Reel Affirmations: The Nation's LGBT Film Festival 2008

Perfect for a D.C. audience with its behind the scenes peek at the political machine, Choose Connor follows an idealistic, politically minded 15-year-old Owen (Alex D. Linz) who, after he wonkily grills a politician's transportation plan, is asked to come aboard Senator Lawrence Connor's (Steven Weber of Brothers and Sisters) election team as Youth Campaign Spokesperson.

He soon develops a friendship with the senator's artistic nephew, Caleb a self-confident, physically beautiful outcast who doesn't attend school, makes elaborate puppets and has a seemingly unusual relationship with his uncle. Uncertain and willing to please, Owen soon finds himself in murkier and murkier ethical waters, all while living in a dream world of influencing policy, hobnobbing with politicos and campaigning for the Senator.

Naturally, Owen promptly discovers he is in over his head far more than he expected or wanted, becoming peripherally aware of some dirty dealings happening just under his nose.

Delving deeper into the political and personal life of Connor, he learns about the politician's dangerous tendencies and finds himself engaged in the darker side of politics as the film daringly explores moral and social taboos.

Deeply polarizing, Choose Connor is an astonishing film - even more so when one learns that the director, Luke Eberl, and his team of three co-producers, were all in their early 20s while making the film.

Eberl recently won an American Independents Award at the Philadelphia International Film Festival for Choose Connor, and has begun work on his next film.

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