Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival 2018 Program

THE TOBY

2:00 GAY SHORTS

DEBOEST LECTURE HALL

2:30 DYKES, CAMERA, ACTION! w/ RELEASE THE BATS

12:15 QUEER SHORTS

4:00 1985 w/ SILVERLAKE AFTERNOON

4:00 LESBIAN SHORTS

6:00 LUNATIC FROM THE GRACIOUS DAYS: AN EVENING WITH RUTH DIX w/ MARABOU

TURN IT AROUND ROUTINE ruok SLEEP ON IT LUBER SODOM’S CAT LAST PICK-UP FEMME 7:45 KILL THE MONSTERS w/ NIGHT SHIFT

ERIN’S GUIDE TO KISSING GIRLS I HOPE TO SEE YOU FOXY TROT KINDLING HEARTBEAT THE PICK UP MOMO HEATHER HAS FOUR MOMS GRACE AND BETTY 6:00 ANCHOR AND HOPE w/ FEMALE CONNECTION

8:30 SHORTS ON THE EDGE

LA SIRENA THE CREAM MIMICRY CIRCLE THE FIX ISLANDS

ELECTRIC DIRT FIRST DAY DANI BOI SOMETHING ABOUT ALEX DIFFERENT THERE YOU ARE FOLLOW ME

2:00 MAPPLETHORPE w/ A STRANGER TO MYSELF 4:00 POSTCARDS FROM LONDON w/ ZERO ONE

DEBOEST LECTURE HALL 4000 Michigan Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46208 discovernewfields.com

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Welcome to the 18th Annual Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival!

We have an exciting array of features, shorts, and documentaries chosen just for you.

We received a record number of entries this year, and we’re extremely proud of our lineup. We have films from around the globe (nine di erent countries) and a few with local ties. Female Connection, a short directed by Adrienne Levy, is written by and stars Liz Baxter from Indianapolis, based on a true-life situation. Lunatic from the Gracious Days, by Kent J. Henry, celebrates the wit and talent of Ruth Dix (Gary Ooley), the trailblazing drag performer—and Indianapolis original—who passed away earlier this year.

We have typically shied away from mature content, but this year we’re trying something di erent. Our Shorts On The Edge program on Saturday evening features a variety of films that venture slightly over the invisible line that we have maintained. One of those films, Islands by director Yann Gonzalez, just won the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.

Though we’ve said it before, it bears repeating: please keep our beneficiary Indiana Youth Group in mind. For over 30 years, IYG has provided safe spaces and vital support for thousands of LGBT youth in Indiana. To learn more, visit IndianaYouthGroup.org.

On behalf of everyone involved, from our hardworking steering committee to the filmmakers, our Premiere Night entertainers The Bag Ladies, Newfields, and all our wonderful sponsors, I want to sincerely thank you for coming to the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. Enjoy the shows!

Festival Steering Committee

Pam Powell

Annie Zoll

Keishana White

Kat Hicks

Michael Barclay

Mickey Rogers

Ted Letherer

Catherine Crouch

H.R. Jung

Royce Cole Jr. Joshua Cox

Chairperson / Art Director

Matthew Mutchmore

Program Editors

Courtney Corcoran

Jami Stall Website

Tracy Robbins Smith

facebook.com/IndianapolisLGBTFilmFestival twitter.com/indylgbtflmfest

Matthew Mutchmore Chairperson / Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival

ISLANDS

JUDGES

These five films are our nominees for the 2018 Best of Festival Awards.

The winners are selected by our panel of judges and announced on Premiere Night.

Vice

of Corporate Advancement for the Indy Chamber, and host of Stolen Moments on WFYI

President of GEI, author, playwright, composer, performer, and frequent speaker on Diversity, Business, and Political issues

Mark Harper

Teacher of film and literature at IUPUI, Comic Books at the Herron School of Art and Design, and a former Director of the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival

Vanessa Enos + Lymari Quintana

Indiana Youth Group, married, moms, dog moms, movie watchers, LGBTQ+ proud

Steven Stolen

President

JJ Marie Gufreda

Paula Katz

Executive Director of the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art (iMOCA)

ERIN’S GUIDE TO KISSING GIRLS

ANCHOR AND HOPE

ELECTRIC DIRT

KILL THE MONSTERS

PREMIERE NIGHT

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THE TOBY / FRIDAY 7:30PM

Opened in midtown Manhattan in 1977, Studio 54 was the place to be, defining an entire era. And then, barely three years later, the party came to an abrupt and scandal-clouded end. Studio 54 focuses on the club’s owners, Steve Rubell (who died in 1989 of complications from AIDS) and Ian Schrager, college friends who transformed the cultural landscape in New York City. Fueled by interviews with Schrager, who has until now kept silent about his time at Studio 54, the film paints a colorful portrait of a magical place. Gay and straight disco lovers danced alongside celebrities like Cher, Grace Jones, and Elton John, to name a few.

Capturing the glitzy glamour and lurid drama inside this marvelous mecca of decadence, filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer provides fascinating details of how the club became a haven for minorities and other ostracized groups. We learn firsthand what the strict, ever-changing rules were to get inside, as well as how the IRS barged in and took down an amazing—and o en amazingly illegal—party. A cautionary tale about the dysfunction of decadence and an inspirational account of a dynamic, diverse community, Studio 54 pulsates with the energy of an era when people found love, connection, and their groove thing beneath the sparkle of a spinning disco ball.

Director: Matt Tyrnauer, USA, 98 Minutes

Preceded by: A rousing, disco-themed perfomance by the Bag Ladies! www.bagladiesindy.org

This crowd-pleasing documentary takes us deep inside the most famous disco of all time, with never-before-seen images, rare footage of Hollywood’s A-List, and magnificent music at every turn.

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SHORTS PROGRAM

First love. Elusive love. Identity and self-expression. These topics and more are explored in funny and provocative ways in this year’s Gay Shorts.

It’s love at first sight for young Bram in Turn It Around. In Routine, a recently out stand-up comedian discovers quite a bit about his new community. Best friends fight, entirely via text message, when one sleeps with the other’s crush in ruok. An argument puts things into perspective for a young couple in Sleep On It. In Luber, a businessman finds himself attracted to his hunky driver. An orgy is used as a window into gay life and love in Sodom’s Cat A fateful, first meeting is reminisced in Last Pick-Up. A young man embarks on a hilarious journey of self-examination in Femme

TURN IT AROUND

Director: Niels Bourgonje, Netherlands, 10 Minutes, Subtitled

ROUTINE

Director: Wes Akwuobi , USA, 8 Minutes

ruok

Director: Jay Russell, USA, 13 Minutes

SLEEP ON IT

Director: Benjamin Howard, USA, 8 Minutes

LUBER

Director: Je Summer, USA, 11 Minutes

SODOM’S CAT

Director: Huang Ting-Chun, Taiwan, 30 Minutes, Subtitled

LAST PICK-UP

Director: Matthew Bonifacio, USA, 4 Minutes

FEMME

Director: Alden Peters, USA, 18 Minutes

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DEBOEST LECTURE HALL / SATURDAY 2:30PM

Lovers of lesbian film unite! Dykes, Camera, Action!

examines queer women’s cinema from the mid-twentieth century through today. It’s a joyous trip down memory lane for any film lover.

Academics like B. Ruby Rich and Sarah Schulman contextualize the history of queer women’s films, from the 1960s through the 1990s’ New Queer Cinema, and all the way to the lesbian pop froth of the 21st century. The historical intersection of experimental film and queer film is examined, as well as the role of activism in lesbian artist circles, and the never-ending battle against the male gaze and the patriarchy. But just as importantly, filmmakers Barbara Hammer, Su Friedrich, Rose Troche, Yoruba Richen, Desiree Akhavan, Vicky Du, Cheryl Dunye, Jenni Olson, and others discuss how they’ve expressed their queer identity through film, revealing their personal experiences of looking for themselves on screen.

Featuring the ultimate array of filmmakers and thinkers from the past century, this documentary functions as an updated—but much more modern and far less bleak—The Celluloid Closet. It’s a ton of fun to spend time with the dozens of women who helped to create the cinema that has shaped so many lives, and, in the process, learn how we all got here.

Preceded by: RELEASE THE BATS Director: Michelle Tea, USA, 10 Minutes

Director: Caroline Berler, USA, 58 Minutes

GAY FEATURE

THE TOBY / SATURDAY 4:00PM

1985 was the year of New Coke and “We Are the World.”

That year serves as both the title and setting for Yen Tan's nostalgic and gorgeously realized new film.

Coming home for Christmas a er a three-year absence, Adrian (Cory Michael Smith, Gotham, Carol) struggles to reconcile his secret life in New York City with that of his religious, conservative family back in Texas. It’s clear in the weighted silences that Adrian hasn’t kept in close touch. He stands tall over his brusque father (Michael Chiklis, The Shield) at baggage claim, as they try to remember the last time he was home. His mother (Virginia Madsen, Sideways) greets him warmly, though her pleading to call up his estranged childhood friend Carly (Jamie Chung) clearly bothers him. His younger brother Andrew is less forgiving, greeting him coldly before retreating to the comforts of his Walkman. But Andrew’s walls quickly crumble, and soon the brothers are attending movies together.

Adrian begins to feel the emotional weight of the choice before him: to be honest with his family about who he is and face the consequences, or to return to New York without revealing his truth. Shot on exquisitely rendered black-and-white 16-mm film, it features standout performances by Smith, Madsen, and Chung. Writer and director Yen Tan based the visually striking feature on his 2016 short of the same name.

Director: Yen Tan, USA, 85 Minutes

Preceded by: SILVERLAKE AFTERNOON Directors: Rebecca Holopter & Michael Osborne, USA, 11 Minutes

SHORTS PROGRAM

LESBIAN SHORTS

Whether plotting a romance, dealing with relationship issues, or coming out to their family, the subjects of these spectacular stories stand up and fight for the power of the queer female gaze.

Erin crushes on the school’s coolest girl in Erin’s Guide To Kissing Girls. Cyra examines her muddled past in I Hope To See You. Relationship woes wind up in dance class during Foxy Trot. A couple unable to conceive find a baby in Kindling. In the music video Hearbeat, (Jennifer) Corday shares the passion and pain of toxic love. In Momo, Sohee gets the cat she once shared with her ex. In The Pick Up, Melanie chooses a new path. In Heather Has Four Moms, each has opinions. In Grace and Betty, Grace comes out to her grandmother, who has her own secret.

ERIN’S GUIDE TO KISSING GIRLS

Director: Julianna Notten, Canada, 15 Minutes

I HOPE TO SEE YOU

Director: Chelsea Muscat, USA, 7 Minutes

FOXY TROT

Director: Lisa Donato, USA, 15 Minutes

KINDLING

Director: Molly Beresford, UK, 10 Minutes

HEARTBEAT

Director: Michelle Ehlen, USA, 5 Minutes

THE PICK UP

Director: Giovanna Chesler, USA, 11 Minutes

MOMO

Director: Yun Joo Chang, Korea, 16 Minutes, Subtitled

HEATHER HAS FOUR MOMS

Director: Jeanette L. Buck, US/UK, 15 Minutes

GRACE AND BETTY

Director: Zoe Lubeck , USA, 12 Minutes

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This heartfelt, hilarious documentary showcases the journey of Indianapolis entertainer and entrepreneur, Ruth Dix (Gary Ooley), who passed away in June 2018. The film includes interviews with Ruth and many never-before-shown performances from the 1980s. Ruth shares a multitude of stories, from his birth in Indianapolis, his first time performing, and many more—all told with his signature wit and humor. The performances highlight his talent and reconfirm his legendary status.

Premiering in 2013, this was Kent J. Henry's third film at the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. In 2009 his film Union County was shown and in 2010, Talbott Street 1980-1986 won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. The 2018 version of this film includes additional interviews and previously unseen footage. Don’t miss the chance to experience (or re-experience) this loving portrait of a truly unforgettable Indianapolis original. Rated "R" for Ruth!

Director: Kent J. Henry, USA, 45 Minutes

Preceded by: Marabou Director: Ti any Johnson, USA, 20 Minutes

us as we celebrate the incomparable Ruth Dix, a fixture of Hoosier nightlife in the eighties and beyond. This newly edited version of Kent J. Henry’s 2013 film shines a spotlight on a unique, outrageous, and legendary performer.

with

DEBEOST LECTURE HALL / SATURDAY 6:00PM

Eva and Kat’s carefree world is turned upside down when

Eva presents Kat with an ultimatum: she wants a child. Is their unconventional lifestyle possible with a baby? This charmingly di erent comedy explores the intricacies of love, relationships, and what it means to be a family.

Kat and her girlfriend Eva live in bohemian bliss on their London barge, floating to a new mooring every couple of weeks. Kat (Natalia Tena, Game of Thrones, The L Word) is content with the status quo, but Eva (Oona Chaplin, Game of Thrones) wants a baby. The fortuitous arrival of Kat’s straight pal Roger, in addition to too much tequila, conquers Kat’s doubts—at least momentarily.

Anchor and Hope starts as a raucous, ribald comedy of manners and becomes more thoughtful without ever losing its de touch. The writing is sharp and the performances are stellar. Chaplin gives a layered performance as a woman working hard to ignore the ri s in her relationship, and Chaplin’s real-life mother, Geraldine, is an added bonus as Eva’s ex-hippie mom, Germaine. Award-winning director Carlos Marques-Marcet makes fine use of London’s canals in this not-for-tourists view of the city. The gritty but romantic setting is the final touch on an ideal romcom: funny, sweet, and sad, with a trio of characters like real people (only cuter, hipper, and having more sex).

Director: Carlos Marques-Marcet, Spain, 111 Minutes

Preceded by: FEMALE CONNECTION Director: Adrienne Levy, USA, 4 Minutes

THE TOBY / SATURDAY 7:45PM

When young, pretty, and charmingly aloof Frankie (Jack Ball) falls mysteriously ill, his older and wiser partners—overthinking, practical Patrick (Ryan Lonergan) and impulsive, fiery Sutton (Garrett McKechnie)—agree that it’s time to head west, begin new adventures, and seek holistic treatment. From here, the highs and lows of the trio’s journey mirror key points in United States history, from hot sex in their luxurious New York City apartment, to a road trip that results in a civil war and possible breakup, to an all-out (poker) war involving scheming, sophisticated, and calculating German and Russian lesbians.

Director, writer, and star Ryan Lonergan’s ambitious concept works beautifully here, with a script that de ly utilizes the woes of debt, condo boards, and trust issues to hilariously and poignantly examine both modern-day relationships and well-known historical turning points. With a bold score that ties it all together and gorgeous black-and-white cinematography that highlights urban, rural, and body landscapes, Kill the Monsters is a striking and promising feature and the perfect date-night film.

Director: Ryan Lonergan, USA, 80 Minutes

Preceded by: NIGHT SHIFT Director: Chris Phillips, USA, 13 Minutes

Dynamic trio Frankie, Patrick, and Sutton put their relationship to the test in Kill the Monsters, a comedic American allegory that will appeal to U.S. history bu s and to fans of hunky guys in three-way relationships.

SHORTS PROGRAM

SHORTS ON THE EDGE

Not for the faint of heart, this collection of extreme shorts explores many facets of gay sexuality. From fairy tales to orgies to art porn, this is an experience that you won’t soon forget.

Mia surrenders to her darkest urges a er discovering a mysterious woman washed up on the shore in La Sirena. In The Cream, Gilbert is le confused and aroused by an encounter with a speedy athlete. MimiCry follows Mimi on her quest to find love in a unique facet of today's queer spectrum. Circle shows a di erent perspective on love and loss. The Fix introduces a fast food worker who goes to extreme measures to curb his appetites. Islands blurs the lines between dream and nightmare as a macabre, erotic stage performance sends a ripple of lustful desires through its audience and performers.

LA SIRENA

Director: Rosita Lama Muvdi, Columbia, 25 Minutes

THE CREAM

Director: Director: Jean-Marie Villeneuve, France, 8 Minutes

MIMICRY

Director: Jennifer Von Schuckmann, Germany, 26 Minutes, Subtitled

CIRCLE

Director: Kai Stänicke, Germany, 3 Minutes

THE FIX

Director: Ed Hancox, USA, 10 Minutes

ISLANDS

Director: Yann Gonzalez, France, 23 Minutes, Subtitled

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SHORTS PROGRAM

QUEER SHORTS

Each of these exceptional stories expand our limited definition of gender and breathe authenticity back onto the screen, embracing truth over fear.

Electric Dirt takes viewers into the heart of Southern and Appalachian communities to witness queer-identified residents from all walks of life. First Day introduces us to a young trans student’s new school environment.

Dani Boi is a non-binary 'dragtivist' living in San Francisco and challenging gender norms. A troubled and isolated teenager must confront what is truly troubling him in Something About Alex. Trans women are in focus, dealing with di icult family situations in Di erent, with daily struggles in There You Are, and with successes in Follow Me.

ELECTRIC DIRT

Director: Xander Stewart, USA, 5 Minutes

FIRST DAY

Director: Julie Kalce , Australia, 18 Minutes

DANI BOI

Director: Logan Mucha, Australia, 6 Minutes

SOMETHING ABOUT ALEX

Director: Reinout Hellenthal, Netherlands, 19 Minutes, Subtitled

DIFFERENT

Director: Ben Lemaire, France, 3 Minutes, Subtitled

THERE YOU ARE

Director: Lisa Donato, USA, 16 Minutes

FOLLOW ME

Director: Michelle Danner, USA, 21 Minutes

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DEBOEST LECTURE

HALL / SUNDAY 2:00PM

Set in the gay leather communities and highbrow galleries of New York City in the ,70s and ,80s, Ondi Timoner’s biopic is an unflinching look at the life and career of the icon made famous for his striking imagery. This film takes a chronological look at the influences and practices that captured male homoerotic desire so poignantly in the face of the devastating toll of the AIDS crisis. Mapplethorpe’s first commercial success came in 1977 with twin shows in New York: one featured safe portraits of subjects like David Hockney, and the other featured work from his X Portfolio, including photographs of fisting and watersports among other confrontational images. The film also explores the complicated relationship between Mapplethorpe and his lesser-known younger brother, Edward. When the two were invited to exhibit at the same show, Mapplethorpe insisted that Edward use their mother's maiden name, saying that there could only be one Mapplethorpe.

Charismatic English actor Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown) tackles the title role in a performance that is both physically and emotionally naked. Mapplethorpe features the photographer’s original art and was made with the support of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

Mapplethorpe dramatizes the artist’s meteoric journey, from the beginning of his friendship with punk poet laureate Patti Smith, to his success as a provocateur, to his ultimate struggle with AIDS.

Director: Ondi Timoner, USA, 94 Minutes

Preceded by: A STRANGER TO MYSELF Director: Jannik Gensler, Germany, 12 Minutes, Subtitled

On his first night out in London a er escaping his provincial hometown, Jim is robbed and le with nothing, alone on the neon-lit streets of Soho. The Raconteurs, a coterie of dapper young hustlers, are immediately taken with Jim’s ethereal beauty and charming naïveté, and they adopt him as one of their own. The merry band of escorts is soon schooling Jim in the sexy delights of their specialty: using their compendious knowledge of art history to bring to life the homoerotic paintings of Caravaggio, Botticelli, and Michelangelo.

As Jim becomes more comfortable in his skin, under the tutelage of the Raconteurs, he finds himself submerged in the world of art. He becomes a muse to his patrons and customers, even while discovering that he su ers from an overwhelming sensitivity to beauty—the legendary Stendhal syndrome.

Theatrical, stylish, and visually playful, Postcards from London is a love letter to the vibrant Soho of the past, paying homage to the likes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, James Bidgood, and Derek Jarman with its hyper-stylized, dreamy aesthetic. As Jim, the captivating Harris Dickinson has a face that’s a joy to watch, transporting the viewer to the hypnotic underworld of this imaginary Soho.

Broke and beautiful, Joe chases his big-city dreams to London and lands in the company of the Raconteurs.

An elite gang of escorts, they mix sex work with an encyclopedic knowledge of art history.

Director: Steve McLean , UK, 88 Minutes

Preceded by: ZERO ONE Director: Nick Neon, USA, 24 Minutes

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