GAY INTEREST TRAILERS

An Official Selection at the Raindance Film Festival, the Brit flick Palace of Fun is heading towards DVD soon in the UK, courtest of TLA releasing. Ahead of that we’ve got a pretty moody trailer to enjoy.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Lily and Finn begin a summer romance after they meet one evening in a nightclub. Instantly smitten with one another, Finn is invited to spend a week in Lily’s opulent Sussex house until her parents return from their trip to Italy. However, the situation is disrupted when Jamie, Lily’s younger brother, fortuitously discovers a revealing secret about Finn. But instead of telling Lily what he knows, Jamie decides to use it to play a dangerous and sinister game.’

Palace of Fun will be out soon. Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]

A gay African-American gang isn’t something you’d expect to get a bit of limelight, but the story of a Washington DC group and the documentary about it, has brought on Steve Buscemi as an executive producer, and now Louis CK as a distribution partner. The comedian has released the movie via his website for $5, hoping to give it a bit more exposure than it might get otherwise.

Louis says of the film (via Instinct), “It knocked me right over. It was an amazing emotional ride. It was funny and moving, I learned a lot and it gave me a lot to think about after. It’s about a gay black street gang in DC (the only one documented in the country) made up of kids who were living on the streets and easy targets for violence and harassment. They started this gang to protect each other. They made a family where they didn’t have one.”

“It takes on life right where the rubber hits the road. What made me love it was just the kids themselves. They are like any kids, like anyone’s children. They are trying to cope against terrible odds, they are funny and full of hope and life. Their lives are difficult and complex. They are very generous in sharing this with the filmmakers and you, if you watch the film.”

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Check It is about a gay African-American gang struggling to survive in one of Washington D.C.’s most violent neighborhoods. The film is an intimate portrait of 4 childhood friends – as they claw their way out of gang life through an unlikely avenue – fashion. With members now numbering in the hundreds, the Check It is a small gang in one city but it reflects a national issue. Being gay in poor, violent African-American neighborhoods carries a dangerous stigma. Standing up for who they are is more than an issue of pride for this group—it’s risking their lives.’

Take a look at a preview below, and if you like what you see, head over to LouisCK.net to watch the whole thing. [Read more…]

The Panzi Invasion has screened at various places over the last year, but now it’s available to view online for free for a limited time. It’s not surprising it’s available now, as its looks at the last 40 years of the ‘Invasion Of The Pines’, when LGBT people descend on Fire Island on the July 4th weekend.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘After forty years of fabulous drag queens, killer costumes and gender bending beauties; the political roots of the event may not be so obvious to those attending this annual July 4th celebration, but the message of equality and freedom are still as relevant today as when Panzi and a crew of protesters staged the original Invasion in 1976.

As gay rights have progressed, the Invasion has been used to take a satirical look at the world around us. Long before Congress was hashing out marriage equality, invaders were challenging the mainstream ideals and demanding change by fighting against bias, AIDS, sexism, bigotry and traditional gender roles.

It’s so much more than a day of drinking and drag. It is a tradition that honors those that came before us and it’s a glimpse into what the world would be like if we had true openness and independence.

Using both current and archival footage, we are guided through forty years of gaiety with local celebrities Panzi, Bianca Del Rio and Hedda Lettuce; as well as Grove residents and Invaders from around the world telling their personal stories.’

You can watch the film over at www.panzimovie.com. Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]

Last year, trans director (and sometime actor) Jake Graf got huge amounts of praise for his wonderful short film, Dawn, which saw a blind man and a trans woman meeting while waiting for a bus. Dawn was the first part of a trilogy, which continues with Dusk, which has a rather dramatic trailer.

The film premieres tonight at the East End Film Festival in London as part of the New Queer Visions strand at the Rio, Dalston.

The short film is told through flashbacks over several decades of the protagonist ‘Chris” lifetime, exploring how the choices we make can change our lives fundamentally. The cast includes Duncan James, (Chicago, Legally Blonde, Hollyoaks), Victoria Emslie, (The Danish Girl, Downton Abbey, The Theory Of Everything), and US model and actor Elliott Sailors (Spectrum), and crew including award winning cinematographer Lorenzo Levrini and award winning composer Justine Barker.

Take a look at the trailer below. You can find out more about other East End Film Festival New Queer Visions screenings here. [Read more…]

Popping your cherry is a special moment in anyone’s life, but not everyone has a first time as a drag queen. However, that’s what one man is doing in Cherry Pop, which gives the regular queens – including one played by Drag Race winner Bob the Drag Queen – a chance to size him up, while he wonders what he’s doing.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘A bawdy, uproarious comedy about a newcomer’s wild night in a down-and-out drag club. Cherry Pop follows one wild, crazy night at a drag club, where the matriarch of the show Zaza refuses to come out of her dressing room, while a young newcomer, The Cherry, is tormented by the regular troupe of back-stabbing queens.’

The film stars Caldwell Tidicue (aka Bob The Drag Queen), Tempest DuJour, Detox Icunt, Mayhem Miller, Misty Violet, Allusia Alusia, Miguel Sagaz, Lars Berge and Latrice Royale.

In the US, Cherry Pop will premiere around the country this summer in a series of special screenings; starting in New York on June 19 as part of NYC Pride, followed by a special screening event on July 11 in San Francisco. Los Angeles and additional screenings to be announced. You can find out more over on the film’s website. [Read more…]