Big Gay Picture Show

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

Boys On Film Presents: Campfire (DVD Review) – The complete Bavo Defurne gay-themed short film collection

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Over the last few years Peccadillo Pictures has done a great job promoting gay short films with its Boys On Film DVD collection. Now though we’ve got something slightly different, a ‘Boys On Film Presents’ release, which rather than bringing together the works of multiple different directors, focuses on the work of one filmmaker, Belgium’s Bavo Defurne.

Defurne got lots of praise for his 2011 movie, North Sea Texas, a coming of age tale about a young gay man. However, before he made his feature debut with that movie, he’d gained an impressive reputation with his short films, which were lauded at film festivals and championed by the likes of the BFI. That is perhaps because of the way he manages to link the past of gay cinema with the present, such as the short Sailor (aka Matroos) being reminiscent of Fassbinder’s Querelle or the way Particularly Now, In Spring and Saint evoke the look and feel of Un Chant d’Amour (both of which are not coincidentally linked to Jean Genet). [Read more…]

Chatting To North Sea Texas Director Bavo Defurne

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Bavo-Defurne
In the 1990s Bavo Defurne made his name with a series of gay-themed short films that were successful enough that they were collected together into DVD compilations. However then there was a bit of a gap until he returned in 2012 with his first feature film, North Sea Texas, the story of teenager Pim and his burgeoning sexuality in 1970s Belgium.

It’s a great movie and was such a success in the UK that it’s no being re-released on Double Play Blu-ray and DVD, giving us our first chance to see the movie at home in HD. To mark that release, we caught up with Bavo to talk about the movie and what he’s going to do next. [Read more…]

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North Sea Texas (Cinema)

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While adolescence is one of cinema’s favourite subjects (and for various reasons a virtual obsession in gay and lesbian cinema), few films find a balance that feels as if it’s getting to the truth about ‘coming of age’. Bavo Defurne’s North Sea Texas does just that, telling a familiar story yet managing to make it feel fresh, acutely observed and charming. Much of this comes from evoking a strong sense of the early 1970s, great cinematography and excellent performances from a mostly inexperienced cast. It doesn’t hurt either that the strong characters avoid clichés.

Pim (Jelle Florizoone) is a teenager living with his floozy former beauty queen mother in a Belgian coastal town. His mother is more interested in how Pim makes her feel than the boy himself, although this does give him a small amount of freedom to lust after his next door neighbour, Gino (Mathias Vergels). [Read more…]

North Sea Texas Trailer – Growing up gay in Belgium

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Peccadillo Pictures has a great eye for picking out the best in LGBT interest movies from around the world and bringing them to the UK. On April 6th they’ll be releasing North Sea Texas in British cinemas, and now they’ve released a rather intriguing trailer for it.

Here’s the official synopsis: ‘Pim lives in a small town on the Belgian coast, together with his single mother Yvette, a local accordion starlet. It’s an ordinary existence which Pim brightens up by dreaming of princesses, beauty queens and handsome Gino, the boy next door. But when hunky traveller Zoltan blows through town, Pim’s life takes an exciting and unexpected turn.

‘North Sea Texas is the feature film debut from cult director Bavo Defurne, whose short films, love letters to the male form and soaked with lush visuals, have garnered fans from across the globe – drawing comparisons to Pierre et Gilles, Herbert List, Dreyer and Eisenstein.’

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