QUE(E)RYING RELIGION
A Film Festival Exploring Sexual Orientation and Religion
7 pm Friday Nov. 23 and 10 am - 5 pm Saturday Nov. 24
Room 204, Academic South, Brock University
Opening Reception Friday Nov. 23, 6 pm
Sponsors: Brock Ecumenical Chaplaincy, Brock Pride, OutNiagara, TransParent, Sociology, MA in Social Justice, Tecumseh Centre, Faculty of Humanities, Communications, Popular Culture and Film Studies, OPIRG, others
PROPOSED FILMS
The Business of Fancydancing
Friday, 7 pm followed by panel discussion at 9pm
Drama, Indie Dramas, Independent 103 mins, 2002
Shot on digital video and taking its title from his 1992 book of poetry, Sherman Alexie's The Business of Fancydancing is a portrait of the conflicted relationship between two Native American men. Aristotle Joseph (Gene Tagaban)and Seymour Polatkin (Evan Adams) had long been best friends by the time they left their Spokane reservation to attend college in Seattle. But while Seymour flourished in Seattle as a gay writer, Aristotle endured nothing but bad luck that led to growing resentment, both against white society and his best friend. Although Aristotle returned to the reservation, Seymour remained in Seattle. Now, 15 years later, the sudden death of their mutual childhood friend brings Seymour back to the reservation -- without his white boyfriend -- where he must cope with his status as the de facto mouthpiece for his people and his estranged relationship with both Aristotle, who seems to be growing more violent by the day, and also Agnes (Michelle St. John), his one-time college girlfriend. The Business of Fancydancing was screened at the 2002 Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide
Chutney Popcorn
Saturday, Nov. 214, 10:00 a.m.
Gay & Lesbian, G&L Comedies, Comedy 93 mins, 1999
The push and pull of familial bonds and clashing cultures sets the stage for the comic drama Chutney Popcorn. Renna is a young woman of Indian descent living in New York, where she works as both a photographer and a body artist who creates henna tattoos. Renna is also a lesbian, which does not please her mother, Meenu(Madhur Jaffrey), who prefers to dote on her more traditionally minded (and happily married)daughter Sarita (Sakina Jeffrey). One day, Renna gets some bad news from Sarita: While she and her husband have been trying to have a baby, her doctor has informed that her she is infertile and will never bear a child of her own. Renna volunteers to serve as surrogate mother for Sarita; she wants to help her sister and hopes this will smooth some of the rough spots in her relationship with her mother. But Renna starts to have second thoughts, as her lover Lisa(Jill Hennessy) feels left out of the loop, and Meenu thinks both Renna and Sarita are making a mistake. Nisha Ganatra co-wrote and directed Chutney Popcorn and also plays Renna; the film was enthusiastically received in its screening at
the 1999 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
When Night is Falling
Saturday 1:00 pm
Drama, Canadian, G&L Dramas 94 mins, 1995
Camille, a professor at a Protestant College,is engaged to Martin, a sympathetic minister and fellow professor. As "career Christians" they are urged to get married and to become co-chaplains of the New College of Faith. But Camille is vaguely unhappy with Martin and her life, and when her beloved dog dies suddenly, she begins to lose her grip. On the same day, in a Laundromat, Camille meets Petra, a flamboyant circus performer, and is inexplicably attracted to her, Petra flirts brazenly with Camille. She draws her into the seductive world of the "modern-primitive" circus. The two become friends, then more. For the first time in her proper and very intellectual life, Camille's desire comes rushing forward. She is shocked to find that she is infatuated with Petra. Soon, she believes that she is in love. But all is not well with the circus. Hounded by creditors, the circus must leave town, threatening to tear the new lovers apart. Meanwhile, part of Camille is still deeply attached to Martin, as he is to her. Terrified at the prospect of radical change, Camille is compelled to make a choice between the woman she wants and a man that she has loved.
Trembling Before G-D
3 pm Saturday Nov. 24 with panel discussion
Gay & Lesbian, G&L Dramas, G&L Romance 84 mins, 2001
Director Sandi Simcha DuBowski makes his feature-length film debut with the documentary Trembling Before G-d, a look at gays and lesbians in Hasidic and Orthodox Judaism. Made over several years in New York, California,Israel, Britain, and Florida, the film follows the lives of several people struggling to express both their faith and their sexuality. In L.A., pianist David is an Orthodox gay man who has been through over ten years of therapy to supposedly "cure" his homosexuality. He visits the Chabad rabbi whom he first came out to over 20 years before. Michelle is a Hasidic lesbian who lives in Brooklyn. Having married only to please her family, she's been ostracized from her community ever since the divorce. Also in Brooklyn, Israel is a gay man who's abandoned much of his Hasidic life and hasn't seen his father in over 20 years. In London, twentysomething Mark is a the son of an Orthodox rabbi. He came out during a trip to Israel, which was supposed to rid him of his sexual questioning. Some participants prefer to remain anonymous or at least slightly obscured, including a lesbian couple who met in Hebrew school and an ultra-Orthodox closeted lesbian. The film also features some footage with various doctors and religious leaders, including the progressive psychotherapist Shlomo Ashkinazy and the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, Steve Greenberg. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
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