Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival 2008

LUNCH TUESDAY-FRIDAY 11:00-2:00 DINNER MONDAY-THURSDAY 4:00-10:00 FRIDAY-SATURDAY 4:00-11:00 SUNDAY 4:00-9:00 CARRY-OUT

FRIDAY

TICKETS

Full Festival Pass (All Films and Parties)

Premiere Night Pass (Catered Pre-party, Opening Film, Catered After Party)

Saturday All-Day Pass

Sunday All-Day Pass

Individual Film Tickets (Saturday and Sunday)

Premiere Film Ticket (Friday Night)

STUDENT DISCOUNTS (WITH VALID STUDENT ID)

• Saturday and Sunday All-Day Film Pass............................................

• Individual Films On Saturday & Sunday

SCREEN A

1:00PM

FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO

4:00PM

LESBIAN SHORTS

Worst Case Scenario: Butch Edition

SCREEN B

$75 $50 $35 $25 $08 $20 $30 $05

YOUTH SHORTS

Ready? Ok! Princess Alisanne Queering My Mother

Stray Frontbum Dancin’ 20 Straws

Worst Case Scenario: Femme Edition

Late Rope Burn Dive

Congratulations Daisy Graham Crafty Black Men And Me Operated by Invisible Hands Hung

1:30PM 7:00PM

4:30PM 10:00PM

Reunion Laundromat Asian Boyfriend Discopedia Lincoln

GAY SHORTS COMMITTED TO EACH HER OWN 6:30PM IN TWILIGHT’S SHADOW OTTO; OR, UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE 9:30PM

SUNDAY

Center of the Universe OverStuff The Back Room Love Bite Neurotica

ROMEO’S KISS WERE THE WORLD MINE

DRAG SHORTS

Baby Jane Canada’s Next Top Showgirl Ice Skate Canada Trans Neptune Labels Are Forever Vicious and Delicious

SCREEN

2:00PM 4:30PM

SCREEN B UNCA TRANS STILL BLACK THE BOND XXY 7:00PM 8:30PM

2:30PM 5:00PM

CHASING THE DEVIL BE LIKE OTHERS

Full Festival Passes and Premiere Night Passes available for presale at Out Word Bound, Greg's, and online at www.indylgbtfilmfest.com. All other tickets available Festival Weekend at the ILGBTFF Box Office inside main entrance of the IUPUI Campus Center, based on availability. Seating for films guaranteed to Full Festival Pass Holders up to 15 minutes before show time.

Welcome To The 8th Annual

INDIANAPOLIS LGBT FILM FESTIVAL!

Having served as a volunteer for this event since the first year of the festival, I consider it a huge honor to extend this greeting to you as event director. I hope that you enjoy the festivities this weekend and an amazing line up of films!

This year is a year of exciting “firsts” for the film festival. We’ve held previous festivals in art house theatres on the north and south side of Indianapolis, but this year, we’ve finally moved downtown! How? The opening of the spectacu lar IUPUI Campus Center at the beginning of the year brought the film festival some fantastic opportunities: not one but three screening auditoriums, a first-rate staff, state-of-the-art AV technology, numerous conveniences and amenities for our guests, and a centralized location, all housed in a stunning architectural space. In between screenings, take a look around! It was indeed a credit to this event to be invited to the Campus Center and I hope it gives you a chance to see how IUPUI and downtown Indianapolis are growing.

The best part of the change in venue was the chance for the festival to connect with the diverse student body of IUPUI and to collaborate with interested academic depart ments and student organizations. For instance, another first for the festival steering committee this year was a new friend ship for us with the IUPUI Film Club. Members of this student organization, sponsored by the IUPUI Film Studies Program, formed the “Campus Alliance” to promote the festival on campus and assist with the selection of films for this year’s program. The film festival operates almost solely on a volunteer basis, so this influx of new energy is extremely welcome! We’re grateful to the IUPUI community for getting involved this year.

As for the films, we’re pleased to offer, once again, some of the best contemporary work in queer cinema. The weekend begins with the long-awaited premiere of Robert Cary’s drama Save Me, which was an enormous hit at Sundance and Outfest (Los Angeles) in 2007 and continues to draw huge audiences on the current festival circuit. The film tells the story of a troubled gay man (Chad Allen) who seeks solace in a Christian retreat (a facility designed to cure young men of their “gay affliction”) only to find friendship and romance with his male mentor (Robert Gant). Of course, the reconciliation between sexual identity and religious doctrine is a familiar and engaging subject to Midwest audiences. So be sure to attend the Spirit and Place screening and discussion of Daniel Karslake’s documentary For The Bible Tells Me So and the critically acclaimed study of Islam and homosexuality A Jihad For Love, by the Muslim gay film director Parvez Sharma.

Later in the weekend, prepare yourself for laughter and chills. Our centerpiece films this year include To Each Her Own, by maverick film director Heather Tobin, and Robert Gustafson’s crowd-pleasing fantasy musical Were the World Mine. And stay up late Saturday night for a hilarious line up of “Drag Show!” (a first for the festival), hosted by one of Indianapolis’ own stars: the legendary diva Holly Luyah. Or feast upon the first gay zombie movie, the ultra-gruesome and disgustingly horrific Otto; or Up With Dead People, directed by queer cinema’s scandalous Bruce LaBruce.

Mark Harper

Director

As a fundraiser for the Indiana Youth Group, the film festival exists through tireless volunteer efforts. The steering committee is composed of community-minded individuals who work countless hours behind the scenes. They form the staff of fundraising events, call upon sponsors, negotiate contracts with filmmakers and distributors, spend unpaid hours at the computer managing communications, plan the composing of water-tight grant proposals, and promote the festival as often as possible. As a committee we do all of this with two purposes in mind: to bring a strong program of queer cinema to local LGBT audiences and to create an enjoyable weekend of entertainment. We thank these individuals for their time and dedication.

As a cultural event for the community, though, we have our sponsors to thank. If you enjoy the film festival this year, please take a look at the names and logos displayed throughout the program. These are the generous forces that keep this event going, year after year. Their faith in our project and their abiding loyalty help us meet our goals. It’s the sponsors who keep this festival intact and propel us forward as we grow.

Most of all, thank you for coming to the festival this year! Our event offers everyone the chance to gather in a lively environment to laugh together, make new friends, and discuss the various issues that continue to impact our lives. When you show up for any part of the festival, you become part of that environment and add to the mix. Thanks again, and enjoy the weekend!

Festival

NOMINATED FILMS

WERE THE WORLD MINE

CASTING PEARLS

JURIED PRIZES

The Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival honors two films with the AT&T Pioneers: Best of Festival Awards The director winning First Place receives $1,000. The director winning Second Place receives $500. In order to be eligible, films must be submitted via our international call for entries and abide by all terms for submission. The field is narrowed down to five contenders by our film selection committee and then those five are presented to a panel of judges for a final decision. The winning films will be announced at our Premiere Party Event!

JUDGES

DEBRA WHITE-STANLEY

Debra White-Stanley is Assistant Professor of Film Studies at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, where she teaches courses on topics such as Film History, Women and film, the Horror Film, and Experimental Cinema. She is currently working on a book on the war film and memoir, and has published articles on sound in the films of Allison Anders; gender representation in Saving Private Ryan and Thin Red Line ; and The Manchurian Candidate

BILL ELLIOTT

Bill Elliott grew up in England and moved to the United States in 1979. He completed master’s and PhD degrees in English literature and film studies at Indiana University and has taught at IU Bloomington, IUPUI, and Butler University. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Arts Indiana, Nuvo, The Syracuse New Times (Syracuse, N.Y.), and The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. He is currently theatre and film critic for The Word and Up Downtown!

ANGEL ROBERTSSON

Angel Robertsson serves on the board of directors of the Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance, and has been the project manager for INTRAA's "Reel Gender" film series. She has spoken about transgender issues to more than 50 classes of college and high school students, and has served on the Indiana Youth Group's advisory committee.

ABBY OGDEN

Abby Ogden is in her second year serving on the film selection committee, and this is her first year as a judge for the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. She has served the queer community through her work at Out Word Bound Bookstore.

"Fighting for quality queer cinema in Indianapolis since 2005!"

ABERNATHY

Ken Abernathy a native of Indiana, began exploring his interest in film while attending Indiana University. Ken has volunteered with Heartland film Festival and is in his second year with the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival, serving as a member of the film

www.IndyLGBTFilmFest.com

FESTIVAL CO-DIRECTORS

Mark Harper and Pamela Powell

SPONSORSHIP COMMITTEE

Pamela Powell

Royce Cole, Jr. Darci Krumm

Richard Mills

SELECTION COMMITTEE

Catherine Crouch

Royce Cole, Jr. Abby Ogden Chad King Bryan Sirtosky

Kevin Kelly

Kenny Abernathy Chelsea Cooke Tess Saunders Wes Felton Sapna Kumar

CAMPUS ALLIANCE

Tess Saunders

Chelsea Cooke Wess Felton Debra White-Stanley (IUPUI Film Studies Club Advisor)

PROMOTIONAL EVENTS COMMITTEE

Michael Witte

Terri Gullion

Shannon Criss Petra Fippen

PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE

Bob Dietrich

Chris Tolzmann

Andy Austin Kevin Kelly

TECHNICAL LOGISTICS

Scott Benson

ART DIRECTOR/GRAPHICS

Matt Mutchmore

WEBSITE

Tracy Robbins Smith

Look for us of MySpace and Facebook!

INDIANA YOUTH GROUP

The Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival is a fundraiser for Indiana Youth Group (IYG). IYG provides a safe place, a confidential environment, and youth development programs and support services which foster personal strength and wellness among self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people. IYG advocates on their behalf in schools, on the streets, and in the community.

MAILING ADDRESS PO Box 20716 Indianapolis, IN 46220-0716

YOUTH ACTIVITY CENTER 2943 E. 46th St. (46th St. & Binford Blvd). Indianapolis, IN 317-541-8726

an Introduction...

Thanks for your support of the 2008 Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. On behalf of the entire selection committee I am excited to introduce you to a wonder ful, inspiring and sometimes challenging program of films Our goal is to provide a roster of films that will entertain, but that also reflects our community’s diversity and our struggles, our moments of anguish and triumph.

Due to the unexpected large number of entries with a spiritual theme or subject matter, this year we are featuring a special festival-wide theme entitled Focus On Religion. Our critically acclaimed opening night film, Save Me, is a provoca tive drama about a troubled gay man and the Christian retreat he is forced to attend. This intelligent film features Chad Allen and Judith Light in affecting perfor mances.

Chasing The Devil: Inside the Ex-Gay Movement is a documentary chronicling the personal journeys of four people candidly discussing their experi ences “changing” their sexual orientation from gay to straight through an intensive Christian-based therapy program. For The Bible Tells Me So, our Spirit & Place program co-sponsored by Central Christian Church, is a documentary featur ing portraits of Christian families and the myriad ways that they have reconciled faith with “that certain” passage in the Christian Bible.

We are screening two timely and fascinating documentaries that explore the experiences of LGBT people born into the Islamic faith and tradition. A Jihad For Love surveys LGBT folks around the world who live as outcasts and reformers within their own religious communities.

Be Like Others is set in a Tehran sex reassignment clinic and follows the stories of doctors and their patients living under a fundamentalist regime where the existence and practice of same sex love is forbidden by death, yet sex reassignment surgery is culturally mandated and sanctioned by the government as a merciful cure for homosexuality. Voodoo Woman is an unusual and touching personal documentary about Canadian filmmaker Carolina Valencia’s struggle for personal acceptance, a journey that leads her to the Afro-Cuban tradition of Santería, a religion that recognizes that gender is not always defined by our physical bodies.

Saturday our lineup of narrative features includes Were the World Mine, a magical and sexy musical about an all-boys high school performing a Shake speare production, XXY, an accomplished Argentinean coming of age film concern ing 15-year-old Alex, born an intersex child, who begins negotiating a sexual awakening without the benefit of a clearly defined gender identity. To Each Her Own by first time feature director Heather Tobin (profiled on page 22) is the story of a romantic bond between a lesbian Lothario and her married - and closeted – lover.

Sunday we are presenting a new film by director Casper Andreas, Between Love And Goodbye , a contemporary romance about a young French man and an American who struggle to make their relationship work when family drama threatens to tear them apart. The World Unseen is a beautiful and polished period drama set in 1950s Cape Town where, amongst the legally oppressed middle class of “coloreds”, cafe owner Amina falls in love with Miriam, causing an upheaval in both their lives and livelihoods.

This festival we are thrilled to offer the Indianapolis premieres of four films with local connections, Committed by Indianapolis filmmaker Sarah Mynett, Princess Alisanne by Carmel director Jennifer Mathews, Ready? Ok! written and directed by LaPorte native Anthony Meindl, and Ordinary Couples by Indianapolis photographer Mark Lee, featuring interviews with 10 long term gay and lesbian couples from the Indianapolis area.

Purely for fun and mayhem, we are excited to present our first ever Late Night Saturday Fun House on two screens - Goth Night features a slick and twisted lesbian vampire short, In Twilight’s Shadow, as well as the latest in raunch from notorious Canadian director Bruce LaBruce. Otto; Or, Up With Dead People features the adventures of a “real” Gay Zombie mistakenly cast in a Gay Zombie movie when the filmmakers all assume he is “living in character” and indulge his strange behavior and tendency to defile fellow cast and crew members.

Drag Show! Hosted by Holly Luyah is our first ever foray into a shorts program full of drag drama and science fiction whose titles – Baby Jane? Canada’s Next Top Showgirl, Trans Neptune, Labels Are Forever, The Vicious and the Delicious – capture the flavor and frivolity we expect from our audience at this screening.

Thanks for your support and we hope you will enjoy the movies!

Film Selection Chair

Catherine Crouch

FRIDAY premiere night!

Fair Enough

Director: Jim Hoppin 5 Minutes, USA

A knock on the door leads to an unusual and important visitor.

Casting Pearls

Director: Andrea James 7 Minutes, USA

Casting Pearls is a short comedic film which illustrates the difficulties transsexual women face in Hollywood via a hectic series of auditions endured by Cassandra, a transsexual actress. Cassandra weathers the horrible, funny and cruel things said by various Hollywood professionals with plucky determination and professionalism, showing that decades of bias can't hold back the real contributions of transgender people to the arts and media.

Save Me

Director: Robert Cary 96 Minutes, USA

ACTOR PRESENT

Save Me is a subtly nuanced and deeply sympathetic look at both sides of one of the most polarizing religious and sexual debates in America: the conflict - and possible reconciliationbetween homosexuality and Christianity. Mark (Chad Allen) is a young gay man who is addicted to sex and drugs. After a particularly nasty binge his brother checks him into Genesis House, a Christian retreat in New Mexico miles from anywhere. Run by a compassionate husband and wife team, Gayle (Judith Light) and Ted (Stephen Lang) have made it their life's mission to cure young men of their 'gay affliction' through spiritual guidance. At first, Mark resists, but soon takes the message to heart and begins to bond with his fellow residents...in particular Scott (Robert Gant), a mentor charged with guiding Mark through his conversion. As their friendship evolves into romance, Mark and Scott are forced to confront their true selves, while Gayle and Ted find the values they hold as absolute truths to be threatened. Powerful, restrained performances and a provocative yet believable plot bring light to this contentious subject. Save Me offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshair of scripture and sexual identity. • Q&A session with our special guest, Save Me star Robert Gant (Queer As Folk), immedi ately following screening.

SATURDAY

For The Bible Tells Me So

Sponsored By Spirit & Place

Director: Daniel Karslake 99 Minutes, USA

Does God really condemn loving homosexual relationships? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? These questions and more are answered in this award-winning documentary, which brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture – and reveals that religious anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a misinterpretation of the Bible. Through the experiences of five very normal, Christian, American families – including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episco pal Bishop Gene Robinson – we discover how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or family member. Offering healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity, this landmark film boldly takes on a loaded topic and examines it both intellectually and emotionally; the result may well leave you blinking away a few tears. • Discussion group with Central Christian Church immediately following screening.

Committed

Director: Sarah Mynett 3 Minutes, USA

This short narrative drama follows two people who candidly talk about their relationship, seemingly built on trust and communication.

To Each Her Own

Director: Heather Tobin 111 Minutes, Canada

Jess meets Casey, a very openly gay woman and quickly the girls form a strong romantic bond which forces Jess to come to terms with her true sexuality; risking her family and hurting her best friend/husband. • See our in-depth interview with director Heather Tobin on page 22.

girls on film

SATURDAY SCREEN A 4:00 PM

Worst Case Scenario: Butch Edition

Worst Case Scenario: Femme Edition

Director: Mary Guzman 10 Minutes, USA

A Super 8 “how to” primer.

Late

Director: Guinevere Turner 7 Minutes, USA

We see all of the details inside a woman’s apartment as we hear the messages that are being left for her.

Rope Burn

Director: Ruth Saunders 7 Minutes, Australia

Rope Burn is about a love triangle precariously set above the stage of a sexy and contemporary all-girl trapeze circus. Producer Adam Bishop says “the film shows an exhilarating trapeze circus made more dangerous by the sexual indiscre tions of the troupe.” The short film was written by Clytie Smith, a circus rigger by trade before taking to screenwriting fulltime.

Dive Director: Larin Sullivan 11 Minutes, USA

A cute young thing with a date to impress likes rapping about “Rimbaud and Shit,” but is she brave enough to get what she wants?

Congratulations Daisy Graham

Director: Cassandra Nicolaou 15 Minutes, Canada

Seventy-year-old Daisy Graham is having a hard day.

Crafty Director: Erik Gernand 9 Minutes, USA

A crafty activist collecting signatures for a gay marriage petition encounters a craft-loving housewife who refuses to sign on for the cause.

Black Men And Me

Director: Michèle Clarke 6 Minutes, Canada

In Black Men and Me, a woman explores her position as a Trinidadian dyke and her complex relationship with black men. Shot in a barbershop, a traditional gathering place for black men, she has her head shaved while she reflects on her black masculinity.

Operated By Invisible Hands

Director: Nicole Brending 7 Minutes, USA

Two antique dolls confront their secret feelings for each other after a night of unforgettable passion.

Hung

Director: Guinevere Turner 12 Minutes, USA

With the help of a magic potion, five friends find themselves hung for a single day. The day’s goal is clear, but the means are more difficult as each tries to make use of her new assets.

BLACK MEN AND ME

OPERATED BY INVISIBLE HANDS

Lesbian Shorts Program

out loud

Youth Shorts Program

SATURDAY SCREEN B 1:30 PM

Free admission for ages 13-18. $5 admission for any accompanying adult. Younger children admitted with presence of parent.

Ready? OK!

Director: Anthony Meindl 24 Minutes, USA

Julie, a struggling actress is trying to become something she's not, young with a Double D chest size while her son, Tommy, is fighting to become something he is, a cheerleader at heart.

Princess Alisanne

Director: Jennifer Matheson

14 Minutes, USA

DIRECTOR PRESENT

A fractured fairy tale about a princess who refuses to be rescued by her Prince...as she will have to marry him...but she does not love him.The chase ensues!

Queering My Mother

Director: Lourdes Rivas

7 Minutes, USA

English and Spanish with English

Subtitles

The coming-out story of a rebellious queer daughter and how it served as an incentive for her intolerant mother to work towards a mutual understanding.

Stray

Directors: Craig Boreham and Dean Francis 15 Minutes, Australia

A retelling of the classic tale of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse, Stray follows the story of Mouse, a teenager who leaves his home in the country in search of his place in the world.

Frontbum Dancin'

Director: Tonnette Stanford 7 Minutes, Australia

It’s artistic, it’s aggressive, it’s visually stunning…this is FRONTBUM DANCIN’!

20 Straws: Growing Up Gay

Director: Liv Gjestvang, Youth Video OUTreach Collective 28 Minutes, USA

20 Straws: Growing Up Gay follows the lives of nine Columbus teenagers as they come into their identities as out, gay youth. Under the guidance of video artist Liv Gjestvang, these talented young artists share their stories of coming out and staying out in high school. From Wayne, who mistakenly thought he had AIDS as a little boy, to Denise whose mother forgot her own daughter was a lesbian, to Aris, whose hero is David Bowie, this deeply touching and courageous film will grab you with its heartfelt honesty and spirited look at being young, gay and out in high school.

PRINCESS ALISANNE

STRAY

FRONTBUM DANCIN’

goth night

In Twilight’s Shadow

Director: TM Scorzafava 12 Minutes, USA

The adventure of a female immortal called to rise from her suspension between light and dark to rescue the mortal she loves, but left behind.

Otto; Or, Up With Dead People

Director: Bruce LaBruce 94 Minutes, Germany Canada

English and German with English subtitles

Otto is a handsome, sensitive, neo-Goth zombie with an identity crisis. He looks and smells like a zombie but isn’t certain that he is one. He wanders the streets of the city, never sleeping, until one day--as he is being harassed by hooligans--he ducks into an alley and spots a poster announc ing auditions for a zombie film. He soon meets aspiring filmmaker/revolutionary Medea Yarn, who is convinced that Otto, as a confused zombie, is the perfect embodiment of the effects of advanced capitalism on individuals. Medea begins to make a film about Otto, while simultaneously shooting a film about a gay zombie revolt against consumerist society. After moving in with an actor, Otto begins to remember fragments of his pre-zombie life with a sweet boyfriend. As Medea directs the final, orgiastic scene of her gay zombie film, Otto struggles to access the human emotions buried beneath his zombie exterior.

Otto; Or, Up With Dead People is a clever modern fable about alienation and the problems created by a mass-produced society, where even the members most on the fringe find it hard to resist being pulled into the mainstream. Toying with genre conventions, combining different media, and making use of Medea’s often-humorous films-within-the-film, Bruce LaBruce creates a new, sexy, hyperpoliticized zombie mythology.

Romeo’s Kiss (Le Baiser)

Director

12

By: Julien Eger

Minutes, France

In French with English subtitles

Cecile, Thomas and Jeremie learn what falling in love means after playing out a scene in Romeo & Juliet.

Were The World Mine

Director: Tom Gustafson 95 Minutes, USA

If High School Musical indulged in flights of homoerotic fancy, it might look something like Tom Gustafson’s Were The World Mine. But to truly capture the essence of the writer-director’s spirited debut feature, we turn to an ever more timeless source: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

When not suffering the wrath of his homophobic classmates, Timothy withdraws into his imagination, where macho rugby players morph into dancing fairies decked out in go-go boy attire. Timothy first balks at acting in the play but eventually embraces the role of Puck and, armed with a magical pansy, turns nearly the whole town gay — with unexpected implica tions for his mother, his two best friends and the hot star rugby player.

With vibrant imagery, a first-rate ensemble cast and innovative music rivaling the best of pop/ rock and contemporary Broad way, Were the World Mine attempts to push modern gay cinema and musical film beyond expectation.

ROMEO’S KISS

OTTO

SCREEN A 9:30 PM

for the boys

Gay Shorts Program

SATURDAY SCREEN B 4:30 PM

Reunion

Director: Dennis Hensley 11 Minutes, USA

Things get hot and heavy with the hunky quarterback at Kenny's 15th high school reunion.

Laundromat

Director: Edward Gunawan 12 Minutes, USA

A young couple learns that the little things are what count after meeting an older man in a neighborhood laundromat.

Asian Boyfriend

Director: Wayne Yung 1:00 Minute, Canada

"Get your very own Asian boyfriend today!"

Discopedia

Director: Ho Tam 8 Minutes, Canada

Filmed at the monthly "AsianXpress" in the 5ive Night Club in Toronto, Discopedia studies and spells out the language and the psychology of the club culture.Ho Tam says: "I have always wanted to do a Pop-up Video. And Discopedia is the closest version that I have come up with!"

Lincoln

Director: Daniel Zox 3 Minutes, USA

A young man shifts into position for a jittery display.

Center of the Universe

Director: Jarrah Gurrie 14 Minutes, Australia/USA

In Arabic and English with English subtitles Searching for intimacy, Oscar joins a Cuddle Group.

OverStuff

Director: Keith Wilson 8 Minutes, USA

Chris and Jake’s routine visit to the thrift store is interrupted by the discovery of something a little too “closet” to home.

The Back Room

Director: Greg Ivan Smith 16 Minutes, USA

Two utter strangers uncover astonishing connections as they search for a mysterious Renaissance painting.

Love Bite

Director: Craig Boreham 3 Minutes, Australia

Noah and Gus hang out and smoke weed after school. As the munchies kick in Noah feels compelled to share a secret desire that has been tormenting him.

Neurotica

Director: Nick Wauters 13 Minutes, USA

Filmed in a single take, Neurotica takes you inside the minds of the patrons of a gay bar…and it’s not pretty.

NEUROTICA

LOVE BITE

drag show!

Hosted

SATURDAY SCREEN B 10:00 PM

Baby Jane?

Director: Billy Clift 9 Minutes, USA

A parody of the thriller...beyond ones expectations.

Canada's Next Top Showgirl

Director: Mark German 5 Minutes, Canada

The B-Girlz find themselves vying for the coveted title of "Canada’s Next Top Showgirl" in this promo for a yet to be released reality television series coming soon to a network near you. The stakes are high even if the standards are low so stayed tuned to see who will come out on top and who will bottom out here on Canada’s Next Top Showgirl!

Ice Skate Canada

Directors: Mark Peacock and Michael Boyuk

2 Minutes, Canada

The B-Girlz slide into the world of figure skating in this promo for an upcoming skating competition. But can Barbie Querigan survive Kora Harding s shenanigans? And who ends up hitting the boards while Ivana Baliul hits the bottle? It s a slippery trip into backroom politics and on ice drama that you don t want to miss.

Trans Neptune: or The Fall of Pandora, Drag Queen Cosmonaut

Director: Matthew Long 14 Minutes, Canada

Lying in the haze of an underground Gas Den, Pandora, the last of the Drag Queen Cosmonauts, tells the tale of her journey out beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Labels Are Forever

Director: Jinky deRivera 14 Minutes, USA

In Labels Are Forever, 007 Secret Asian J. Wong and her nemesis El Capitan battle over the community’s labels, a collection of identities that govern the queer universe.

The Vicious and The Delicious

Director: Tonnette Stanford 11 Minutes, Australia

Nail-scratching catfights, countless illicit affairs, double identi ties, mistrustful motives, dubious dealings, fabulous fashion statements, and bizarre story twists – all this and more in…The Vicious and the Delicious!

CANADA’S NEXT TOP SHOWGIRL

TRANS NEPTUNE THE VICOUS AND THE DELICIOUS

CANADA’S NEXT TOP SHOWGIRL

LABELS ARE FOREVER

BABY JANE?

ICE SKATE CANADA!

by Holly Luyah

The Witnesses

Sponsored by BioScrip

Director: André Téchiné 115 Minutes, France

French

with English Subtitles

This moving and powerful drama follows the lives of a group of friends and lovers set in Paris in 1984, during the outbreak of AIDS. Handsome young Manu (Johan Libérau) arrives in Paris where he shares a cheap hotel room with his sister (Julie Depardieu). He soon strikes up a platonic friendship with fifty-something Adrien (Michel Blanc) who introduces Manu to his friends Sarah (Emmanuelle Béart) and her partner Mehdi (Sami Bouajila). Unexpectedly, sparks fly between Manu and Mehdi and the two embark upon a secret and passionate affair that ultimately changes the lives of this circle of friends forever. Brilliantly evoking the period and featuring some exceptional performances, André Techiné's remarkable film confirms his place as one of contemporary French cinema's finest directors.

Ordinary Couples / ExtraOrdinary Lives!

Director: Mark A Lee 95 Minutes, USA

Created by local photographer Mark A. Lee, Ordinary Couples/ExtraOrdinary Lives! takes a look at 10 same sex couples (5 male and 5 female) who have been together for 10 years or more. Filmed in front of a live audience at the Univer sity of Indianapolis, the couples have been together from 10 to 55 years. Each couple talks about everything from the coming out process, to faith, raising families, and taking care of your partner in the golden years, in a fun and entertaining way. Gay and lesbian youth from IYG and Pike High School helped do everything from building the set, to conducting the individual interviews, and the actual filming. Background music throughout the film is provided by local musicians John Cannaday, Deb Mullens, Christopher "C-Ray" Ray, and the Ensemble Voltaire, among others.

A Jihad For Love

Director: Parvez Sharma 81 Minutes, USA, UK, France, Germany, Australia English and Arabic, Farsi, Undu, Hindi, Turkish, French with English subtitles

In a time, when Islam is under tremendous attack - from within and without - A Jihad For Love is a daring documentary. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma travels the many worlds of this dynamic faith, discovering the stories of its most unlikely storytellers: lesbian and gay Muslims. Filming in twelve countries and nine languages, Sharma has gone where the silence is strongest, in nations where government permis sion to make this film was not an option.

Just A Kiss

Director: Michael Wilde 3 Minutes, USA

A film about kissing in queer films.

Between Love And Goodbye

Director: Casper Andreas 96 Minutes, USA

Cute boys, hot sex, and a killer original soundtrack are all highlights of this modern gay drama about falling in love, breaking up, and all the difficult spaces in between. Between Love And Goodbye tells the story of a young gay couple torn between love for each other and commitment to family. Marcel and Kyle are blissfully in love when Marcel’s student visa expires, threatening to send him back home to France. Marcel marries his lesbian friend Sarah so he can stay in the States with Kyle. Things are going fine until Kyle’s estranged sister April shows up and wants to stay with them while she gets her life back together. She takes a quick dislike to Marcel, and Kyle and Marcel’s relationship hits a rough patch, jeopar dizing their domestic bliss and throwing them into a tangled mess of emotions.

ORDINARY COUPLES

A JIHAD FOR LOVE

BETWEEN LOVE AND GOODBYE

THE WITNESSES

DIRECTOR PRESENT

THE WITNESSES

JUST A KISS A JIHAD FOR LOVE

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Filmmaker Profile:

by Catherine Crouch

Heather Tobin is a young, talented filmmaker born in Toronto, Canada and raised in Barrie, Ontario. Tobin graduated from the three year Broadcasting Program as a Film Major at Niagara College Canada with honors. At Niagara, she was honored with the Bob Johnson Award for best all around student, an award for best cinematography in a short film and an award for her final thesis paper on the importance of the female vision in the film industry. Since graduating in 2003 Tobin has started her own independent film company, 'To Each HER Own FILMS'.

I was struck by the relaxed, confident style in Tobin’s feature film debut, To Each Her Own. In many ways this story of a Lesbian Lothario chasing [and being pursued by] a married “straight” woman could have been typical, yet Tobin’s deep mastery of the emotional nuances is quite stunning and deft.

Long kissing scenes took me back to those early 20-something relationships and their emotional intensity, the physical draw of a forbidden love, the hunger that cannot be satisfied.

Tobin had me squirming through a gripping scene of that cringe worthy moment many of us have been through where one woman is beating on the door and begging to talk and the other woman is in the house with her primary partner, aching to open the door yet trapped and humiliated by the exposure of secrets.

I believe our Indianapolis audience will be as engaged and excited by Tobin’s film as we were on the selection committee and I am excited to introduce you all to her here in this filmmaker’s profile.

CC: How did you get involved with filmmaking?

HT: I wanted to be a director since I was 12 years old and I bought my first VHS video camera with paper route money. When I realized that I was gay and started becoming comfortable with my true self I felt completely at ease and liberated, I had never felt more alive and I knew it was my personal life goal to help other men and woman become comfortable with who they are as well as to maybe enlighten other people with how hard it can be to be openly gay even in today’s day and age and the only way its ever going to get better is if it becomes common and of the norm.

CC: Please tell us about your film.

The director at work on her feature To Each Her Own.

Hannah Hogan and Tracy Rae star in To Each Her Own.

HT: Jess meets Casey, a very openly gay woman and quickly the girls form a strong romantic bond which forces Jess to come to terms with her true sexuality. Jess is captivated by Casey’s lifestyle, meeting her friends and accepting family send Jess’ life spinning out of control not knowing what to do as she falls deeper in love with Casey and risks losing her loyal and kind hearted husband. Casey's life is turned upside down as well, having been a very promiscuous woman, never feeling that true love was really her thing, until now! Ultimately Jess is forced to choose between Casey & Trevor, risking stability, her family, all that she knows, for the great unknown and her new found love. To Each Her Own goes deep into the feelings and emotions that people go through while undergoing the coming out process in hopes to help people understand how truly hard the struggle with both internalized and external homophobia can be.

CC: I am so impressed you acted as the writer, director, cinematographer and editor on your first feature. Since a feature usually requires intense collaboration between four (or more) people to cover these duties I wonder how it was to wear all these hats as well as communi cate with your actors?

HT: The actors went above and beyond anything I could have hoped for with first time actors working on a deferral basis. The three leads are so incredible. I would literally do 30 takes of every scene and they would deliver the same caliber of acting each and every take. I originally had Casey in my mind as a more boi dyke type character. I considered placing Hannah Hogan (Jess) and Tracy Rae's (Casey) roles opposite but with much debate I decided that the actors’ talents suited their roles. Tracy studied lesbian mannerisms to a T and threw her walk and her voice right into the role.

CC: Tell us how the story came about for you.

HT: Well personally my family has always supported my sexuality so it’s certainly not autobiographical. The script took about six months to write around my day job and it’s based on many different factors and experiences both personal and through friends experience. Most of the morals and views expressed in the film are mine and it’s the little things in the film, like believing in love at first sight and the characters ordering my favorite meals in the opening scenes that are more me.

CC: How much do you collaborate with actors?

HT: Since the film was [produced] on my credit cards and the equip ment money had come from money I saved over 2 years working in a factory, there was no money to put them up in hotels so the actors had to sleep over at my house (I was living with my grandmother at the time). We became like a little family. We formed very strong bonds and it was through really knowing my actors as people that I was able to direct each of the individually to their personal needs. I studied them as people and tried to keep this in mind when approaching them as a director. I had different techniques when directing each of them. Ultimately it was important to me to have strong friendships on set while always keeping in mind the final product. The actors in To Each Her Own will always hold a special place in my heart.

is very unusual.

HT: I was the director, cinematographer and camera op. So all the shots were mine. It made it easy, we were always so rushed on set and not having to transfer my angles/framing to a camera op, allowed me the extra time to work on rehearsals and nailing the takes. Basically I did everything but boom. On occasion I couldn't find someone to boom the shoot so I'd do that too, but those scenes would never have a nice pan (laughs). The actors were great, they knew I had no crew and would always help boom or carry equipment.

CC: What do you hope audiences will take from your film?

HT: I want gays and lesbians to be proud when they walk down the street holding their partner’s hand. Externalized and internalized Homophobia will only get better if we're willing to go through the rough times to get to the good. We have come so far in the past 50 years and the next step is to be brave and put it all on the line. Never treat your same-sex relationship any different than you would a straight one because if you do, then that gives everyone else the right to.

CC: Tell us about your plans for future projects.

HT: I'm currently writing a second lesbian film but before I make that I would love to find a producer for a really cool concept film I've written. It’s called Innate Responses (Science Fiction Drama) and although it is a straight film a lot of underlying messages in the film are related to gay and lesbian issues. Or issues in general of being out of the norm. It is kind of like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, crossed with Donnie Darko and The Butterfly Effect

CC: Any final thoughts about the making of To Each Her Own?

HT: I would just like to thank all my friends, family and actors for putting up with me taking over their homes as sets and believing in me even though I didn't have a crew. I think To Each Her Own goes to show just how far a good script and amazing actors and a little know how can go to make a great film. People learn through the media and in order to stop homophobia more mainstream movies need to start being made about gay and lesbians.

Heather Tobin’s To Each Her Own will be shown on Saturday, November 15 at 6:30PM on Screen A of the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. We are honored to have Ms. Tobin as our guest at the screening .

Unca Trans

Directors: Allyson Mitchell, Christina Zeidler

5 Minutes, Canada

Set in an agrarian future, the title character pontificates about gender theory and activism back in the 2000’s.

Still Black: A Portrait Of Black Transmen

Director: Kortney Ryan Ziegler

77 Minutes, USA

Still Black: A Portrait Of Black Transmen, is an alternative feature-length documentary that explores the lives of six black transgender men living in the United States. Through the intimate stories of their lives as artists, students, husbands, fathers, lawyers, and teachers, the film offers viewers a complex and multi-faceted image of race, sexuality and trans identity.

The Bond

Director: Michael T. Connell

6 Minutes, USA

This is a film about the bond between a parent and a male to female transgender child, from the perspective of the parent.

XXY

Director: Lucia Puenzo

91 Minutes, Argentina

Spanish English Subtitles

For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15 year-old Alex (Ines Efron,) who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends from Buenos Aires to come for a visit at their house on the gorgeous Uruguayan shore, along with their 16-year-old son Álvaro (Martin Piroyan ski.) Alex is immediately attracted to the young man, which adds yet another level of complexity to her personal search for identity, and forces both families to face their worst fears.

Voodoo Woman

Director: Carolina Valencia 60 Minutes, Canada

In English and Spanish with English subtitles

Independent filmmaker Carlos Valencia has a date with destiny. While searching for new film ideas, Carlos turns to the Island of Cuba, to document the underground worlds of hip-hop music and gay life. Shooting in Cuba he encounters the Afro-Caribbean religion known as Santeria. Shrouded in secrecy and unaltered centuries-old traditions, Carlos and his camera enter filmmaker heaven as they gain unprecedented access into the occult faith's world of animal sacrifices (graphically depicted) and speaking in tongues.

While on the road to becoming a babalawoo or high priest, Carlos discovers that while he may be fine with his androgy nous appearance, the Santeria gods are not, and think it's time that he do something about it. Soon Carlos is returning home to Canada where he must face some truths he has been suppressing for close to fifty years.

Unlike any other ethnographic or trans documentary you may have ever seen, Voodoo Woman is brave, original and reveal ing. Ultimately the film is a journey, predicted by the gods, that Carlos Valencia had to make to become Carolina, the woman he always dreamt he would be.

Director/subject Carolina Valencia will attend the screening to discuss the film with the audience.

Carolina Valencia is a director, producer, animator and editor. Born in Colombia, South America, she migrated to Canada in the mid-1970s and later attended Sheridan College where she studied illustration. Previous films include The Two Cubas (2006), Cuba: A Place of Our Own, and Havana Hip Hop, among others.

VOODOO WOMAN

XXY

VOODOO WOMAN

UNCA TRANS

DIRECTOR PRESENT

DIRECTOR PRESENT

The Insomniacs

Director:

Kami Chisholm

11 Minutes, USA

A butch dyke who can't sleep goes to a nightly 3am Insomni acs Anonymous meeting and meets the girl of her dreams.

The World Unseen

Director: Shamim Sarif

94 Minutes, UK

Early apartheid South Africa is an unlikely place to be free. Yet here’s Amina, scandalizing her conservative Indian community by living as she pleases. They gossip about her wearing men’s clothes and taking women lovers; they wonder if she’ll ever marry. Furthermore, Amina owns a successful café with her “coloured” business partner Jacob. To skirt the law, they pretend he is just an employee. Into this haven of rebels comes young wife and mother Miriam, who stuns Amina with her shy beauty. Their immediate mutual attraction surprises them both. Seeing such a self-possessed Indian woman makes Miriam think and feel things she hasn’t before. She discovers just how imprisoned she is in her traditional marriage and starts to look for ways to have her own voice and enter the larger world. As the two women get to know each other through a series of driving lessons, passion ensues, and events soon force them to stand up to the ever-vigilant and volatile apartheid police.

Bringing her award-winning novel to the screen, director Shamim Sarif gives us fully realized characters resisting dehumanization in a touching story of the daily fight for liberation and its immediate rewards, where the beauty of the surrounding land belies the turmoil in a system built on fear, hatred and separation.

Chasing The Devil: Inside The Ex-Gay Movement

Directors: Mishara Canino-Hussung & Bill Hussung 102 Minutes, USA

Chasing the Devil is a feature documentary film presenting an unflinching look at the personal journeys of four people who claim to have changed their sexual orientation from gay to straight. Their stories mark the first time documentary filmmakers have been allowed inside the "ex-gay" movement and provide an empathetic and, at times, devastating portrait of those who claim homosexuality is an illness that can be healed.

Be Like Others

Director: Tanaz Eshaghian 74 Minutes, Iran, Canada, UK, USA

Farsi

with English Subtitles

Under Iran’s current fundamentalist rule, a homosexual may be harassed, arrested and punished with the most extreme measures possible. Yet changing your gender is not only legal, it’s perfectly acceptable under Islamic law. So, to avoid constant persecution and possible death, a high percentage of the nation’s next-generation gay population opt to willingly sign up for costly, traumatic sexualreassignment operations. For some, these state-sanctioned surgeries are excruciating ordeals that ultimately aren’t worth the agony; for others, the medical procedure is the first step toward complete, personal liberation. This extraordinary chronicle of Iran’s transsexual community follows several patients who’ve either gone through the process or are just beginning their journey to a new life. After spending time with these brave, beautiful souls who are forced by society to physically transform themselves, you’ll understand why they’re willing to risk everything in order to follow their hearts. They don’t want to be like others; they simply want to be themselves.

THE WORLD UNSEEN BE LIKE OTHERS

STEERING COMMITTEE

Mark Harper

Andy Austin

Kenny Abernathy

Scott Benson

Royce Cole, Jr.

Chelsea Cooke

Shannon Criss

Catherine Crouch

Bob Dietrich

Wes Felton

Petra Fippen

Terri Gullion

Kevin Kelly

JUDGES

Kenny Abernathy

Bill Elliot

Abby Ogden

Angel Robertsson

Debra White-Stanley

Pamela Powell

Chad King

Darci Krumm

Sapna Kumar

Richard Mills

Matt Mutchmore

Abby Ogden

Tess Saunders

Bryan Sirtosky

Tracy Robbins Smith

Chris Tolzmann

Michael Witte

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Julie Andrews

Dennis Bingham

Dawn Boarman

Gary Brackett

Mary Byrne

Susan Canady

Mark Condon

Phil Denton

Mindy Delp

Phillip Dopson

Jonathan Deming

Ted Fleischaker

Sharon Geiselman

Jason Hall

Kelly Hayes

Bill Hendrix

Dan Maxwell

Deana Mitchell

Brad Plunkett

Frank Ross

Dale Slater

LaDonna J. Sloan

Jill Thomas

Alan Tucker

Jerry Weitzel

Michael Whitlock

Building Better Communities! Supporting LGBT Youth...

www.IndianaYouthGroup.org

Thank you so much for supporting the annual LGBT film festival! It’s an incredible event that can only happen because of a dedicated group of volunteers. Our hats go off to Mark, Pam, Catherine, and all the rest of the film festival steering committee, judges and volunteers!

We also thank the film festival and you as a ticket holder for the support that you’ve shown Indiana Youth Group. As you may or may not know, any extra funds that the film festival brings in over and above its costs are donated to IYG. You help us serve the 500 youth that come to IYG’s activity center each year. We thank you, they thank you!

Because of your support, IYG will continue to provide a safe place and important programming to help LGBT youth thrive and realize opportunities past generations have not experienced.

Enjoy!

Mary Byrne IYG Executive Director

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