MOVIES
LGBTQ Films in the Spotlight Houston Cinema Arts Festival showcases the work of nine queer directors. By ANDREW EDMONSON
The acclaimed lesbian love story Portrait of a Lady on Fire will close the 2019 Houston Cinema Arts Festival on Monday, November 18, at 7 pm at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
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he Houston Cinema Arts Festival returns for its eleventh season November 14–18, spotlighting nine queer filmmakers ranging from pioneers like Barbara Hammer to up-andcoming stars like Ja’Tovia Gary. One of the highlights of the festival will be the Houston premiere of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, winner of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival’s Queer Palm award. That prestigious award recognizes stellar films depicting LGBTQ themes. It will screen on Monday, November 18, at 7:00 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Set in France and directed by Céline Sciamma, the
18th-century lesbian love story has won rapturous reviews. Awarding the film a five-star rating and praising its “burning desires and flashes of Hitchcock,” Peter Bradshaw, of the Guardian of London, enthused, “Céline Sciamma’s gripping 18th-century story of obsession demonstrates a new mastery of classical style.” Writing in Variety, Peter Debruge observed, “One of four female-made features to premiere in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Portrait dares to engage directly with the questions of representation and gender that seem to have flummoxed the film industry of late, broadening its focus to ➝ OutSmartMagazine.com | NOVEMBER 2019 67
