FilmOut San Diego’s 13th LGBT Film Festival continues this weekend with three more days of film screenings at the historic Birch North Park Theatre (2891 University Ave.). FilmOut San Diego annually affirms the ongoing integrity and boundless imagination of our community and the artists who tell our stories. The festival board of directors believes its work is an integral part of an ongoing effort to build a vibrant, affirming and sustainable LGBT community in San Diego County.
For tickets and more details, log on to filmoutsandiego.com. This weekend’s schedule includes:
Friday, Aug. 26
Leave It on the Floor
4 p.m.: This powerfully fueled, energy-driven film tells the story of an outsider, Brad (Ephraim Sykes), who’s been thrown out of his home onto the mean streets of LA. He stumbles into a ragtag assortment of strays. His journey ultimately leads him to find a home, love and acceptance. Director: Sheldon Larry, 109 minutes, United States. (2011)
A Marine Story
6 p.m.: A decorated officer from a military family, Alex (Dreya Weber) is unexpectedly discharged from duty. When she returns to her conservative hometown, the Marine struggles to readjust to civilian life, but agrees to mentor Saffron (Paris P. Pickard), a troubled teen who’s enlisting. Alex is the no-nonsense role model and authority figure Saffron needs, but as Saffron finally hits her stride, Alex must find the courage to face her own demons. Director: Ned Farr, 98 minutes, United States. (2010)
Bite Marks
8 p.m.: This hilarious thriller is for all you comedy, horror and vampire lovers. Truck driver Brewster (Benjamin Lutz) takes over his missing brother’s delivery of a load of coffins to a funeral home. He picks up hitchhiking gay couple, Cary (Windham Beacham) and Vogel (David Alanson), when his GPS leads them into a deserted junkyard, his truck breaks down, stranding them. Night falls, and the coffins reveal blood-thirsty vampires. Director: Mark Bessenger, 84 minutes, United States. (2011)
Longhorns
10:15 p.m.: Raunchy-humor at its best! It’s a world of big hair, synth-pop and cowboy boots as Kevin (Jacob Newton), a straight frat-boy, enjoys a little male “physical” bonding with his buddies; after all, he’s just helping a friend out, right? Director: David Lewis, 74 minutes, United States. (2011)
Saturday, Aug. 27
What Happens Next
12 p.m.: This charming romantic comedy is about Billionaire/Socialite Paul Greco (Jon Lindstrom) who seems to have it all. Upon the sale of his lucrative business, his retirement and more money and time than he knows what to do with, Paul assumes the daily dog walking routine in the park and encounters Andy Chance (Chris Murrah). What starts as a casual daily meeting in the park, eventually develops into something a bit more questionable. Director: Jay Arnold, 98 minutes, United States. (2010)
The Casserole Club
2 p.m.: A group of mod 1960s era suburban housewives begin a recipe club to test out their casseroles. When the gatherings become increasingly focused on boozy flirtation, and more than recipes start getting swapped, the story moves swiftly from stylized and campy to a drama about irresponsibility, selfishness and damaged people. Director: Steve Balderson, 95 minutes, United States. (2011)
Circumstance
4 p.m.: This extremely provocative coming-of-age story cracks open the hidden, underground world of Iranian youth culture, where a young woman’s most electrifying passions can become the most dangerous of secrets. The Audience Award winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, it’s an exhilarating, invisible realm of illicit nightclubs where young hipsters risk arrest, and their futures, as they experiment with sex, drugs and defiance. Director: Maryam Keshavarz, 107 minutes, France/Iran. (2011)
Gun Hill Road
6 p.m.: After three years in prison, macho Enrique (Esai Morales) returns to the Bronx to find the world he once knew has turned upside down. His wife, Angela (Judy Reyes), struggles to hide an emotional affair, and his teenage son, Michael (Harmony Santana), explores a sexual transformation well beyond Enrique’s grasp and understanding. Enrique must become the father he needs to be or, once again, risk losing his family and freedom. Director: Rashaad Ernesto Green, 88 minutes, United States. (2011)
The Wish Makers of West Hollywood
8:15 p.m.: An homage to the 1954 classic Three Coins in a Fountain, this comedic film charts the journey of three men (recent FilmOut Comedy Benefit comedian Justin Martindale, Ari Sorrentino and Ara Thorose) finding love in Hollywood with aspirations to fulfill their dreams and aspirations, during a summer which will change their lives. Director: David Grotell, 88 minutes, United States. (2011)
Deleted Scenes
10:15 p.m.: Told through a series of deleted scenes, this edgy, sexy and fragmented film is filled with hot men who are not afraid to show their skin. When 30-something Sean (Michael Vaccaro) meets Eastern European immigrant Wolf (Ivica Kovacevic), sparks fly. Creating a stable relationship is fraught with problems. Director: Todd Verow, 90 minutes, United States. (2010)
Sunday, Aug. 28
Mangus!
2:15 p.m.: Outrageous comedy with a hip screenplay that follows Mangus Spedgewick (Ryan Boggus), a high school senior in Rivercity, Texas, who hopes to fulfill a family tradition by playing the role of Jesus in his local annual production of Jesus Christ Spectacular (the poor man’s version of Jesus Christ Superstar). That is until a freak accident renders him legless. With gay icons Leslie Jordan and John Waters! Director: Ash Christian, 88 minutes, United States. (2011)
Eloise’s Lover
4:30 p.m: Young, beautiful Àsia lies in a coma, as we see in flashback what led up to her accident, her life studying architecture at university, the somewhat overbearing relationship she has with her mother and her passionless relationship with her boyfriend, Nathaniel. When she meets the mysterious and exotic Eloïse, an art student who asks Àsia to model for her, her world changes. Director: Jesús Garay, 92 minutes, Spain. (2011)
Bisexual Revolution
6:15 p.m.: This fascinating documentary, featuring John Cameron Mitchell and French pop star Yelle, explores and uncovers the history and modern-day perceptions of this often misunderstood culture. Interviews with prominent artists, designers, writers and experts in the field of bisexuality are interspersed with archival footage from around the world. Directors: Eric Wastiaux and Laure Michel, 59 minutes, France. (2008)
The Green
7:45 p.m.: Having left behind life in New York City for the charm of shoreline Connecticut, Michael Gavin (Jason Butler Harner), an English teacher at a private high school, thinks he can live a simple domestic existence with his partner Daniel (Cheyenne Jackson), adhering to an unspoken survival code: don’t speak up, don’t make trouble. But his world is turned upside down when he’s accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior with a male student, who runs away from home leaving behind his mother and her mercenary boyfriend to capitalize on the school’s culpability in the alleged affair. Director: Steven Williford, 90 minutes, United States. (2011)
