SHORT INTERVIEW WITH JEFFREY FRIEDMAN (above left), American co-director of Howl – a new feature starring James Franco as Allan Ginsberg, the renowned gay poet who faced an obscenity trial in 1957 after publication of his poem “Howl”

SJ:        How did you get into filmmaking?

I thought I was going to be an actor, but then I realized how challenging it can be and decided against it.  My cousin is a film editor and I did some work with him as an apprentice.  I worked my way up the old fashioned way.

SJ:        How did the Howl project get started?

It started with the Ginsberg Estate and a poem called “Howl.”  Really, it was a gift!  We began filming it as a documentary but quickly realized it needed to be something more experimental.  It evolved into a combination of various styles that encapsulated poetry, animation and music…

SJ:        What is your favorite part of the film?

There is no one favorite part for me.  Everything was new, so it was all challenging.  It was thrilling to work with such skilled actors!  We had a wonderful team working together to produce the film.  The illustrator who worked on the film with us was Eric Drooker – the animation work was done in San Francisco and Thailand.  It all came together.

SJ:        And, your upcoming projects?

I will be working on more documentaries and some fiction.  I have been working on a script about Linda Lovelace as well.

SJ:        What advice do you have for budding filmmakers?

Make a good film.  Just do it – don’t wait!

SHORT INTERVIEW WITH JULIE & JIM GILES (above centre), Canadian directors of La Dany: The Diva of Bolivar Park – a feature documentary about popular Colombian transvestite street performer Dany Castaño Quintero

SJ:        How did the La Dany project get started?

(Jim) My friend took me to see Dany perform.  There were about 300 people there watching.  It was an amazing show, but I couldn’t understand a word.  She really is very different, and yet she is accepted by the people on the street.  Nobody knew her life story, or where she came from: she never finished school, and she was kicked out of her house when she was young.  It was nothing that we thought it would be.  The city of Medellín (in Colombia) is [wrongly] known for the drug trade and violence, but it’s really a modern and progressive city – parts of it, at least – and also very conservative.

SJ:      How was the production process?

We directed, filmed and funded the piece all on our own.  We filmed with a small crew, using a small camera, because they didn’t want to draw a lot of attention.  Dany is spontaneous, so we didn’t want to get in the way of that.  We followed her for 2-3 weeks.  There was no script, no narration.  (Jim) It just kind of evolves and peels away – you get a sense of being there.  (Julie) You can almost sort of smell being in Colombia.

SJ:        How was it to work together as brother and sister?

We work well together.  Growing up together, it’s natural that we would have a common vision about the world.

SJ:      And, your upcoming project?

A film about an Iranian wedding – we want to dispel some of the stereotypes about Iran.

SJ:      What advice do you have for budding filmmakers?

(Julie) Have the subject close to your heart.  (Jim) We tend not to encourage creativity in education, but you can’t wait for people to come along and say, “I’ll help you.”  We just bit the bullet and did it.

SHORT INTERVIEW WITH BARBARA CENTER (above right), director of Letters – a short documentary screened as part of Inside Out’s Legacy Video Project programme, about the director’s later-in-life coming out as a Jewish lesbian

SJ:     How did the Letters project begin ?

I have no filmmaking background.  I was strongly connected to Inside Out – I was involved in a queer mentoring youth program.  I thought I’d be paired up with young people and would make a film together, but that wasn’t really the case – we ended up making separate films.  I grew up in a traditional Jewish home in Windsor in the 50s/60s.  I buried my identity for twenty years.  To coincide with my 60th birthday, I took part in a Joy of Wisdom ceremony, celebrating my being an elder Jew AND lesbian.  I began to write poetry after separating from my husband.   Poetry is interwoven into my film, along with images of sewing – the poem is presented as a voiceover throughout the film, and was originally written in response to a 2007 Dove soap campaign, where women were asked to write a letter to their bodies, starting with “Dear body…”  I wanted my piece to be joyful.

SJ:        Your son also came out as gay and was involved in the film.  How do you see that experience?

We travelled parallel journeys together, a generation apart…

–        Rachel Weinstock (assisted by Christopher Mayell, photographs taken by Sandra Rojas Henao, final text and photo edit by Olivia Mayumi Moss)

I attended the 20th anniversary Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival from 20 to 30 May, 2010.  People came from all over Canada and internationally to be a part of this festival which showcases the creative talents of a diverse LGBT community.

The opening night was filled with the buzz of excitement and celebration of such a successful film festival spanning 20 years.  At the opening gala, we enjoyed cocktails, wine, hors d’oeuvres and engaging conversations about the films.  It was my first time to cover a film festival as a member of the media – for years, I have been attending film festivals all over the world including Canada, Australia and Japan, but to be on the inside and to have a chance to glimpse into the lives of the filmmakers who make it all happen was truly an honour.  Festival staff welcomed me with open arms and introduced me to the filmmakers, ensuring I had an opportunity to interview them.  It was wonderful to meet people that were so dedicated to making the Inside Out festival such a success!

Toronto Inside Out festival staff celebrate their 20th anniversary

I also had the pleasure of interviewing the following filmmakers, who were generous in sharing their stories of how they became filmmakers and their experiences of making their new films:

–  Jeffrey Friedman, American Oscar-winning director of documentary feature Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989), classic queer film documentary Celluloid Closet (1995) and new biopic feature Howl about poet Allen Ginsberg and the 1957 obscenity trail following publication of his poem “Howl” (starring James Franco, Jon Hamm, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeff Daniels)

–  Jim and Julie Giles, Canadian directors of La Dany: The Diva of Bolivar Park, a feature documentary about popular Colombian transvestite street performer Dany Castaño Quintero

–  Barbara Center, director of short documentary Letters, screened as part of the Legacy Video Project programme, about the director’s later-in-life coming out as a Jewish lesbian

–  Producer Justine Pimlott and director Maya Gallus of documentary DISH: Women, Waitressing & The Art of Service.  This film was not screened at Inside Out, but I was lucky enough to catch it at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (North American’s largest documentary festival) a few weeks earlier, and to meet the filmmakers at Inside Out.

Look out for these short interviews coming soon on this SJ blog!

Festival opening film Howl, directed by Jeffrey Friedman (left, @Inside out 2010)

Documentary feature La Dany: The Diva of Bolivar Park, directed by Jim and Julie Giles (above centre @Inside Out 2010)

Short documentary Letters, directed by Barbara Center (right @Inside Out 2010)

Hot Docs festival 2010 feature documentary DISH: Women, Waitressing & The Art of Service, made by producer Justine Pimlott and director Maya Gallus (above left and right @Inside Out 2010)

SHATTERJAPAN’s Chief Editor also had the chance to interview Susan Muska and Gréta Ólafsdóttir, directors of The Brandon Teena Story (1998) (the inspiration behind Kimberley Pierce’s 1999 Oscar-winning Boys Don’t Cry), and their new project Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement which has already garnered 17 awards at international festivals.  The Chief is also currently pursuing an interview with closing film The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister’s main actress Maxine Peake, as well as Cheryl Dunye, director of The Watermelon Woman and new project The Owls.

Look out for the Susan Muska and Gréta Ólafsdóttir interview coming soon on SJ’s “Interviews” section!

Award-winning feature documentary Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement, directed by Susan Muska and Gréta Ólafsdóttir (left, @London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2010)

All in all, Inside Out was colorful in its diverse staff and audience, as well as the films that touch on themes of gender, love, queer history, queer drama and all the human components that go into making films enjoyable.  I look forward to further informative, entertaining and enjoyable experiences at Inside Out’s 2011 festival!

– Rachel Weinstock (assisted onsite by Christopher Mayell, photographs taken onsite by Sandra Rojas Henao, final text and photograph edit by Olivia Mayumi Moss)

BBC3 is gearing up to air new lesbian series Lip Service a little later than planned in late summer / early autumn 2010.  Dubbed as “the UK’s answer to The L Word,” the new drama is already garnering interest and fans worldwide.  The Lip Service publicity team has inferred that although comparisons with The L Word will be inevitable, viewers will see something refreshingly British and unique.  It may finally be time for UK lesbians to leave behind The L Word girls in their plastic LA universe and fall in love with their more familiar British counterparts.

Set in Glasgow and centred around a group of young gay girls in their 20s, Ruta Gedmintas (Frankie – “irreverent and provocative” commitment-phobic photographer), Laura Fraser (Cat – Frankie’s former lover), and Fiona Button (Tess – Cat’s best friend and flatmate who “has an uncanny knack of attracting all the wrong sorts of women”) will play the 3 female lead roles, with support from Roxanne McKee (Lou), Emun Elliott (Jay), Heather Peace (Sam), James Anthony Pearson (Ed) and Tom Mannion (Frankie’s uncle Cameron).

The six-part series, which was filmed in Glasgow in October, was written and created by Harriet Braun.

Harriet says of the series: “Based on my own experiences and those of my friends, I wanted to write a sexy, funny and irreverent drama that reflects what it is to be a young gay woman living in Britain today… I loved The L Word but it’s high time we saw some contemporary British lesbians, with all the bad weather, trips to the pub and repressed emotions that go with that.  It will be as funny as it is pathos filled, because in my experience that’s how life is.”

Whatever the overall audience reaction to this much-anticipated offering from BBC3, Lip Service is evidence of the BBC’s enthusiasm to develop new dramas and explore queer-themed shows.   With the recent BBC2 broadcasts of Boy George biopic Worried About the Boy and lesbian costume drama The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, together with the BBC4 rescreening of Jeanette Winterson / Beeban Kidron’s lesbian classic Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, it’s been a good year so far for queer drama on BBC TV.  Let’s hope that Lip Service lives up to the hype or at least runs to further series so that it can be carefully developed.  In any case, it will be fantastic to have an alternative to the LA girls.

SHATTERJAPAN will be reporting further on the series, and is hoping to line up interviews in the near future.

Sadly, we’re not able to publish photos from the production yet, but will do so as soon as they become available.

BBC links:

About Lip Service, including TEASER VIDEO

– Olivia Mayumi Moss (”Chief”)

Maxine Peake as 19th century Yorkshire diarist, landowner and “Britain’s first modern lesbian” Anne Lister in The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (photo courtesy of BBC)

BBC2’s recent (May 31) screening of new lesbian costume drama The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister was followed by documentary Revealing Anne Lister, presented by out lesbian comedienne Sue Perkins.

Perkins investigates the long silence surrounding the diaries (stretching over 4 million words) until Helena Whitbread brought Lister into the public spotlight through her 1988 book “I Know My Own Heart: The Diaries of Anne Lister (1791-1840).”  Starting with a visit to the “strong room” of Halifax Central Library, Perkins finds out more from Whitbread about Lister’s coded language designed to conceal Lister’s personal life and sexual exploits.

We are given a glimpse into Lister’s adolescence – at private York boarding school The Manor, Lister entered into a full-fledged physical and emotional relationship at the age of 13 with first love Eliza Raine, and was “seen as predatory” says Patricia Hughes (University of Warwick).  Dr. Margaret Reynolds (Queen Mary, University of London) reveals that female relationships as “more than friends” was a common way of life for many boarding school girls in Lister’s day.  In fact, such interaction was practically encouraged as being “preparatory to marriage” on the basis girls would outgrow the habit, says Prof. Amanda Vickery (Royal Holloway, University of London).  The problems came in if one of the girls started “acting like a man” and expressed her affections publicly, which may have caused Lister to be expelled while Eliza remained at the school.  Tragically, in 1816, Eliza was committed to a lunatic asylum where she stayed until she passed at 68 years old.  Lister life followed a very different path, thanks to her middle-class moneyed family, contrasted with Eliza’s less affluent non-white ethnic background.  Perkins is visibly distressed by Lister’s callous overlooking of Eliza’s demise, commenting that this was just one of many tragic romantic stories which Lister left in her wake.

Perkins describes church as “a great vantage point from which to scope out the young women folk” – a convenient 19th century pick-up joint for Lister and others pursuing love affairs within his/her own community.  This is exactly where Lister became infatuated with Miss Elizabeth Browne, whom she eventually seduced and tossed aside.  By this point, Lister had seemingly perfected the art of exploiting the “special companion” tradition of the times, for her own ends, with naïve local young women flattered by her advances accepting invitations to become her “special friend.”  Lister now comes across as a “rakish gent” motivated by “the chase” of women.  It is also revealed that Anne was “a bit of a snob” who was easily turned off by etiquette and class issues.  In the case of Miss Browne, Lister ended their connection based on Browne’s dirty fingernails, unironed gown sleeves and limited conversation which she felt reflected the young woman’s station.

Lister seduces the naïve Miss Browne
(photo courtesy of BBC)

Lister’s downfall came with Mariana Belcombe, a doctor’s daughter who came from a large family, whom she met in 1813.  Captivated by Mariana’s beauty and her willingness to begin a sexual relationship, Lister became besotted with her.  After a 3-year relationship, Lister was devastated when Mariana married wealthy businessman Charles Lawton – a decision which caused offence to Lister’s heart and ego.  This did not stop the women entering into a clandestine affair, meeting in hotels and coaching houses.  The relationship began to falter with Mariana’s criticism of Lister’s physical appearance – Mariana found her facial hair and body shape to be socially unforgivable.  Receiving a taste of her own medicine, the draining relationship wore on Lister, and the painful split left her feeling lonely and isolated.

Lister with love-of-her-life and heartbreaker Mariana Belcombe (photo courtesy of BBC)

In 1826, Lister’s Uncle James died and the 400-acre Shibden Hall passed into her hands, an inheritance which would change her life forever.  In a time of very few female landowners, Lister’s status was automatically raised by her ownership.  However, still not satisfied with her position in society, Lister embarked upon a social climbing scheme involving local heiress Ann Walker.  Heartbroken and desperate for money and social power, Lister returned to her predatory and self-preservation instincts, targeting Walker as a potential business and romantic partner.  In 1834, the two effected a private same-sex marriage in church, and Walker made a public statement by moving into Shibden Hall with Lister.  Lister had finally got what she wanted – money and a wife.  Although the move would have seemed unconventional and controversial, as Dr. Margaret Reynolds says, their combined land ownership and moneyed status rendered them “completely unassailable.”  They even set up a coal mining pit together: the Walker Pit.  In protest of their relationship and success in the traditionally male-dominated industry, local wealthy gent Christopher Rawson arranged for effigies of Lister and Walker to be burned in public, just one of many acts of aggression committed against the women.  This simply spurred the women on to build a larger pit and Rawson was forced to concede.  In a poignant moment in her diaries, in response to Rawson’s comment “I have never been beaten by a lady,” Lister says, “It is the intellect which makes a bargain, and the intellect has no sex.”  Lister had established herself and saw her gender and sexuality as no barrier to her ambitions.

Lister suffered an early end in Russia, aged 50, due to a tic bite…  It took 6 months for Walker to bring back Lister’s body to Shibden Hall.

Lister with wife-to-be Ann Walker – a 19th century lesbian power couple (photo courtesy of BBC)

Perkins then reveals the path which the diaries have taken to date.  The late 19th century saw distant relative John Lister discover the diaries at Shibden Hall and pass them onto antiquarian friend Arthur Burrell who began to crack Lister’s code.  Shocked by their content and fearing his own homosexuality would be revealed (homosexuality was a criminal offence, rumoured to be an inherited trait at the time), he consulted Burrell, who instructed him to burn the diaries.  Thankfully, he refused, instead burying them deep within the Lister archive at Shibden Hall.  In the 1930s, librarian Muriel Green found the diaries while surveying the Lister archive, and after receiving the key to the code from Burrell, began transcribing but eventually shied away from the project, believing that their content would cause too much controversy.  In the 1960s, local historian Phyllis Ramsden’s plans to publish the diaries after 8 years of study were thwarted by Halifax town council who refused her permission to do so.  The diaries finally saw the light of day when Helena Whitbread began decoding the diaries in 1981 and published extracts in 1988.  Totally exploding the long-held myth that women did not engage in lesbian sex and relationships in Jane Austen’s time, the diaries are referred to by Whitbread in the documentary as “the Rosetta Stone of lesbian history.”  As Perkins closes by saying, Lister’s personal failings in character as a predatory arrogant snob were made up for with her tenacity and bravery, and ultimately her contribution to the human race of this amazing treasure which gives us a unique insight into 19th century society from the viewpoint of a lesbian woman.

This was a fascinating and entertaining documentary into the life of an extraordinary woman.

* Read SHATTERJAPAN’s interview with James Kent, director of The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister!!

BBC links:

* About Revealing Anne Lister

* About BBC drama The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, comments by writer Jane English

– Olivia Mayumi Moss (”Chief”)

Culture Club, with androgynous frontman Boy George (Douglas Booth) and drummer/lover Jon Moss (Mathew Horne) (photo courtesy of BBC)

On 16 May, BBC2 broadcast one-off drama Worried About The Boy – an engaging account of singer-songwriter fashion and queer icon Boy George’s rise to fame, set against the backdrop of a stunningly vivid recreation of the heyday of the London Blitz club in the early 80s.  After a glimpse into George O’Dowd’s humdrum life in the suburbs, we follow his life-changing move to London and the squat he shared with his glamorous mate Marilyn.  Driven by his ambition to enter the Blitz crowd, George (played by newcomer Douglas Booth) starts off as the club’s cloakroom attendant, eventually establishing himself as a leading figure in the New Romantic club and fashion scene.  As one of the Blitz Kids, he shared the platform with the likes of Marilyn (played by Freddie Fox), Steve Strange (then Blitz doorman and host, played by Marc Warren), Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Bow Wow Wow, before his transition into the lead signer of iconic 80s group Culture Club.  Through flash-forwards to his drug days and endless battles with the tabloid press on his doorstep, we are witness to another version of George emotionally collapsing under the weight of internal conflict, exacerbated by his relationship break-up with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss (played by Mathew Horne of Gavin & Stacey).

George (Douglas Booth) becomes a fixture at London’s Blitz club in the early 80s
(photos courtesy of BBC)

George O’Dowd becomes Boy George (photo courtesy of BBC)

Not only an homage to a true icon who often struggled with his tendency for self-destruction, Worried About The Boy is an inspiring and touching story of a boy who, due to his flamboyant appearance and feisty nature, was often misunderstood by the people and world around him, but realizes his potential through passion and sheer determination.  There are also moments of comedy, particularly with hilarious scene-stealing by actor Mark Gatiss as the late great Malcom McLaren.

George’s queer identity, although visibly raised throughout the drama, is treated as a necessary part of the landscape of the production, almost a secondary aspect to the range of intense personal emotions we see George dealing with.  Rather, the drama focuses on the evolution of a massive global cultural icon and a man of sensitivity and artistic innovation who survived disappointment in his personal and professional life to become the person he fought hard to become.  The ups and downs of his relationship with musician Kirk Brandon (played by Richard Madden) are movingly portrayed, with one particularly painful scene where Kirk challenges George to write a song and mocks his singing voice.  This is picked up poignantly towards the end of the drama, where George spots and walks past former love Kirk on the way to the Top of the Pops stage.  Boy George has finally arrived, and would go on to maintain his longevity by evolving and re-inventing himself in years to come.  Significantly, the drama closes with George opening his front door to face the press – the beginning of what turned out to be yet another step in his evolutionary process.

Absolutely brilliant, I look forward to seeing more of the same from the BBC in future.

Boy George and Culture Club take to the stage on long-running UK music show Top of The Pops (photos courtesy of BBC)

Following the drama, documentary Girls and Boys: Sex and British Pop as shown as part of BBC2’s “Eighties Season” celebrating life and culture in the 1980s.  A fascinating insight into the music and queerness of the decade, I was transported back to my childhood through clips of Adam Ant, ABC, Spandau Ballet, Visage, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, Morrissey, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys and Freddie Mercury, backed by interviews with out singers Marc Almond (who was accused of being “too effeminate” at the time), Andy Bell (Erasure), Jimmy Somerville (Bronski Beat / The Communards) and Tom Robinson (of “Glad to be Gay” fame), talking about the restrictions of the era in terms of coming out in public.  Even the “outed” George Michael commented on his struggles with staying in the closet with Wham, and Boy George on how concealing his sexuality had been “torturous” for him.  Banarama members and the delectable and then-tomboyish Kim Wilde talked openly about the “boys club” aspect of the music industry at the time, revealing the obstacles female musicians were faced with.

Finally, misguided (and at ultimately homophobic) AIDS campaigning emerging in the late 80s was claimed to have put an end to explicit or suggestive queer visibility in the industry, leading to groups such as the Pet Shop Boys having to avoid supposedly queered-up lyrics, and the pushing of “safe” acts such as Kylie Minogue (prior to her disco goddess and queer icon “reinvention”) and Jason Donavon.  Thankfully, PSB’s alternative style and subversive lyrics on the plight of the common man/woman allowed the band a certain amount of artistic freedom, despite pressure to conform to an industry becoming increasingly wary of queer lifestyle and fashion, and Madonna raised her game to challenge the gender and sexuality stereotypes of the “era of fear.”

Lady Gaga may be one of few queer fashion and musical icons currently hitting the charts, but her revolutionary status could be said to pale against the wealth of queer acts and fashion divas who existed in the 80s, with 90s nonconformist goddesses Kylie and Madonna effectively laying the groundwork for the Gaga.

BBC links:

* About Worried About The Boy

* Interview with Boy George about Worried About The Boy

* About BBC’s 80s Season

– Olivia Mayumi Moss (”Chief”)

Scene from The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (photo courtesy of BBC)

“I love and only love the fairer sex and thus beloved by them in turn,” says Anne Lister at the start of James Kent’s new BBC2 production The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, due to be screened tonight at 9pm, Mon 31, 2010.

This lavish costume drama set in 19th century Yorkshire focuses on the personal and professional exploits of Anne Lister, revered diarist, landowner and “Britain’s first modern lesbian.”  The BBC once again outdoes itself and breaks new ground with this heartfelt tribute to a woman who was as passionate about her love life as her business life, and who overcame personal adversity, challenging the traditional constraints of society on all levels and fighting for a life she desires on her own terms.

We witness her transition from a woman tormented by the wiles of Mariana Belcombe towards a woman self-assured and resolved to find a suitable “female companion” with whom to build her future and fortune.

The BBC2 broadcast of the drama is to be followed (at 10:30pm, same day) by a documentary on Anne Lister, Revealing Anne Lister, presented by the popular out lesbian comedian Sue Perkins.

The film is currently touring festivals, having recently opened that London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, and more recently Toronto’s Inside Out lesbian and gay film festival, and is due to open San Francisco’s Frameline (17 June).

*  Read the SHATTERJAPAN interview with Anne Lister director James Kent!!!

- Olivia Mayumi Moss (”Chief”)

Tonight, SHATTERJAPAN will be at the opening night of Toronto’s Inside Out LGBT Film Festival, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Highlights of this year’s festival include:

Howl – screened at Sundance.  Centered on the obscenity trial Allen Ginsberg faced after publication of his poem Howl, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (who also directed classic documentary Celluloid Closet, also screening at the festival) and starring Milk’s James Franco, Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, David Strathairn, Mary Louise Parker and Jeff Daniels.  Directors Epstein and Friedman are set to attend.

The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister – the BBC’s new lavish costume drama with a lesbian twist.  Outstanding performances, intense dialogue, passion… this film has it all and is sure to delight as the festival’s closing night film.  Actress Maxine Peake (Anne Lister) is set to attend the festival in celebration of its North American premiere.

The Owls – new film from Cheryl Dunye, director of the now-legendary The Watermelon Woman (also screening at the festival), starring V.S. Brodie (Go Fish) Guinevere Turner (Go Fish, The L Word, The Watermelon Woman), Deak Evgenikos (Itty Bitty Titty Committee) and Dunye herself.  Dunye is set to attend.

We are the Mods – Outfest award-winning film by newcomer E.E. Cassidy about LA’s cool mod club scene

Undertow (Contracorriente) – Sundance award-winner about a married Peruvian villager’s struggle to keep his love affair secret.  Director Javier Fuentes-Leon is set to attend.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work – Sundance award-winning documentary (also nominated for Grand Jury Prize) about irreverent, legendary comedienne and unlikely queer icon Joan Rivers.  Screened together with Uncle Denis about the late writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp

Four-Faced Liar – screened at Sundance and Canadian premiere, about four twenty-somethings looking to find themselves in NYC.  Screenwriter, producer, actress Marja-Lewis Ryan is set to attend.

A number of films screened recently at the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival will also be on offer:

Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls – documentary about New Zealand national treasures Lynda and Jules Topp, the renowned yodeling lesbian comedy twins

Mississippi Damned – Itty Bitty Titty Committee co-writer Tina Mabry’s Outfest award-winning directorial debut, a hard-hitting account of the struggles of three young African-Americans in rural Mississippi, based on a true story

Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement – moving documentary about the enduring love between two women, and their lifelong commitment to each other and queer activism.  Directors Greta Olafsdottir and Susan Muska (who also directed award-winning documentary The Brandon Teena Story) are set to attend.

Regretters – unique and sympathetic documentary about two men talking openly about their own sexuality and gender identity and choices they have made over the years

Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy, Andy Warhol Superstar – touching account of the life and rise to fame of the beloved Warhol celebrity

To Faro – intensely tender love story from German director Nana Neul about the boyish Mel who befriends Jenny under the pretence of being a boy called Miguel

Look out for further reports from Inside Out…

– Olivia Mayumi Moss (“Chief”)

The SCI-FI LONDON 9 2010 festival ended on 3 May with Cargo, a Swiss film about a select crew on board a space-freighter who come to terms with the realities of their claustrophobic situation.  Visually stunning, it starts with promise, but we found it to be relatively disappointing as the festival’s closing film – mostly worth seeing if you are a fan of indie European cinema and happen to have a very good concentration span.  Although, to be fair, we knew it would be very hard to outdo the entertainment value of opening film Splice, and Cargo was certainly very impressive on the big screen.

Cargo Trailer

Overall Sci-Fi London experience…

All in all, I would highly recommend this festival to absolutely anyone who is looking for a special cinematic experience, but especially of course to sci-fi lovers and people who can’t get enough of cult films and quirky culture.  In no way limited to geeks and sci-fi fans, the festival attracted a wide range of people to its events and screenings, and the festival director Louis Savy and his staff couldn’t be nicer.  Accommodating and welcoming, the people who make this festival work are to be complemented.  It wasn’t hard to see how the incredible passion and energy exuded by Louis and his team during festivities have put this festival on the map.  The ticket prices are certainly made up for by this festival’s charm as well as the free geeky gifts bestowed upon some lucky members of the audience prior to each screening.  And, who could not get even a little bit excited about having their photo taken with stormtroopers in the middle of central London… or dressing up like a character from Barbarella?!  We’d love to encourage more Londoners to make the festival next year.  Thank you for a memorable experience, SCI-FI LONDON – see you in 2011!!

Here are other photos from the festival. Enjoy! (Photos provided courtesy of Sci-Fi London)

Oscar award-winning actor William Hurt makes an appearance at SCI-FI LONDON, while festival director Louis Savy greets the crowds

Ok, so we didn’t make the Barbarella screening – we didn’t quite have the stamina for a midnight screening, but all credit to those who made it to the Curzon Soho Cinema.

I did make it to the screening of 8th Wonderland, however, and was very glad that I did.  Directed by Nicolas Alberny and Jean Mach, this French feature is based on the idea that social network groups expands to the point that that they eventually form a “virtual country” and explores what could happen if such a country were to gain political power and media visibility.  What is most fascinating about this film is that it’s not entirely beyond belief that such a phenomenon is on the cards in reality, and that the human tendency to take things too far (think Splice in a political sphere) is a strong possibility.  It examines the dilemma of what defines an act of terrorism and at what point people should be aware that they are crossing the lines – and who lays down those lines in the first place. 8th Wonderland also has a playful element which was very welcome, its jibes at reality TV particularly memorable.  It certainly makes you think about what direction the online human race is heading in.

The Q&A with the visiting directors was a little clunky with mic problems, but it was all the same fascinating to hear the directors talk about the central themes of the film.  They also talked about the timeliness of the film’s “condoms in church” sequence which coincides with the recent UK government scandal where a member of the Foreign Office staff was found to have controversially (and quite humorously) suggested in a leaked memo that a papal condom campaign be launched to commemorate the pope’s UK visit.

The sequel is already being planned, apparently called 9th Wonderland, where the virtual country takes a different approach towards fighting for recognition as an official nation.  For supporters of the concept and film, you can even join the virtual 8th Wonderland through the film’s website here: http://www.8thwonderland.com

- Olivia Mayumi Moss (“Chief”)

Illustrators Emma Vieceli, Kate Brown and Karen Rubins

This was a fascinating introduction into the various individual styles and projects of each artist, while covering topics such as the male-dominance of the graphic art industry in the UK.  When asked about the non-visibility of female artists, Vieceli pointed out that although there are many prominent female Manga artists in Japan, it is indeed harder for women to succeed in the same field in the UK.  Claiming not to have had personal experience of gender discrimination within the industry herself, she suggested that the lack of successful female illustrators was more likely because fewer women than men attempt to enter the industry in the first place, based on preconceptions that they would not receive fair treatment.  The panel unanimously agreed that while Japan has long promoted graphic comics across all age-groups, UK youth has been more or less denied the same access over the years.  In spite of this trend, Vieceli believes that attitudes of UK schools and parents are gradually changing, and Brown herself now tours schools to promote Manga Shakespeare for school curricula.

Again ice-cream was on offer, just to make this a truly girlified experience…

“Sneak Preview” of Radio Free Albemuth (screened 29 April)

We were privileged to witness this “sneak preview” of the new Radio Free Albemuth (US) based on the relatively lesser-known Philip K. Dick novel about the fight for survival in a totalitarian state.  Visibly a much lower-budget production than previous PKD adaptations (Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall) Albemuth is nonetheless wholly engaging.  Shea Whigham gives an impressively intense performance as author Phil (styled on PKD himself), the skeptic-turned-believer, while Alanis Morissette steals the show as Sylvia, a character who director John Alan Simon describes as a “modern-day slacker version of Joan of Arc.”  Although Jonathan Scarfe’s acting grates on occasion and the pacing may be too slow for some, I enjoyed this and look forward to seeing the finalized version.  If only to have a different kind of PKD experience and to see Alanis again on the big screen, I would highly recommend giving this one a chance.

Alanis Morisette and Jonathan Scarfe on the set of Radio Free Albemuth

Radio Free Albemuth onset footage