Gay Films con Sabor: Latin Fare Prominent at Third Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

From rising Spanish star Eduardo Noriega to films from Brazilian and U.S. Hispanic filmmakers to the newest work from one of Spain's most renowned producers, LolaFilms, this year's Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival has a distinctly Latin flavor. Spanning three continents, six features, twelve shorter films and one panel discussion, the offerings are as diverse as Miami itself. Including a number of U.S premieres and East Coast premieres, the Latin screenings are part of the 70-plus international films to be presented at the Third Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, which takes place from Thursday, April 26, through Saturday, May 5, 2001, at the Colony Theatre in Miami Beach.

"The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival has come to be regarded as one of the premiere venues for Latin films with gay themes,î said Festival Director Robert Rosenberg, whose own filmmaking credits include the Emmy-Award winning documentary Before Stonewall. ìMiami itself is a bi-lingual city that serves as a gateway to latin america, and is a center for spanish language media production and entertainment. Given our location, it makes sense that film professionals from all over the world look to us to screen cutting edge work in English, Spanish and Portuguese about gay men and lesbians in the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain.î

In addition to the films, audiences will have an opportunity to meet many of the filmmakers, actors and critics attending the Festival this year, including Marcelo PiÒeyro, director of this yearís Plata quemada; Juan Luis Iborra, co-director with Yolanda GarcÌa-Serrano of this yearís Km.0 and previous Festival Award winner Amor de hombre; AndrÈ Fischer, director of the Brazilian gay and lesbian film festival, and Tutti Gregianin, director of Sargento Garcia, one of the shorts in this yearís Brasil Mix; Director Mary Guzm·n, producer Fontanta Butterfield and actress Desi del Valle of Desiís Looking for New Girl; and Juan Mendez, moderator of this yearís panel ìPantalla Abiertaî and long-time movie critic in both Spanish and English and former Film Editor for Latina magazine. At post-screening Q & A sessions, at numerous free-to-the-public panel discussions, and at almost daily parties and special events, audiences can interact with the international Festival guests in an open and inviting atmosphere. A number of the parties, including the Reel Women Reception, held at Condal & PeÒamil House, and the Samba Nights event, have specifically Latin themes.

The Latin and Latin-interest films include:

ï The U.S. premiere of Plata quemada (Burnt Money) (Wednesday, May 2, 9pm), a violent and sexy gay Bonnie and Clyde movie from award-winning Argentine master Marcelo PiÒeyro (Caballos salvages and Cenizas del paraÌso), starring three stars of Spanish or Argentine cinema ó Eduardo Noriega, Leonardo Sbaraglia and Pablo Echarri. Director PiÒeyro will attend the screening.

ï The East Coast premiere of Desi's Looking for a New Girl (Thursday, May 3, 5pm), a smart and exuberant ìSpanglishî trip through the world of Latina lesbian romance, featuring a cameo by well-known performance artist Marga Gomez. Director Mary Guzm·n, producer Fontana Butterfield and actress Desi del Valle will attend the screening.

ï The South Florida premiere of closing night film Gaudi Afternoon (Saturday, May 5, 7pm), the new feature from director Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan), stars Oscar-nominees Judy Davis and Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers), Oscar-winner Marcia Gay Harden (Pollack), and indie-favorite Lili Taylor (I Shot Andy Warhol, this yearís Festival feature Julie Johnson- Monday, April 30, 9pm), who get caught up in the lesbian and gay underground scene in Barcelona, Spain.

ï Festival Centerpiece and South Florida premiere Kr·mpak (Tuesday, May 1, 7pm), a gentle Spanish coming-of-age story about two teenage boys, one of whom is in love with the other, on a summer vacation without their parents. The film received the Prix de Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival.

ï The South Florida premiere of Just One Time (Friday, April 27, 9pm), the story of a man and a woman about to be married who dare each other to try out a same-sex hook-up ìjust one timeî in this clever and sexy gay farce. With Guillermo Diaz (Party Girl, Stonewall) and Jennifer Esposito (Summer of Sam). Director and co-star Lane Janger will attend the screening.

ï Km.0 (Sunday, April 29, 5pm), a warm Spanish comedy about 14 strangers whose lives collide on one sultry August afternoon in Madrid. From Juan Luis Iborra and Yolanda GarcÌa-Serrano, the directors of previous Festival Award winner Amor de hombre and the screenwriters of Boca a boca. Director Iborra will attend the screening.

ï La Vida Loca (Saturday, April 28, 5pm), a collection of Latin gay and lesbian shorts from Spain to Puerto Rico to New York that includes the U.S. premiere of Spainís Pantalones (Trousers), a tiny gem of dressing and undressing that won this yearís Goya (the Spanish Oscar) for Best Short; the East Coast premiere of Spainís El cuarto oscuro (Back Room), an explicit and powerful tour de force in which the camera stalks men who stalk each other in the back room of a gay club in Barcelona; the East Coast premiere of Spainís Lenceria de ocasion (Bargain Lingerie), a humorous and thoroughly unapologetic celebration of big-breasted women, as seen through the longing eyes of a shy young lesbian who, while shopping for a new bra, discovers the one thing sheís been looking for; the East Coast premiere of Pride in Puerto Rico, a short that shows how things are changing in la isla del encanto as Puerto Rican gay men and women stand up for their rights; the South Florida premiere of Spainís En malas compaÒias (Doors Cut Down), the story of sexy 16-year-old Guillermo, who is already an expert at cruising, which he does with jaw-dropping detachment in the menís room of the mall every afternoon when school lets out; and the South Florida premiere of Behind Walls, in which Josieís relationship with her brother Alex grows distant since he began getting down with their favorite cousin Papo, by U.S. director Abel Castro, who, along with Ana MarÌa Martinez of Pantalones and Jorge Oliver of Pride in Puerto Rico, will attend the screening.

ï Brasil Mix (Saturday, May 5, 5pm), a selection of the best shorts from the Brazilian gay and lesbian film festival that includes the U.S. premiere of Gentlemen (Cavalheiros), a graphic short of a murder that takes place in a public menís room, beginning and ending with a parade of characters passing through the stalls and using the urinals; the U.S. premiere of Lawful Wife (Legitima esposa), a poetic video about two women who skewer traditional heterosexual marriage, until they fall passionately into each otherís arms; the U.S. premiere of The Golden Dress (O vestido dourado), in which a boy dreams of winning a big drag comp-etition, decked out in a golden dress; the U.S. premiere of Donít Let Me Be Misunderstood, a video version of this classic í70s song by openly gay Brazilian singer Edson Cordeirois; the U.S. premiere of Sergeant Garcia (Sargento Garcia), a coming-of-age film based on a short story by Caio Fernando Abreu, of a sensitive young man who is called up for military service and must face the verbal onslaught of a hardened sergeant; the South Florida premiere of Night Flower (Dama da noite), the story of a nightclub performer in semi-drag who upbraids the crowd about sex, loneliness, AIDS and prejudice, and who leaves at the end of the night in street clothes with a lady of the evening. In Portuguese with English subtitles. Both AndrÈ Fischer, director of the Brazilian gay and lesbian film festival, and Tutti Gregianin, director of Sergeant Garcia, will attend the screening.

Special events with Latin themes include:

ï The panel discussion ìPantalla Abierta: Gay and Lesbian Latin Filmmakingî (Thursday, May 3, 5pm), will be moderated by Juan Mendez, long-time movie critic in both English- and Spanish-language publications. The discussion spans Spain, Latin America and the United States, on the state of Latin gay and lesbian films today. The panelists include Desi del Valle, star of Desi's Looking for a New Girl and director of Framelineís lesbian and gay film distribution program; AndrÈ Fischer, director of the Brazilian gay and lesbian film festival; Mary Guzm·n, director of Desi's Looking for a New Girl; Juan Luis Iborra, director of Km.0 and previous Festival award-winner Amore de hombre; and Marcelo PiÒeyro, renowned Argentine director of this yearís Plata quemada. The panel is free and open to the public.

ï Samba Nights party (Friday May 4, 10pm), a Brazilian soiree at the Albion Hotel, 1650 James Avenue, where party-goers can enjoy caipirinhas and batidas and a sampling of delicious Brazilian food, and popular Brazilian tunes against the Albionís chic poolside courtyard. Cost is $20 per ticket and includes party, plus the 7pm screening of Stranger Inside and the 9pm screening of The Confusion of Genders, both on May 4, or the 5pm screening of Brasil Mix on Saturday, May 5.

ï Reel Women Reception (Thursday, May 3, 9pm) at Condal & PeÒamil House, 741 Lincoln Road. Join Mary Guzm·n, Fontana Butterfield and Desi del Valle from Desiís Looking for a New Girl, Shari Carpenter from Kaliís Vibe, Cheryl Dunye from Stranger Inside and other surprise guests for mojitos, cigars and tasty Latin hors díoeuvres, all to a tropical music soundtrack. Sponsored by Condal & PeÒamil and Bacardi USA. Tickets are $20 and include the 7pm screening of Desiís Looking for a New Girl.

The 10-day Festival will show more than 60 films from around the world, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Spain, Thailand, and the United States. All screenings will take place at the Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, a 465-seat venue which sold out continually during last year's Festival, named ìBest Film Festival 2000î by Miami's alternative weekly New Times. To complement the screenings, the Festival will present Q&A sessions with visiting directors and panel discussions, as well as a variety of parties and other special events such as brunches and dance and cocktail parties. In addition, throughout the Festival, archival images from Florida's gay history will be projected nightly onto the exterior walls of the Colony Theatre, presented in conjunction with the Louis Wolfson Media History Center.

Tickets are $10 for regular screenings and $25 opening and closing night. All parties and special events have additional costs; panels are free.

For general ticket sales, go to the Colony Theatre Box Office, 1040 Lincoln Road, between noon and 5pm, Tuesday and Saturday (cash only). For advance ticket sales, contact TicketMaster by phone at 305.358.5885 or 954.523.3309. For credit card phone and fax orders only, call the Festival office at 305.534.9924.

For more information, contact the Festival at 305.534.9924, by e-mail at festivalinfo@the-beach.net or by visiting the Festival's website at www.mglff.com.

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