Leech, Marla R.

1998

In Strings Attached, director Marla Leech portrays the struggles, successes and pursuits of five Bay Area female guitarists trying to make it in the music world.

Ducharme, Carole

1998

Mary, a troubled teenager, lives with her mothers Betty and Doris in a nice little house in a nice little suburb with nice neighbors. It's a nice little world populated only by queers. But Mary feels different, alone, an outcast. She is discovering her true feelings: she thinks she's "straight." Her doubts are confirmed when she meets Brad, a newcomer from San Francisco. It's love at first sight. What will happen to our sweet Mary? Will Brad steal her heart away? But what will her mothers say? The tables are finally turned on homophobia in the campy and perverse Straight From The Suburbs.

Donaghy, Tom

1998

Follows the trials and tribulations of a teenager in the suburbs as he explores and discovers his sexuality.

It’s the early eighties and fresh-faced Pauly is a gangling 17-year old who "wants everything." But it’s hard to figure out how to fit in when you know you like boys. His badgering dad and long-suffering mom (a wonderfully whining Julie Kavner) bicker about him constantly. Pauly is justifiably skeptical about his father’s short-lived attempt to get him to "act like other kids" by making him give up his guitar lessons and join the basketball team. His parents reluctantly allow him to leave Catholic school after his girlfriend insists that he transfer to public school for his senior year. Once there, he tries to juggle everyone’s expectations: listening to his cynical gal pal’s advice on how to be popular, avoiding the adoring attention of nerdy Colin, exchanging fashion tips (and more) with his AV buddy. When he develops a major crush on Noel, the handsomely angst-ridden new student teacher putting on the spring play, "A" (a hilariously bad musical version of "The Scarlet Letter"), Pauly promises his put-upon parents that he can go out for track, band, drum major and theater, and still keep his grades up. Like last year’s festival favorite, Edge Of Seventeen, The Story Of A Bad Boy boasts endearing performances as it humorously captures the yearning and exhilaration of adolescence.

Regan, Francis

1998

A young man receives an inappropriate birthday gift, and Mother Marilyn confirms that Marilyn Monroe and President Kennedy’s love-child was indeed gay.

McBride, Jason

1998

Toronto, 1952. 18 year-old Derek undergoes painful aversion therapy designed to "cure" his homosexuality.

Perry, Nickolas

1998

Nineteen years old with a lust for speed, Johnny sets out to find fame and glory on the race tracks of North Carolina -- unaware that he's about to take the ride of his life.

Perry, Nickolas

1998

Nineteen years old with a lust for speed, Johnny sets out to find fame and glory on the race tracks of North Carolina -- unaware that he's about to take the ride of his life.

Sparked by a top-notch cast from feature films and prime-time television, this first feature from director/writer Nickolas Perry is a moving portrait of lost youths struggling to find themselves at the end of the twentieth Century. Johnny (Jesse Bradford of Romeo + Juliet) is a teen runaway with dreams of making it big as a race car driver in North Carolina. But on his way he gets side-tracked in Las Vegas, where he meets Eric, a gay street urchin (Jordan Brower of "Teen Angel"), Steve, a more experienced hustler (Jonathan Taylor Thomas of "Home Improvement") and Eric’s surrogate mom (Daryl Hannah). To his surprise, Johnny finds himself caught up in a way of life he never knew existed. Now he has to decide if he can escape, or if he even wants to. Perry focuses on that special time when boys become men, adult reality starts to intrude on youthful ideals, and painful choices about love and life must be made. Perry’s short film, Must Be The Music was a hit at the 1997 SFILGFF, and caught the attention of filmmaker Gus Van Sant, who acts as executive producer here. The results prove that the enthusiasm for Perry’s first effort was well deserved. With Speedway Junky, a new film talent has arrived.

Comstock, William

1998

A presentation of American Gay Cultural HIstory, 1958-65, through the lens of Italian made Hercules films.

Lavish historical spectacles were a staple of Italian cinema since silent days, but it took American bodybuilder Steve Reeves and the international box office sensation Hercules to put the muscleman at the center of the show. Imitations and sequels followed, and from 1957 to 1965 the Italian film industry produced over 150 of the most curiously homoerotic films ever made. The eroticism comes from the blatant beefcake appeal of the hero’s physique, fetishized by peek-a-boo costumes and subjected to trials of strength and lingering torments. But the gay/camp appeal of the gladiator films went further. Wild dance numbers, over-the-top female villains, and garishly theatrical sets created alternate universes of bizarre glamour. Behind the glamour, all was not so pretty. Production schedules were impossibly rushed, scripts hardly existed and actors were forced to do their own dangerous stunts. As the genre declined, the sadomasochistic element, once used for suspense, became an end in itself. MGM film archivist John Kirk presents video clips from over 70 of these rarely screened gems, along with videotaped interviews with stars Richard Harrison, Gordon Mitchell and Mickey Hargitay, and cameos from body-building legends Steve Reeves, Ed Fury and Reg Park. Along with the campy fun, Sons Of Hercules delivers a serious assessment of an almost totally neglected film genre.

Walters, Nathaniel

1998

A lovely man is pursued by a stranger who seduces him with a tale of immortality.

Mubashshir, Daaimah

1998

Tells one side of a story in several layers, using text and altered music.