Finnane, Gabrielle

1998

Tale of Eugenia Falleni, also known as Harry Crawford and Jean Ford: sailor, husband, convicted murderer, boarding house madam.

I, Eugenia is the strange, but true, tale of Eugenia Falleni – aka Harry Crawford, aka Jean Ford. Sailor, husband, boarding house madam and convicted murderer, Falleni was born in Italy, raised in New Zealand and came to Australia at the turn of the century. Narrated from the grave, this film describes the curve of Falleni/Crawford/Ford’s life from birth to death in thirty minutes.

Varela, Myriam

1998

Swenson, Laurel

1998

A DIY guide to gaining control and independance in the face of difficult human relations. Using an ironic tone, it places the importance of productivity and efficienvy opposite our need for companionship and our anxiety about being forgotten.

Balletbo-Coll, Marta

1998

This new film from the director of Costa Brava (Frameline’s 1995 Audience Award Winner) is a whimsical farce set in Spain. Rosa, who works at the WonderNapKing sanitary napkin factory, is angry that her friends have been laid off. After napkin demand declines steeply Rosa becomes CEO, intending only to rehire her friends. When she learns that demand is falling because women are having shorter periods due to stress, however, she hatches a plan to eliminate women's principal headache – men. All that remains is for Rosa and her compañeras to doctor a popular new brand of toothpaste with a radioactive material which causes men to disappear, thereby unleashing a world of ample employment, peace, and prosperity. Honey is a sparkling comedy, witty and clever, which should appeal to "I Love Lucy" fans. There’s no overt lesbian content, but never fear – the film is loaded with subtextual references. Be sure to look for San Francisco's Desi Del Valle in a supporting role.

Barrios, Eliza

1998

Karaoke Extravaganza

Kwan, Stanley

1998

Five lives intersect over several months in Hong Kong and Taipei during the year of Hong Kong's return to China's sovereignty.

Intricately plotted, sexy and emotive, Stanley Kwan’s new film has a spontaneity and spark rare in Chinese cinema these days. Maybe because it’s his first feature since he "came out," Kwan gets into his characters’ emotions with real warmth. Computer nerd Wai (Sunny Chan) takes his wife Ah Moon (Chingmy Yau) for granted until he loses her in an air crash. He then befriends a gay man (Eric Tsang), who becomes his first real confidant, but fails to notice that Jie (Ko Yue-Lin) a teenage kid from Taiwan, is obsessed with him. Finally, older and wiser Rosa Gao (Chingmy Yau again) helps Jie realize he’ll never get anywhere till he deals with his feelings for Wai. The action takes place in 1997, the year of Hong Kong’s return to China. In some ways, this time reflects doubts and uncertainties about the future for Hong Kong and its people. But these characters’ struggles to understand their own feelings and sexuality are absolutely universal. Kwan draws two excellent performances from cult-exploitation star Chingmy Yau in her dual roles, and gets equally strong work from the men in the cast. (Eric Tsang’s gay sauna scene is the kind of thing which can turn a whole career around.)

Whitley, Brian

1998

Hidden Child, a luminescent black-and-white short, begins with Johnny holding a precious relic – a photograph of himself with his sister, Sarah. Dreamlike images play in his mind: his mother beating his sister, his father aiming a shotgun as Sarah's ghostly image appears, entreating him to "come with me...to see things as they really are." After being beaten up by a gang of boys, Johnny wanders across a graveyard where he is befriended by a handsome young man. This moody piece reveals its mysteries as it enigmatically unfolds.

Greyson, John
Laughlin, Joe

1998

Kokkinos, Ana

1998

Nineteen years old. A little confused. Aa lot pissed off. Ari jams all his energy and defiance, pain and joy into one high velocity night of dancing, sex and drugs. He's running HEAD ON into his own kind of freedom.

Head On is a narcotic ride through a powder keg of racial tension, police homophobia and sexual abuse – all framed by a day in the life of a troubled soul who must confront his status as an immigrant and a gay man. Ari’s seemingly insatiable sexual appetite takes him from one back-alley tryst to the next. He’s a nihilist always looking for another drug, an escape from his existence on the margins. He has given the finger to the world and makes no apologies about it. His life is filled with contradictions. He both embraces and rejects his Greek heritage, telling one friend that when people see Greeks, "they only see hairy backs." He wants to be close to his family, yet finds his father’s authority oppressive. He has sex with what seems to be half the male population of Melbourne, yet half-heartedly fools around with his friend’s sister. These contradictions and the incredible depth of Ari’s character drive the film. Audiences may remember Kokkinos’ wonderful dramatic short Only The Brave. She’s at it again, assembling a powerful cast – notably Alex Dimitriades as Ari, and Paul Capsis as his ostracized drag friend – in this crazed trip into the mind of a misguided young man and his war against the world.

Huckert, John

1998

A gay cop vs. a gay serial killer.

When a string of brutal slayings leaves several male hustlers dead, rookie cop Raymond Vates must battle both the killer and a police force reluctant to investigate what it dismisses as a bunch of "misdemeanor murders." Vates can’t share the department’s indifference – he’s gay himself, though closeted. But his involvement soon becomes more than professional when, during the course of his investigation, he unknowingly cruises the killer, Jack, in a gay bar. A troubled drifter in an underworld of trailer parks and dead-end jobs, Jack stalks beautiful young men in the nighttime streets of Los Angeles. But after cop and killer spend an evening together having sex, Vates becomes Jack’s new target. The killer steals the detective’s badge and implicates him in the murder spree. Vates is forced to come out on the job in order to remain on the case and – more importantly – to clear his own name. A cross between Seven and Priest, Hard is a gruesome, suspenseful, and totally absorbing crime drama. Note: Hard contains scenes of graphic violence.