Reel Affirmations: The Nation's LGBT Film Festival 2008

Faybien Allen (RayMartell Moore) wakes up every morning asking the same question "What am I doing with my life?", and it defines every decision he makes. From the friends he keeps, his relationship with his father and to the men he falls in love with, Faybien finds that everyone in his life has something to say about his meandering path, except himself. Defined as much by his homophobic father as his flamboyant friends, he careens between self-doubt and pride - mourning the loss of his beloved mother while hopping from club to club with his pals. When he meets a man that proves there is life after "coming out", Faybien finally allows himself to become vulnerable - an emotion he'd turned his back on after his mother's death. This love reveals to Faybien that he is worthy of love, respect, and happiness, and our hero soon finds himself heading toward a dramatic conflict between all that he's been taught and all that he's now learning for the first time. Roger Omeus, Jr. has crafted an instant classic - a film depicting the timeless - and oh so topical - subject of living life as you know you must.

A white, OCD, Bahamian art student is floundering amidst a homophobic culture until his professor sends him to her beach house to find his muse. When handsome, sexually conflicted Romeo steps into his life, they give each other the courage to be themselves.

In F to M, a delightful mini doc about transitioning from female to male in the 60’s in France, we see the truth of transitioning.

Fagette The self-proclaimed gender-deviant, spoken word/hip hop extravaganza known as The Athens Boys Choir presents an energetic, queer music video. Dir: Ali Cotterill, USA, 2008, English, 4min Members Only New to Philadelphia, Amy seems to have lost her sex appeal. A local power lesbian helps her turn things around. Dir: Carolina Roca-Smith, USA, 2008, English, 10min Poppy’s Foursome The notorious lesbian comedienne Poppy Champlain goes on a hilarious room by room search for her perfect foursome, trying to bring GOLF back to Dinah. Dir: Ren Blood, USA, 2007, English, 20min S/He (Ta) A young Asian girl struggles between expected gender roles and her boyish inclinations. Dir: Gina Pei Chi Chen, Canada/Taiwan, 2007, English subtitles, 12min Tomboy In this delightful animated film, a young Latina-Canadian tomboy named Alex tries to endure peer mocking as she eschews dolls for science projects. Dirs: Barb Taylor, Wendy Parkin, Canada, 2008, English, 13min The Vicious and the Delicious A hilarious soap opera spoof of the scandals, catfights, affairs, flamboyant fashions and story twists of the powerful Cassamentos. Dir. Tonnette Stanford, Australia, 2008, English, 12min Worst Case Scenario: Butch Edition Mary Guzman ends some questions surrounding butch etiquette in this pithy how-to. Dir: Mary Guzman, USA, 2007, English, 7min Casting Pearls Calpernia Addams, transsexual author, and star of Logo’s Transamerican Love Story, journeys on a hectic series of auditions illustrating casting difficulties facing trans-women in Hollywood. Dir: Andrea James, USA, 2007, English, 7min Crafty An earnest activist looking for signatures for a gay marriage petition happens upon a crafts woman who initially rejects the petition, but may sign up to change teams. Dir: Erik Gernand, USA, 2008, English, 9min Berated Woman An Orthodox Jewish woman falls for her homeowner-rules-enforcing WASP neighbor in a funny look at what is important: a lifelong religion or love. Dir: Anya Meksin, USA, 2008, English, 14min Let’s Roll A lesbian couple attempts to go on vacation, but like many of us keep forgetting to pack stuff. Will they break up before they get on the road? Dir: Kat-I, USA, 2007, English, 5min

Following twenty-six-year-old Madison during a crucial three years of her transition from male to female, heartwarming GIRL INSIDE delves well beyond "Trans 101" basics. Sharing the spotlight is Vivien, Madison's glamorous 80-year-old grandmother, who has taken on the job of advising her on all things feminine. While Vivien's attempts to school Madison in old-fashioned codes of fashion and behavior are often hilarious, their two vastly different experiences often raise profound issues about the nature of gender, femininity, and sexuality. As Madison finds her own way into becoming a woman, this beautiful film tracks her emotional, intellectual and spiritual journey of self-discovery that is as important as - if not more than - the physical journey of hormones and surgery. Accompanying her on her gender metamorphosis is Madison's rural New Brunswick family who must go through their own transformation as they struggle to accept that they now have a daughter instead of a son, a sister instead of a brother. Sometimes funny, sometimes painful, this sweet coming of age story is both an intimate portrait and a thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a woman.

A recent American indie film gem, the wholly original and subtly humorous HALF-LIFE focuses on a Northern California community struggling to adapt as global chaos looms. Cynical 19-year-old Pam is fixated on her best friend - cute nerd Scott, a gay Korean adoptee who can't resist throwing his sexuality in the faces of his fundamentalist parents. Pam's brother Timothy keenly observes his surroundings, and with some special powers, might be able to alter everybody's reality. Maintaining a largely child's-eye perspective on the sexual, religious and ethnic rifts stirred up in a California suburb, this emotionally potent film evinces the sort of imagination that, Phang argues, is necessary for human survival in the world as we know it. Filled with gorgeously animated flights of animation, which are the drawings of 8-year-old Timothy (winning newcomer Alexander Agate); they offer the boy a respite from the difficulties of life with his mother, Saura (Julia Nickson), and older sister, Pam (Sanoe Lake), in California's Diablo Valley. Abandoned by her husband, Saura has since taken up with Wendell, a much younger hunk with a misleadingly friendly demeanor. Saura treats Wendell as her refuge while growing increasingly sullen and temperamental with her children, particularly Pam, a glum teen who suffers from a lack of direction. Along similar lines, Pam's friend Scott falls for black schoolteacher Jonah, much to the dismay of his parents. An Asian "American Beauty" set against a backdrop of global decay and illuminated by splashes of "Waking Life" - style animation. Nickson and Lake are both prickly, sympathetic and entirely convincing as a mother and daughter whose relationship stiffens and thaws through multiple complex stages. Variety

No matter how often the story makes the headlines... some people never learn. A coach and his underage player are having a passionate affair, one that everyone knows won't end well.

"In typical marriage vows, 'til death do us part' is the phrase that follows 'in sickness and in heath.' But to many gay and lesbian Americans, saying these words and enjoying their subsequent benefits are not an option. A few brave residents of New Jersey took up this issue in their state and brought same-sex marriage to the forefront as a civil rights issue. At the heart of this moving documentary are Diane Marini and Marilyn Maneely who, along with six other couples and the Lambda Legal Fund, filed a lawsuit against the state of New Jersey, seeking the right to marry their life partners. Marilyn was afflicted with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) and, when she passed away, Diane (her registered partner of 14 years) was not allowed to sign the death certificate. IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH fiercely delivers a clear and simple message that gay and lesbian people are not second-class citizens and should not be treated as such. With a tender touch, director Pilar Prassas delicately balances tragedy and triumph in the ongoing fight for the ability to marry the ones we love.