Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival 2012

Ryan Doucette stars in the award-winning lm Cloudburst, our Premiere Night feature.

We work incredibly hard each year to bring you the best LGBT-themed features, short films, and documentaries we can find. It takes months of preparation to pull off an event of this size. Our selection committee has watched dozens of films this year and has chosen what they feel best represent the spirit of our festival, and interests of our audience. Our committee does all of this on a volunteer basis. We hope you appreciate the work that has gone into the film festival. Your patronage is what keeps us goin g!

While you are enjoying the film festival this weekend, we'd like you to keep our beneficiary, the Indiana Youth Group (IYG) in your hearts and minds. Since 1987, IYG has impacted and supported thousands of young LGBT individuals. A dedicated array of committed board members, staff, and volunteers continue to fulfill IYG's mission to provide a safe place, a confidential environment, and services that foster self-esteem, resiliency, and positive decision-making skills among self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender young people. IYG advocates on their behalf in schools, on the streets, and in the community. We strongly believe in and support their important and necessary cause. We truly hope you do as well.

Please do not forget to support our sponsors. We could not exist without them! So please utilize their services and tell them you saw their ad in this program.

In order for LGBT filmmaking to survive, we must support these films financially. Don't forget to buy Blu-rays, DVDs, or stream online LGBT-themed films. Without your support, many films have an extremely difficult time getting produced and released. The holidays are upon us—films make a great gift!

Many of the films we are playing have Facebook pages, so if you see a film you particularly like this weekend, please tell the filmmaker! Go to the page and "Like" them, and send them a message that you saw their film at the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. It's the equivalent of a pat on the back or a good review. This positivity will help keep these filmmakers making films!

Thanks so much for coming to the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival.

Each year, the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival honors two films with the Best of Festival Awards. The first place winner will receive $1,000 and the second place film will win a $500 prize. The five films at right have been nominated by our selection committee and presented to our panel of judges for a final decision. The winning films will be announced on Premiere Night.

2012 BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARDS

ANNIE ZOLL

Annie Zoll is a sales consultant for ZESCO.com, her locally-owned family business which has provided the local and national food and beverage industry with wholesale restaurant and bar equipment, supplies and expert commercial kitchen design for 40 years. Annie is a member of the Contemporary Arts Society of the IMA, in addition to being a board member of the Indy Pride Organization.

NICOLE MISENCIK

Nicole is the Weekend Sunrise Meteorologist at WTHR in Indianapolis. You can also watch her on Eyewitness News at Noon on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Nicole has been awarded the American Meteorological Society's Seal of Approval. When she's not in the SkyTrak 13 forecast center, she loves to watch movies and explore Indianapolis. She's a self-professed food lover, and loves checking out many of the unique local restaurants central Indiana has to offer.

RICHARD PROPES

Richard Propes is the founder and publisher of TheIndependentCritic.com,  and a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association.

Propes has served on juries for the Indianapolis International Film Festival, Lake County Film Festival and for Fylmz.com while also freelancing for both print and online publications. Richard’s latest book is titled The Hallelujah Life

ASIA LABOUCHE

"Asia LaBouche" is produced by Douglas Mellinger. Douglas has been a Hoosier since moving from Ohio in 1990, and resides in Indianapolis with his partner and family. He has been performing in the art of drag since 1996. in 1999, Douglas made the decision to leave the corporate world and devote his full attention to a career in costuming and the art of professional female impersonation. He lists to his credit the titles of Miss Gay Indianapolis-America 2001, Miss Southern Cities-America 2002, Beyond-Chicago Land Entertainer of the Year 2004, and was crowned Miss Gay Indiana 2006. Asia is fondly referred to as "Indiana's Largest Living Indoor Attraction" but is best known as the Lady with Leg. Doug is proud to be a cast member at Talbott Street and invites you to join them every weekend to experience "The Ladies of Legends" as they celebrate their 10-year-anniversary.

Paula Katz is the Director and Curator of the Herron Galleries at the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis, Indiana where she has overseen a diverse contemporary art exhibition and lecture program since 2008. Formerly Assistant Curator of Art at the Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA, Paula has curated and overseen dozens of exhibitions and public programs in Chicago, IL, Indianapolis, IN, Auburn, AL and Columbus, GA. Paula has also served on the selection panel for the Indiana Artisan Program, is a board member of NoExit, and has jurored a number of regional and national art competitions.

PAULA KATZ

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PRECEDED BY

IMA

AUDIENCE AWARD -

Director: Earl Goshorn, USA, 90 Minutes

IMA / THE TOBY / SATURDAY 12:30PM

MIDWEST PREMIERE

Positive Youth follows four HIV-positive youth (late teens to 27) in four different North American cities in cinema vérité style. Each of the four subjects presents a dynamic perspective on the reality of living positive today. Medical and psychological experts weigh in to provide up-to-date facts and a historical context to the reality of living positively, and these dynamic youth inspire beyond their years to bring us their stories of unparalleled bravery.

Director: Quentin Lee, USA, 93 Minutes

Director: Charlie David, USA, 44 Minutes

PRECEDED BY

BLOOD FLOW

DIRECTOR: Jimmy Defebaugh, USA, 6 Minutes

A young man’s emotional attachments are put to the test after discovering his lover’s lifeless body.

PERFORMANCE ANXIETY

DIRECTOR: Reid Waterer, USA, 15 Minutes

Relentlessly funny, Performance Anxiety focuses on two straight actors who have to navigate their way through a graphic gay sex scene. How do they do it? They man-up and act, of course—and make it look pretty damn sexy!

COLD STAR

DIRECTOR: Kai Stänicke, Germany, 7 Minutes

Pushed up a diving platform by a menacing crowd of characters, a boy gets help from a mysterious man who suddenly changes the dynamics of the situation.

IT’S CONSUMING ME

DIRECTOR: Kai Stänicke, Germany, 4 Minutes Haunted by a barrage of emotional images, a young man can’t get escape from thoughts of his boyfriend and their relationship.

BEYOND THE TEAM

DIRECTOR: Tim Kulikowski, USA, 15 Minutes

Take a peek inside the lives of the members of the San Francisco Spikes Soccer Club and see how they developed a deep sense of gay community, friendship and extended family on and off the field.

COFFEE OR TEA?

DIRECTOR: Lucien Jung, USA, 6 Minutes

Zany party girl Britney sets up her sexually confused ex-boyfriend on his first date with a kooky club kid.

GROOM’S CAKE

DIRECTOR: Chad Darnell, USA, 35 Minutes

A young couple decide to film themselves while in the process of getting married, but chaos ensues when they find out they are going to become adoptive parents at the very same time.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8TH STARTING AT 9PM

The outrageous Varla Jean Merman is at it again in this epically campy mockumentary screen adaptation of her hit musical Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads. The story unfolds from the perspective of a community college film crew documenting Varla’s attempt at stardom by developing her own children’s television show. Tired of performing in dive bars, Varla sets out to recruit the best of the best to help her reach her dreams.

Hilarity ensues when our desperate diva sets out to wrangle her creative team, bringing to New Orleans theatre director and former child star Donna Drake (Broadway’s A Chorus Line) and composer/accompanist to the stars Seth Rudetsky (Sirius XM Broadway Host) under false pretenses.

Convincing Varla that she can’t be a star without co-stars, the gang holds auditions to survey the local talent. Enter the Mushroomhead sidekicks: a bitter local theater actor waiting for his big break and a former child pageant coach banned from the circuit.

Varla is all giggles as things seem to be moving forward, but when Seth jumps ship a new accompanist must be found. Fortunately Varla’s familiarity with New Orleans’ bath houses and dive bars lead them to a former porn star turned born again Christian piano man (and he’s got huge talent). Squatting in an empty house for rehearsals, Varla proves to be anything but a team player and must learn to work in a team before everything falls apart.

WELCOME

TO NEW YORK

Director: Michael Schiralli, USA, 83 Minutes

Director: Steven Tylor O’Connor, USA, 29 Minutes

PRECEDED BY

Wildy successful therapist Dr. Kitty Rosenblatt (drag star Sherry Vine) listens to the unique New York experiences of ve young people and uses unorthodox methods to help them get adjusted to life in the big apple. The lm stars Sean Paul Lockhart, Megan Kane, Lauren Ordair, Matthew Watson, Ashleigh Murray and features Casper Andreas, Alex Ringler and Victor Cruz.

INTERVIEW

THE MAN BEHIND

THE MAGIC

Legend

BY KEVIN KELLY

Jeffery Roberson

One of the highlights of the 12th Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival has to be the screening of the new lm Varla Jean and The Mushroomheads starring the one and only Varla Jean Merman in her rst headlining feature lm role. Varla Jean Merman is a character originated and portrayed by Jeffery Roberson, an American actor, singer and drag performer.

Perhaps best known for her role in the 2003 independent lm Girls Will Be Girls, Varla Jean Merman has also appeared in the HBO original documentary Dragtime, a very memorable episode of Project Runway (in which she wore the winning design) and two runs on All My Children as the character Rosemary Chicken. Merman's live shows are a staple of summer entertainment in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and she often performs in a variety of plays and cabaret acts in New York City, San Francisco and her home town of New Orleans. Varla has been described as "hysterical," "delirious," and "a demented genius." Varla Jean’s alter ego took a little time out of his busy schedule to sit down and answer a few questions.

Can you tell us a little about your beginnings and background?

I was raised in a very strict Southern Baptist home in Louisiana. So naturally I wanted to be my parents worst nightmare: a gay drag queen! Mission accomplished!

How did you come to create Varla Jean Merman?

I had read Ethel Merman's autobiography in which she had a chapter entitled "My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine." The chapter consisted of one page...which was blank! I had the idea for a character who was the child of two showbiz titans but was ignored because she reminded them of each other. Or at least that is what Varla claims. The name "Varla" I stole from the Russ Meyer cult-film Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! A gay bar in Baton Rouge at the same time was having a talent contest and I had just met a videographer name Vidkid Timo. We came up with a 10-minute sketch that combined video with live performance to tell Varla's story. We won the talent show and I started creating short videos to play in bars and would rarely go out in drag. It wasn't until I moved to New York that I started performing live.

Varla Jean seems rather innocent and less threatening when compared to a lot of other female illusionists. Is this a direct reflection of your personality?

I'm only threatening off-stage! Varla is a very sweet, slightly dim, narcissistic entertainer who has a desperate need for approval. Yes, I'm playing myself.

Were you influenced by any female comediennes?

Carol Burnett, Jo Anne Worley, and Lucille Ball!

A lot of our audience probably knows you from the film Girls Will Be Girls. When will the sequel be released and can you tell us anything about it?

I loved doing that film! The sequel is hilarious, but because it is a disaster film, there are a lot of special effects which have delayed its completion. Or, maybe they are just really busy adding filters to our faces to make us look a little like we did nine years ago in the first one. If they had waited any longer, the sequel should have been called Girls Will Be Golden Girls But, all I can say is in the sequel, a real asteroid is careening towards

Your song parodies are so clever. I especially love your operatic take on Dead Or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)." Have you ever run into any legal issues from the writers or publishers of these songs?

Even with parodies I buy the rights to the originals to record them to cover my ass!

What do you like to do when you aren't working and performing?  I love to drink red wine and go to boot camp classes. And sometimes I do those separately, too.

What's next for Jeff and Varla Jean?

I'm in NYC, opening a serious opera called The Medium. I play an abusive, alcoholic, con artist who has two kids. It's a stretch for me...well, the mother part. On second thought, I've been called a "mother" on occasion as well.

Don’t miss Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads, Saturday, November 10th at 3pm at the IMA. For all things Varla Jean, visit her website, www.varlaonline.com. You can also watch her hilarious short lms on her YouTube channel, download her albums on iTunes and nd her on Facebook.

Varla with Evie Harris (Jack Plotnick) on the set of Girls Will Be Girls 2

4:15PM

THE PROPOSAL

BearCity 2 brings us the continuing adventures of a tight-knit pack of bears, boys and cubs in the New York City bear scene - and this time, also the bear mecca and charming beach town, Provincetown, Massachusetts!

Two years later, Twinkish Tyler and Daddy bear Roger are boyfriends, living in Roger’s very plush penthouse in West Chelsea. Roger has settled firmly into domestic life while Tyler, now 23, is getting a little...restless.

Michael, our big Mama bear, has become a sought-after Broadway producer. His hot, Latino boyfriend, Carlos, is realizing his dream of opening a gay sports bar in Manhattan. Both wrapped up in their careers, they are unable to see that the technology they use to stay in touch is tearing them apart.

Meanwhile, lovable couple Brent and Fred grapple with the idea of the big “M”- marriage, an idea they don’t quite see eye to eye on. But when Roger pops the question, and a reluctant Tyler accepts, the gang of friends quickly discover they’re all in for a wild ride towards a wedding ceremony at the closing of Bear Week in Provincetown.

Joined by Brent's sharp-tongued mom Rose (Kathy Najimy), the altar-bound couple faces temptation from all the woofy daddies and exes surrounding them at every turn.

With Kevin Smith, Lt. Dan Choi, Frank DeCaro, Mike Ruiz and Varla Jean Merman lending their support, this latest BearCity adventure brings all the fur and fun that fans expect.

PRECEDED BY

THROUGH THE LENS OF INKEDKENNY

Directors: Denize Galiao & Marie Elisa Scheidt, Germany, 17 Minutes

InkedKenny is a fetish photographer whose work shapes the bear community of Montreal. What at rst appears to be purely a body-type cult reveals itself to be a source of strength through his extraordinary point of view.

Director: Douglas Langway, USA, 101 Minutes

DO YOU HAVE A CAT?

DIRECTOR: Jason Sax, USA, 11 Minutes

Could you be allergic to love? Do You Have a Cat? examines the trials of bisexual dating and pet ownership. Good thing you have a rockin’ bestie ( Buffy’s Amber Benson) for advice in finding Mr. or Ms. Right!

TUESDAY NIGHT MAKE-OUT

DIRECTOR: Richard Paro, USA, 14 Minutes

Tuesday Night Make-Out follows Vi and Catherine as they hurry through an afternoon of odd encounters and public transportation, hoping for an evening at home alone.

DEEP DOWN BALLET

DIRECTOR: Isabell Supa, Germany, 29 Minutes

Could it be a game or a training exercise? For a group of female soldiers in the German wilderness, a sexy and dangerous engagement has unexpected results.

SILENCES

DIRECTOR: Javier Sanz, Spain, 6 Minutes

The worst part of a quarrel is the silence that comes afterward. Silence floods everything.

COFFEE & PIE

DIRECTOR: Douglas Horn, USA, 15 Minutes

June and October are breaking up. Manipulative June feels her moral superiority justifies the breakup. October learns from seasoned waitress Billy-Jean that revenge is a dish best served with pie.

THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS

DIRECTORS: Ryan Logan & Fawzia Mirza, USA, 3 Minutes

As a young girl, Fawzia Mirza fell under the spell of Bollywood heroines and their promise of love and feminine perfection. As an adult, she looks back and reimagines the epic romance in the classic film Aradhana, in a new light.

THE FIRST DATE

DIRECTOR: Janella Lacson, USA, 8 Minutes

Amanda recalls the embarrassing events surrounding her first date with a beautiful sous-chef before asking her out a second time.

CENTERPIECE FEATURE

BY

THE BEGINNING

Finding love in the big city is never easy. But it’s always entertaining in this bouncy romantic comedy from first time feature director Terracino.

Elliot is an earnest 21-year-old Dominican American looking for love in all the wrong places. Bubbling with wistful enthusiasm, Elliot attacks each day in search of Mr. Right, despite consistently frustrating results. Scenes of his tragicomedy missed love connections, combined with flashbacks to Elliot’s childhood where he bonds with his young mother, a wide-eyed dreamer who fantasizes about winning the Price is Right and pulls her son out of school to watch soap operas.

Amidst a chaotic upbringing, including a colorful assortment of talkative relatives, young Elliot exhibits wisdom beyond his years. The juxtaposition of Elliot’s past and present paints a sweet, complex character study of a young gay man trying to find love and meaning in the big city. Terracino boasts a distinctive, fresh filmmaking style that demands attention. Each scene explodes with the energy of an artist in full bloom as he masterfully combines a hip slice of modern day romance with colorful family dynamics. Wild visual nuances, surprising fantasy interludes and a non-traditional approach to just about every aspect of filmmaking make this a must-see for connoisseurs of brave new cinema.

Director: Terracino, USA, 92 Minutes

Director: Brian Tolle, USA 8 Minutes

PRECEDED

The Beginning is a simple story that focuses on one moment of profound passion, fear and hope. On a cold dark night two naked strangers struggle to connect. What is the question? And, what is their answer?

The Adored is a complex thriller that challenges the audience to judge the affections of an emotionally fragile model and an eccentric photographer, as they spend a weekend alone in a beautiful countryside estate.

Maia is a struggling has-been model. After suffering a major loss, her relationship with her husband is thrown into turmoil. She holds high hopes that a session with the prolific celebrity photographer, Francesca Allman, will rejuvenate her career and bring her out of her depression.

Francesca suffers from severe OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and has isolated herself in remote northwest Wales in a house with an intriguing past.

Directors: Carl Medland, Amarjeet Singh, UK, 93 Minutes

PRECEDED BY

With Helen Harrell

/ THE TOBY / SATURDAY 8:30PM

Have you ever met someone who made your body heat up, get a little nervous and sweaty? Sexual Tension will reignite those lustful feelings as it weaves six scintillating experiences of men in various stages of nudity and many forms of erotic male bonding.

A pulsating, sexually-charged thrill ride, Sexual Tension begins as a young man feels the adrenaline rush of his sexy tattooist’s needle in “Ari” while in “The Cousin,” a geeky, cute boy finds a hot Summer afternoon triggering his taboo desire for his Speedo-clad cousin. Two straight buddies literally show each other how to make love to a woman in “The Other One,” while a man with ‘Broken Arms’ receives a sensual sponge bath from a male nurse.

‘Love’ is questionable when a broken shower brings a married man and a hairy innkeeper together when they least expect it and in “Workout” two muscular men, ‘sexting’ pictures to some hot chicks, begin to shed their clothes and inhibitions.

Argentinian filmmakers Marco Berger and Marcelo Mónaco‘s omnibus film, where sex links each story, offers voyeuristic pleasures as the camera penetrates and caresses the men’s bodies, but also turns a sharp eye to the mysterious, taboo and electrifying nature of male intimacy.

Language with English Subtitles.

Spanish

IMA

Directors: Marco Berger & Marcello Monaco, Argentina / US / France, 100 Minutes

Director: Campbell X, UK, 80 Minutes

I NEED A HERO

DIRECTOR: W.H. Bourne, USA, 14 Minutes

I Need a Hero briefly follows the progress of LGBT representation in comics from Northstar coming out in the late 80's, to Archie comics Kevin Keller. It also takes a look at independent comics written by LGBT creators as well as exploring the effects of LGBT characters on fans.

INSIGHT TO STRENGTHS WHY WE RIDE

DIRECTOR: Jen Ackerman, USA, 9 Minutes

Directed through the eyes of a social work student, this short documentary illustrates the strengths sifted out of living in the minority status of LGBT individuals. The stories told are accompanied by the creation of art, employing the strengths perspective in order to reshape what it means to be different.

DIRECTORS: Erick Stoll, Chase Whiteside, USA, 13 Minutes

Each year, more than 2,500 participate in a bicycle ride from SF to LA in order to raise money for the fight against HIV/AIDS. This film tells the story of this emotional journey.

OF AN ARMED CAVALIER COURAGE IN THE FACE OF HATE

DIRECTOR: Nathan Gillock, USA, 30 Minutes

Michelangelo has an abundance of critically-acclaimed work and rich dialogue that lies in correspondence with Tommaso de Cavalieri, a beautiful young man who stole away the mind of one of history’s most famous and heralded artists. Where did Michelangelo find his inspiration to create some the most beautiful male figures ever seen in the history of art? The dynamic between the two self-proclaimed lovers gets a retelling through a modern lens.

DIRECTOR: Matthew McLaughlin, Canada, 25 Minutes

Courage in the Face of Hate is the first Canadian documentary to focus on the human impact of hate crimes, violence and bullying against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans Canadians. Despite Canada being one of the first countries in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, LGBT people still face many hurdles in the march towards full equality. This documentary shows the perspectives of LGBT people from across the country and their experiences in dealing with homophobia, biphobia and transphobia at school, at work, in their families and in their communities.

The events surrounding the widely publicized and controversial raid of a Fort Worth gay bar in 2009 captured the attention of news media from around the world. But it was during the aftermath of the raid that Fort Worth really began to make headline-worthy strides toward equality for its LGBT citizens. Dallas filmmaker Robert Camina began documenting events the day after the raid and became a local fixture as the community evolved. After two years of exhaustive effort, Camina not only captures the horror, fear and lingering emotional wounds of the tumultuous night, he also explores the truly exceptional progress made by the city in the days that follow.

The documentary shares the perspectives of many eyewitnesses, activists and politicians who helped make those changes happen. The film is narrated by a television icon, Emmy-nominated actress and author Meredith Baxter ( Family Ties, Family ). Unflinching, unforgettable and unexpectedly moving, Raid of the Rainbow Lounge documents a journey of remarkable change.

DIRECTOR: Robert Camina, USA, 103 Minutes

Set in a post-industrial ‘Neverland’ of worn down row houses, looming factories, and desolate seashores, a rabble of disenfranchised gender and age ambiguous youths explore their own vulnerabilities and put pressure on what it means to grow up. Misadventures that include impromptu races, nighttime spooning, cheating card games, attempts at hypnotism, pocket knife haircuts, and sexual fantasies all function as means for the characters to attempt knowing one another. Through a series of vignettes, The Year I Broke My Voice offers an alternative perspective on coming of age that emphasizes perpetual states of becoming over conventions of linear development into adulthood.

DIRECTOR: Madsen Minax, USA, 48 Minutes

transgender hip-hop artist Rocco Katastrophe.

MORE THAN JUST A FESTIVAL

Indy Pride Inc. fosters events that seek to educate, celebrate diversity, create unity and honor the history of the LGBT communities. Through scholarships, The Chris Gonzalez Library, The Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival, workshops and fundraising events, Indy Pride’s mission supports many individuals and organizations throughout Central Indiana.