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Celluloid to suck on >> Highlights of the Image&Nation Film Fest by MATTHEW HAYS
Relax... It's Just Sex is P.J. Castellaneta's followup to his 1991 indie hit Together Alone. The writer-director has assembled a fine cast here, including Jennifer Tilly, Mitchell Anderson and Lori Petty, who manoeuvre their way through the relationship minefield with resolve and good humour. John Maybury's Love Is the Devil is a striking biopic of Francis Bacon, the painter considered one of the greatest of the 20th century. The film, starring Sir Derek Jacobi in what is perhaps his most outstanding performance, maps out the sadomasochistic relationship Bacon had with his lover, Georges Dyer, who was also the subject of many of his paintings. Local filmmaker José Torrealba will be presenting a work-in-progress cut of Got 2B There, a documentary about the history of the circuit party. The film features interviews with such celebrated circuit queens as Brad Fraser, Jeffrey Sanker, Eric Sawyer and circuit critic Michelangelo Signorile. Also on the local scene is performance artist Atif Siddiqi, whose latest Erotic/Exotic, an examination of racism and cultural identity, will have its premiere. And don't miss this opportunity to catch Anne Golden's hilarious dyke Western Big Girl Town, as the residents of Big Girl Town and Thin Girl Town face off over the latest delivery of blue jeans. Patricia Rozema's landmark 1987 lesbian film, I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, will also be screened at the fest. Sheila McCarthy is brilliant in the lead of this delightfully quirky love story about a steamy dyke crush. Bill Condon's much-anticipated feature about the life of James Whale, the first openly gay director in Hollywood, will have its Montreal premiere at the fest. Gods & Monsters stars Sir Ian McKellen as Whale, Brendan Fraser as his straight gardener and Lynn Redgrave as Whale's oddball housekeeper. Jochen Hicks' Sex Life in L.A. is yet another look at hustling in the city of angels. Tony Ward, Cole Tucker, Ron Athey and various other hustling porn stars make appearances in this titillating look at the sex trade. Image&Nation runs from September 24 to October 4. Information: 285-4467 (www.kiosque.com/imagenation); Tickets are $7.75 at the door, students pay $5.30. Schedules available at Priape and L'Androgyne
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There's a veritable orgy of films being presented at the 11th annual Image&Nation Fest. Former Montrealer Claudia Morgado, whose exquisite documentary about breasts, Unbound, won multiple awards on the fest circuit, returns with Sabor a mi. This Spanish-language movie concerns two women who engage in a voyeuristic headgame that would make anyone swoon. Morgado again illustrates her keen ability to convey a story with striking visual images.