sisters in the Struggle
K8 Hardy, 2007, USA, video, color, sound, 5 min.
Lesbians on Ecstasy call out to women everywhere to join together as lovers. This subversive music video creatively plays with the earnestness of its own message in a sincere yet fun tribute to 1970s feminism.
Valentines Day Girl
Ryan Trecartin, 2001, USA, video, color, sound, 7 min.
Trecartin’s creative collaborator, Lizzie Fitch, plays a girl who creates a perfect Valentines Day utopia. Everything in her world is red, white and pink and heart shapes surround her. In a speedy frenzy we witness fantasies made real through single-minded obsession. Then the private celebration is intruded upon by the marauding forces of X-Mas. What happens to our painstakingly constructed reality when confronted with the outside world?
Asian Boyfriend
Wayne Yung, 2006, Germany, video color, sound,1 min.
If you are in the market for a new lover, why not try out your very own Asian Boyfriend! Scorching and concise.
The Worm: Episode 8
Austin Young, 2008, USA, Mini DV, color, sound, 9 min. World Premiere
A celebrity panel is assembled to discuss the elusive meaning of The Worm. Gloria Steinem moderates a discussion that includes Madonna, Cher, Britney, Winona and a Brooklyn Housewife. All characters are played by co-writer Nadya Ginsburg. Enigmatic yet hilarious and disturbing.