This year I saw 15 feature films and 11 short films at this years 2010 Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival which is always the highlight of my year. I quickly wanted to jot down a few of my festival favorites to put on your radar.
The Famous and the Dead (Os Famosos e os Duendes da Morte)
This was the first feature film by Esmir Filho and was a Brazilian/French co-production. The film is set in a Germanic town in Brazil and deals with the complex emotions of a 16 year old known only by his online screen name, Mr. Tambourine Man. The film deals with his reaction and obsession with his best friend's sister's suicide off of a bridge.
Now I haven't really ever listened to Bob Dylan's music, but I must say it fit perfectly with this film's tone. The film was absolutely gorgeous and beautifully stylized and the emotions of Mr. Tambourine Man were spot on.
I saw this in the theatre with about 10 other people and about 4 walked out halfway through which is totally un-surprising. It's an extremely slow film, but an extremely beautiful one, which made this my favorite of the festival.
Undertow (Contracorriente)
This film came from Peru and has been making waves in the festival circuit. It's a fantastic movie that totally gets deep down in your emotions before you know it. It starts out with your typical gay plot. Miguel is a fisherman with a wife and a baby on the way and is also a strong leader of his community and church, but he also is having a relationship with an artist, Santiago. Undertow takes this typical plot and gives it a really interesting surprise twist to it. Rarely do movies make me want to cry and this is one of those. Definitely recommend it!
I Killed My Mother (J'ai Tue Ma Mere)
I had seen this movie previously, but I had to include this movie in my summary of the best of the MGLFF. Xavier Dolan's first film is really a winner in my opinion. His story about a son's turbulent relationship with his mother is humorous and depressing at the same time. While you watch the movie you're constantly switching sides as to who is the one instigating all of these arguments. The film premiered at Cannes 2009 and won 3 awards and now his next film is screening this month at Cannes 2010. Definitely try to see this film any way you can, it's one of my top 10 films of 2009!
