Reel Affirmations: The Nation's LGBT Film Festival 2008

In the pressure cooker of apartheid South Africa, two women meet and their worlds are turned upside down. Miriam is a traditional Indian mother - hardworking and self-effacing, and struggling to regain the passion she once felt. Free-spirited Amina breaks all the rules by driving a taxi and setting up a cafe with a local black man. In the face of outraged disapproval, their friendship flourishes, and soon turns into a relationship that neither can turn her back on. But the price, for Miriam, is the discovery of impossible truths about her marriage. In a system that divides white from black, black from Asian and the women from men, what chance is there for an unexpected love to survive? Winner: Audience Award, Best Film, Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Copper Award, Best Director/World Cinema, Phoenix Film Festival Rosebud Award, Best Flm, Verzaubet Int’l. Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Shamin Sarif, SOUTH AFRICA, 2007, 94 mins.

From the dawn of the sexual revolution comes the outrageous true story of 1970s gay porn icon Jack Wrangler, who became a major brand name in adult entertainment and hero to the newly liberated gay population. Jack Stillman grew up in Beverly Hills, a child of privilege with a hankering for show biz. When show business success eluded him, he turned to go-go dancing in the burgeoning gay community of West Hollywood. Wrangler became a sensation, doing nude modeling and appearing on the cover of the first issue of Mandate. He soon made his first X-rated appearance, and almost overnight a star was born. A cavalcade of movie roles followed - sailors, cowboys, and construction workers - Jack Wrangler played them all. In the 1970s, gay men trying to overcome the stigma of homosexuality saw in Jack a new butch role model. Not content to be a big fish in a small pond, he decided to cross over into the more lucrative straight porn world and became an even bigger success, even losing his hetero virginity on-screen in one of his first straight roles. While in New York doing a live one-man show, Jack met legendary vocalist Margaret Whiting, and much to their surprise, they fell head over heels for each other. To the bemusement of their friends and Jack's still loyal fans, the couple has remained together for 30 years. .Jack Wrangler's story is one of self-invention and determination, and although he has gone on to an accomplished career in legitimate theater, he knows he will always be Jack Wrangler, former porn star.

Zombie Double Feature! Otto, or Up With Dead People w/ Zombie Prom Otto, or Up With Dead People features a newly zombified young thing – teetering into the world of the undead on still unsteady feet. Otto, played with gothic glee by Jay Crisfar, wanders the streets of Berlin, briefly recalling snippets of his pre-zombie life. (At one point, compelled to eat the entrails of a small animal and finding it somewhat of an acquired taste, he wonders if he was a vegan in a former life). Otto eventually finds work as, well.. a zombie… on THE epic political-porno-zombie movie to end all political-porno-zombie movies. Ridiculed for remaining in character, Otto remains consumed by the memory of his ex-boyfriend. He tracks him down, with predictably disastrous results, but not before remembering the love they once shared. Aaaawww… Otto features all the LaBruce flourishes we love so well – sexy boys being naughty, bursting politically correct bubbles left and right, and a cinematic style that is at once both breathtakingly daring and slyly low-rent. Bruce LaBruce, GER, 2008, 95 mins. Zombie Prom While Otto is a subversive look at European mores and politics, Zombie Prom is as all-American as apple pie and comic books. Apple pie dipped in radioactive waste, that is. Good-girl Toffee and Jonny-with-no-H are in love, but she dumps him at the insistence of principal Miss Strict (RuPaul). Devastated, Jonny jumps into a nuclear cooling tower, only to emerge a still handsome atomic waste-ridden TEENAGE ZOMBIE! He returns in hopes of still escorting Toffee to the prom, but the whole town is thrown into turmoil at this radioactive hunk in their midst. The media is called in, adding to the furor and hysteria behind the Zombie Civil Rights struggle. Will Jonny win back Toffee? And what of the shared past between Miss Strict and sleazo-o TV personality Eddie Flagrante? It all comes to a boiling head amidst some rousing dance numbers, state-of-the-art comic book animation and a not-so-veiled look at the lives of gay teenagers today. Vince Marcello, US, 2006, 36 mins. Awards: Best Musical Score, FAIF International Film Festival Outstanding Achievement in Film Music, Park City Film Music Festival Preceded by Brian the Gnome Slayer by Brian Tosko Bello

Part of our Zombie Double Feature! Zombie Prom is as all-American as apple pie and comic books. Apple pie dipped in radioactive waste, that is. Good-girl Toffee and Jonny-with-no-H are in love, but she dumps him at the insistence of principal Miss Strict (RuPaul). Devastated, Jonny jumps into a nuclear cooling tower, only to emerge a still handsome atomic waste-ridden TEENAGE ZOMBIE! He returns in hopes of still escorting Toffee to the prom, but the whole town is thrown into turmoil at this radioactive hunk in their midst. The media is called in, adding to the furor and hysteria behind the Zombie Civil Rights struggle. Will Jonny win back Toffee? And what of the shared past between Miss Strict and sleazo-o TV personality Eddie Flagrante? It all comes to a boiling head amidst some rousing dance numbers, state-of-the-art comic book animation and a not-so-veiled look at the lives of gay teenagers today. Vince Marcello, US, 2006, 36 mins. Awards: Best Musical Score, FAIF International Film Festival Outstanding Achievement in Film Music, Park City Film Music Festival Preceded by Brian the Gnome Slayer by Brian Tosko Bello