QFest: Friday

By Mister Curie

Madame Curie is really outdoing herself tonight by watching Le Petite Curie all night so that I can attend the following three films:


You Should Meet My Son!


Family values just the way we love them, and lots of laughs in this wonderfully joyous film about a pair of Southern women who try and set their son/nephew up with the right man.
Probably the sweetest and one of the funniest movies in this year’s festival, Keith Hartman’s feature debut is about the mom and aunt everyone wished they had. Mae (JoAnne McGee) is a Southern mother who just wants the best for her son Brian (Stewart Carrico). Mae and her sister Rose (Carol Goans) invite Brian and every single girl in town over most Friday nights to meet Brian. But Brian always brings his “special friend and roommate.” One night the sisters finally catch on – with the help of an "Is Your Son Gay?" survey in a magazine. The sisters then wonderfully change their course and try to find Brian a man. They’ve heard that the Internet is the place, so they ask a teenage neighbor to set up a computer for them. He sends them right to Manhunt, where they’re abruptly shot right into the gay meat-market of the 21st century. But, they’re determined ladies, even if it means hitting the bars and clubs themselves to rustle up a few Mr. Rights. Absolutely charming, You Should Meet My Son is like one of the best "Golden Girls" episodes, if they went gay, I mean even gayer.

Undertow


Shot in a scenic Peruvian fishing village, Undertow is the emotionally powerful story of a secret love between a married man with a pregnant wife and an openly gay artist.
Profoundly moving, Undertow is a gay romance like none you’ve seen before. Set in a gorgeous Peruvian seaside town, this tender, romantic tale positively radiates love. Miguel (Cristian Mercado) and Mariela (Tatiana Astengo) are a popular couple in their small fishing village. Mariela is expecting a child and all seems well on the surface. The couple are an integral part of a very tight village social structure. The town is so small that most secrets are hard to keep; gossips are always busy. But Miguel has a secret life; he’s having an affair with Santiago, a gay artist, who is scorned by the other villagers. The two are very much in love with one another, but Miguel is torn between the traditions of his village and his love for Santiago. A tragedy occurs that forces him to make a choice between conformity and amore. Filmed with an eye for detail and rich with emotion, writer/director Javier Fuentes-Leon’s debut film won the coveted World Cinema Audience Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Undertow is the highlight of the year for gay international cinema; it’s a must-see at QFest.

Children of God


Finding inspiration in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Kareem Mortimer’s film is the tale of an intense romance between an artist and a closeted musician on a small island in the Bahamas.
For those of you lucky enough to have seen Kareem Mortimer’s wonderful short, Float (PIGLFF 2008), you’ll be excited to see the feature debut of this exciting Bahamian filmmaker. Johnny (Johnny Ferro) is an art student in Nassau whose technique is perfect, but he’s creatively blocked. His teacher sends him off to the rural island of Eleuthera where he meets Romeo (Stephen Tyrone Williams), a hot musician. They begin a clumsy dance of attraction and romance. Romeo has a fiancé and is identified as straight, but he’s been known to play with the boys on the side secretly. The Bahamas are bound by religious traditions that discourage homosexuality and end up forcing gay men into the closet. Lena is a pastor’s wife. Her husband demonizes homosexuality to further his career, yet he’s on the DL as well. When Lena discovers that her husband has infected her with VD, he accuses her of infidelities. These characters are all bound together in this intense drama of love, family and secrets. The filmmaker has honored the Bard well with his inspiration. With extraordinary cinematography (on a low budget), a vacation worthy setting, naturalistic actors and a mythic story Children of God is a superb tale of “a pair of star-cross’d lovers.”

Reviews to follow . . .