Film

An attention-grabbing, potentially profile-elevating performance by up-and-comer Hunter Page-Lochard is the major selling point of “Around the Block,” an Aussie variation of the oft-spun scenario about an at-risk high-schooler who gets a shot at redemption through a transformative extracurricular activity. Christina Ricci claims top billing — and provides some modest marquee allure — as a transplanted American teacher determined to uplift her Sydney students by introducing them to Shakespeare. But Page-Lochard is the one more likely to earn the critical plaudits in this well-intended film. Improbably engaged to the Down Under version of a good ol’ boy, U.S.-born Dino Chalmers […]

An Ecuadorian coming-out film is something of a rarity in world or even gay cinema. Director Araujo’s work has much in common with previous coming-of-age films about ephebic youths on the road to self-discovery and acceptance only it happens in a country not often seen on film. Holiday is bookended by a nice visual conceit involving upside-down cityscapes and Araujo manages to include several other intriguing elements, such as the world of underground Ecuadorian metal bands or the 1999 banking crisis that’s affecting the protagonist’s family,that enhances the main storline. The film’s set in 1999, when dreamy teenager Juan Pablo, […]

Young Moroccan scribe Abdellah Taia moves into the director’s seat with the screen version of his autobiographical novel “Salvatio. ” The film delivers a straightforward, beautifully told story of a gay man negotiating family, desire and the sexual power play behind Arab-European intimacy. Thestrong pint-of-view narrative  allows access to the protaganist’s head, despite the character’s understandable distancing coldness. While positive gay Arab protags are something of a cinematic novelty, “Salvation Army” isn’t the first to center around such a character, contrary to recent reports (Maher Sabry’s “All My Life” and Samer Daboul’s “Out Loud” are but two earlier examples). Taia’s […]

Frameline38: the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival has announced its Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night films for this year’s renowned showcase of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer cinema. Frameline38, the world’s first and largest LGBT film festival, will be held June 19 – 29, 2014 in San Francisco and the East Bay. With an expected attendance of 65,000, the 11 days of Frameline38 will draw film lovers, media artists, and LGBTQ communities from the Bay Area and all across the globe to discover the best in queer cinema.   The complete Frameline38 program will be announced on […]