2016 Reel Pride Film Festival SATURDAY Day 4

11:00 AM Transcendent Shorts Tower Theatre 

MEZZO 
Director: Nicole Opper / 2016 / USA / 14 min.
Celebrate the life and artistic endeavors of Breanna Sinclaire, an African American opera singer and openly transgender woman.
LADY OF THE NIGHT
Director: Laurent Boileau / 2014 / France / 10 min. Commemorating the death of his lost love, Samuel seeks refuge in his night life and becomes a Queen of the Night.

RYANS
Directors: Natalie Heltzel & Rain Valdez / 2016 / USA / 17 min. A transgender woman goes on a blind date with a man, but lingering similarities with an ex gets in the way.
 
A WIG AND A PRAYER: THE PEACHES CHRIST STORY
Director: Jeff Schlags / 2015 / USA / 19 min. A Wig and a Prayer chronicles the story of Peaches Christ, the legendary San Francisco drag queen, from her early beginnings in raucous variety shows to the lauded success of her Midnight Mass pre-movie experience
HE WHO HAS TO SOULS (CELUI QUI A DEUX ÂMES)
Director: Fabrice Luang-Vija / 2015 / France / 17 min.
In French with English subtitles. They called him “He who has two souls.” He was beautiful like a woman, and he was handsome like a man. He hesitated

TEAR JERKER
Director: Amy Adler / 2016 / USA / 15 min. A portrait of a transgender guy faced with difficult life circumstances trying to find new ways to express old and familiar feelings

12:00 PM Retake ViSTA Theater 

Director: Nick Corporon
2016 USA 98 min.

Jonathan, a lonely middle-aged man, travels to San Francisco to fi nd a young male companion. He quickly connects with a prostitute who he hires to accompany him on a road trip the Grand Canyon. En route, the prostitute comes to realize that he’s playing a vital role in the recreation of Jonathan’s lovelorn past. As the young man digs for clues, Jonathan insists that he stick to the role he was hired to for. Slowly, the prostitute begins to piece together the identity of the person he’s playing. Eager to leave his own past behind and feeling a strange connection with his odd client, he sheds his own identity and plays the part. As the two get closer to the destination, their affection grows and an authentic relationship tries to break through. Watch the trailer HERE

1:15 PM Fun in Girls Shorts Tower Theatre 

ONE LAST NIGHT 
Director: Kerem Blumber / 2015 / Isreal / 22 min.
It’s Noa and Orr’s last night together in Tel Aviv before Orr leaves for Berlin. After getting arrested outside a punk gig, Noa will have to make a final decision about their relationship.
In Hebrew with English subtitles
STAY HERE 
Director: Lauren Schacher / 2016 / USA / 10 min.
A woman and her wife check in for a secluded romantic getaway only to be haunted by the one who pulled them apart

SPRUNKLE
Director: Lisa Donato / 2016 / USA / 11 min.
A brother contemplates fatherhood when his older sister and her free-spirited wife ask him to be their sperm donor

B.
Director: Kai Stänicke / 2016 / Germany / 15 min. Torn between a cold relationship with K. and her feelings for another woman, shy and insecure B. is heading for a disaster. For too long she has suppressed her desire and lived a lie. But is it really too late for B. to follow her heart
VAMANOS
Director: Marvin Lemus / 2016 / USA / 12 min. Hope struggles with grief after Mac, her butch girlfriend, passes away and must must overcome homophobic hostilities from her dead girlfriend’s family in order to respectfully send Mac off into the afterlife in the way she would’ve wanted

WEDLOCKED
Director: Puppett / 2015 / USA / 12 min. Not one to be held back by unfair legislation, Sydney outsmarts the web of laws keeping her tied down and unable to get divorced

2:15 PM Weekends ViSTA Theater 

Director: Lee Dong-Ha
2016 Korea 98 min. In Korean with English subtitles.

G-Voice is the one and only gay men’s choir in South Korea. They are all amateurs, but their passion has led to their 10th anniversary concert. With their big concert only a few days away, they are invited to perform at the very first gay wedding in Korea, only to be assaulted by a homophobic group. However, “give up” is not in their vocabulary. G-Voice continues singing for equality and against all kinds of discrimination. Will G-Voice’s 10th anniversary concert succeed?

2:30 PM Discoveries: Youth Shorts Mia Cuppa Caffé 

CRYSTAL LAKE 
Director: Jennifer Reeder / 2016 / USA / 20 min.
A group of girls take over a skate park, forming an all-female force field on the half pipe
 
SWIRL
Director: Lance McDaniel / 2016 / USA / 6 min.
The story of a boy’s first crush told through dance, exploring the journey your mind takes the first time you touch someone you love
 
UNDER THE RAINBOW
Director: Trish Garner / 2014 / Canada / 12 min.
After being thrown out of her home, Shawnee finds herself couch-surfing with strangers and living a life of daily insecurity and vulnerability
 
FILIP
Director: Nathalie Álvarez Mesén / 2016 / Sweden / 11 min.
In Swedish with English subtitles.
When 7-year-old Filip witnesses something unexpected, he is forced to confront his feelings of admiration towards his older brother, Sebastian
 
PRONOUNS
Director: Mike Paulucci / 2015 / USA / 9 min.
A teenager from the South Side of Chicago decides to reveal their true identity during a spoken word performance only to be interrupted by an uninvited guest
 
A SONG FOR YOUR MIXTAPE
Director: Brandon Zuck / 2016 / USA / 7 min.
A young outcast deals with the loss of his friend
 
WHITTIER BLVD.
Director: Michael Patrick Spillers / 2015 / USA / 17 min. A rock ‘n roll fable about André, a transgender teen runaway who falls in love with a rockabilly princess on the streets of East Los Angeles
3:10 PM Fun in Boys Shorts Tower Theatre 

1985
Director: Yen Tan / 2016 / USA / 9 min.
A dying man prepares to move in with his estranged mother. He makes an appointment with a beauty consultant to hide his symptoms

ALZHEIMER'S: A LOVE STORY
Directors: Gabe Schimmel & Monica Petruzzelli / 2016 / USA / 16 min.
Greg and Michael as they struggle with a disease eradicating the memory of their relationship 40+ years in the making

CHANCE
Director: Jake Graf / 2015 / UK / 17 min.
Trevor’s life has become a void, following the passing of his wife and long term companion, A chance encounter in the park with a mysterious stranger equally troubled by his own past jarringly reawakens him, and forces both men to once again start to live

SIGN
Director: Andrew Keenan-Bolger / 2016 / USA / 15 min.
Through silent vignettes, music, and sign language, Sign tells the story of a relationship between Ben, a hearing man, and Aaron, who is deaf

PICK UP
Director: Joshua Alan Rogers / 2015 / USA / 20 min.
Jesse is a driver for Pick Up, a ride-sharing service in Los Angeles, who’s been falling for a handsome regular passenger until the secret he shares threatens to steer them both off course

ZEBRA
Director: Paul Detwiler / 2015 / USA / 6 min. An erotic poem exploring the multidimensional nature of male erotic attraction

4:30 PM Bruising for Besos ViSTA Theater 

Writer & Director: Adelina Anthony
2016 USA 89 min. 

This film contains depictions of domestic violence and trauma.

Yoli is a charismatic and complicated Xicana lesbian making family in a Queer and Trans People Of Color (QTPOC) suburban Los Angeles scene. She’s an artist at heart, and along with her best friend, Rani, makes do with a mundane job. One night she pursues, Daña, an alluring Puerto Rican woman. This romance upends the seeming calmness of her life as Yoli soon finds herself recreating a tumultuous past. Watch the trailer HERE

5:00 PM Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America Mia Cuppa Caffé 

Director: Tiffany Rhynard
2016 USA 83 min.

If you are an undocumented Queer immigrant living in the United States amidst this turbulent political climate, you are not safe and your future is at risk. When Moises Serrano was just a baby, his parents risked everything to flee Mexico and make the perilous journey across the desert in search of the American dream. After 23 years growing up in the rural south, where he is forbidden to live and love, Moises sees only one option — to fight for justice 
 

Forbidden is a feature length documentary about an inspiring young man whose story is exceptional, although not unique. Moises is like the thousands of young people growing up in the United States with steadfast dreams but facing overwhelming obstacles. The film chronicles Moises’ work as an activist traveling across his home state of North Carolina as a voice for his community, all while trying to forge a path for his own future.

Watch the trailer HERE

5:15 PM Upstairs Inferno Tower Theatre 

Writer & Director: Robert L. Camina
2015 USA 96 min. On June 24, 1973, an arsonist set fire to the Up Stairs Lounge, a gay bar located on the edge of the French Quarter in New Orleans. For 43 years, it was the deadliest single event to affect the gay community in U.S. history. Despite the staggering historical significance, few people know about the tragedy. Thirty-two people were killed and some bodies were never identified. One-third of the New Orleans chapter of the Metropolitan Community Church were killed in the blaze, including two clergy. The primary suspect was never charged with the crime. The tragedy did not stop at the loss of lives. There were also the delayed injuries: lost jobs, fear, public ridicule and severed families. The devastation was compounded by the homophobic reactions and utter lack of concern by the general public, government and religious leaders. The fire permanently altered lives and was the root of many lifelong struggles. 

Featuring interviews from survivors, witnesses and friends/families of victims, Upstairs Inferno is the most comprehensive and authoritative film about the fire and its aftermath. However, Upstairs Inferno isn’t simply a stagnant exposition of facts. it brings humanity to the headlines by shining a light on the very painful effect the tragedy had on the people left behind. Watch the trailer HERE

6:40 PM Women Who Kill ViSTA Theater 

Writer & Director: Ingrid Jungermann
2016 USA 93 min. Commitment phobic Morgan and her ex-girlfriend Jean are locally famous true crime podcasters obsessed with female serial killers. There’s a chance they may still have feelings for each other, but co-dependence takes a back seat when Morgan meets the mysterious Simone during her Food Coop shift. Blinded by infatuation, Morgan quickly signs up for the relationship, ignoring warnings from friends that her new love interest is practically a stranger. 

When Jean shows Morgan proof that Simone may not be who she says she is, Morgan accuses Jean of trying to ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to her. But as she and Simone move into commitment territory, Morgan starts to notice red flags—maybe Jean was right and Simone isn’t as perfect as Morgan’s made her out to be.

Morgan and Jean investigate Simone as if she were a subject of their podcast, they uncover disturbing clues - a death at the Food Coop, a missing friend, a murder weapon - leading them to suspect her not only of mystery, but of murder. In the end, Morgan has to examine all the evidence in front of her. Is she just afraid of what it means to be in a relationship or is her life actually in danger?

7:30 PM Suicide Kale Tower Theatre 

Director: Carly Usdin
2016 USA 75 min. 

Making its rounds on the U.S. film festival circuit, Suicide Kale has garnered attention for its vividly rendered, dark-comedy take on relationship troubles between women and the difficult conversations about mental health that happen in between bites of crisp kale at a seemingly perfect lunch party.

We all know Jasmine (Brittani Nichols) and Penn (Lindsay Hicks), the newly “one-month official” couple giddy in the throes of young love, and their counterparts Billie (Jasika Nicole) and Jordan (Brianna Baker), the five-years-married couple who throws cute salad parties in their adorable house. But when Penny finds an anonymous suicide note, it challenges everything that the couples thought they knew about each other’s relationships into doubt. (Borrowed from KitschMix.com)

Watch the trailer HERE

9:00 PM Front Cover ViSTA Theater 

Writer & Director: Ray Yeung
2016 USA 87 min.

In English, Manderin, Chinese and Catonese with English subtitles. Front Cover is about handsome, openly gay New York City fashion stylist Ryan, who rejects his traditional Asian upbringing. Ryan is given an assignment to style Ning, a famous Chinese actor, for an important photo shoot. After a rocky start, an unlikely friendship develops between them, leading Ryan to re-examine his roots and consider an enticing new path for his life and career. A tender, funny look at clashing cultures and love, Front Cover is a delight for the urban fashionista in us all
Watch the trailer HERE


9:30 PM Lezberados: Comedy With No Bull Tower Theatre
Lezberados is a fierce and funny, hot and spicy, side splitting comedy show featuring two of the hottest dykes on the mic working the circuit. From Showtime’s The Latin Divas of Comedy and Pride: Gay and Lesbian Comedy Slam, Sandra Valls brings the talent and the funny to show why she was voted Top 33 Bad Ass Comics with Latino Roots by Latina Magazine and Go Magazine’s Top 100 Women We Love, as well as one of Curve magazine’s Top 10 Lesbian Comics. She’s joined by her radically ridiculous sister from a different mister, Mimi Gonzalez of Logo’s, One Night Stand Up. Both are Olivia Cruise stars with sold-out shows from Provincetown to Los Angeles. Come out and get your laugh on and find out why these two are the “taco the town.”

 

Visit the Reel Pride Website HERE