MILAN – The 16th International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival concludes today. In collaboration with the Goethe Institute Inter Nationes in Milan, the festival dedicated a retrospective to German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder on June 5 and 6, with screenings of his best films in their previously unreleased original versions. Of the German director's more than 40 films, only three explicitly address homosexual stories, including Querelle, a now cult classic.
This year's edition saw 10,000 attendees over 9 days of screenings, compared to last year's 7. More than 100 films, including fiction, documentaries, and shorts, were screened, and 20 directors and actors attended the Festival, mostly from the United States and Canada. Many productions will be distributed: "Benzina" (already released in theaters), "101 Reykjavik" (to be released by Sharada). "LIE," "Circuit," "Journey to Kafiristan," "Giorni" (photo), and "All Over the Guy" will be distributed on home video by E.mik. The two documentaries, Venus Boyz and The Cockettes, will follow the same path. In the complicated distribution system, documentaries and shorts are obviously the most disadvantaged sections, while fiction fares better. Gay. TV will acquire many of the films screened at the Festival.
Here are the winners of the sixteenth edition of the Milan gay and lesbian film festival:
Feature Film Section: LIE by Michael Cuesta and Special Mention to Giorni by Laura Muscardin
Documentary section: The truth about gay sex by Christiene Clark and special mention for It kinda scares me by Tomer Heymann
Short Film Section: Starched by Cath Le Couteur tied with Sister Lulu by Phil John
LIE, a film by director Michael Cuesta, released in the US last year, tells the story of fifteen-year-old Howie leaning over the bridge over the Long Island Expressway, the highway where his mother died. Neglected by his father, Howie is bored, in pain, and longing for affection. Drawn by another charismatic boy, he begins to live by his wits and petty crimes, which leads him to meet Big John, the neighborhood good guy with a weakness for young boys. Big John helps Howie regain control of his life, but he's unsure whether he can control his own feelings. A reflection on loneliness and male sexuality, and the opening film of the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, "...at its best, LIE poignantly portrays a dark and bitter slice of contemporary life," wrote the New York Times.