13th Annual NCGLFF - Featured Films

Overweight and uninspired Millie finally attempts to reconcile with her gay father, but his half-naked male companions keep getting in the way! Starring openly gay actor, Christopher Bradley (Leather Jacket Love Story, Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss).

After seeing these seven hilarious shorts, you might find yourself inspired to watch some very bad lesbian romance flicks in order to stop laughing. Jersey Dyke is the uproarious tale of two Catholic-schoolgirl lesbian lovers who are torn apart by family pressures. The makers of last year’s Menopausal Gals Gone Wild are back with Weimar House, a comedic horror short that mocks the mockery of the gay marriage debate! And in the comedic documentary Ready or Not, three women face their fears and find happiness in unexpected places. Human Potential is about a gay Development Associate in her 30s who attempts to bring order to a disorganized non-profit organization. Love is Love is a poignant yet funny look at what life might be like or how life might be like if the world was predominantly gay and straight people were the queer ones. Members Only is about Amy, the new kid in town, who can't seem to get a date...or even a woman to look in her direction until she meets a power lesbian. And an outrageous soap-opera drama from Down Under, The Vicious and the Delicious, explores the shocking scandals of the powerful Cassamento family and their lovers. Hair-pulling catfights, countless illicit affairs, flamboyant fashion statements and bizarre story twists…all this and more!

Love is Love (US, 2007, 7 min); Human Potential (US, 2007, 19 min); Weimar House (US, 2008, 12 min); Members Only (US, 2007, 10 min); Jersey Dyke (US, 2008, 11 min); Ready or Not (Australia, 2008, 17 min); The Vicious and the Delicious (Australia, 2008, 12 min)

In the Gaze of the Butch Goddess is an electrifying collection of short features about femmes, butches, and drag kings! Eddie tells the story of a young Latina girl who is forced to deal with her sexuality as a result of an embarrassing mishap during a summer afternoon kickball game. Godpseed features a speed freak bike messenger who passes as a boy to win the love of a stripper, but instead finds his own heart on the way. Always an outsider, a young woman finds her niche when she lands a job at a kooky drag bar and assumes the new identity of Prada Handbag. Using borrowed clips from three films about gender bending, a personal gender landscape is created in The Role I Was Born to Play. An office worker daydreams of wide open spaces and a certain cowgirl in the deliciously entertaining Cubicles and Cowgirls. What more could any butch ask for in Mechanic’s Daydream: an homage to perfection with high femmes, aerialists and vintage motorcycles. And witness the escapades and philosophy of a professional pimp daddy in Who Is Sterling Maxwell, PPD?

Godspeed (US, 2007, 16 min); The Role I Was Born to Play (Canada, 2007, 10 min); Cubicles and Cowgirls (US, 2008, 2 min); Mechanic’s Daydream (US, 2008, 9 min); Eddie (US, 2007, 10 min); Prada Handbag (US, 2007, 22 min); Who is Sterling Maxwell, PPD? (US, 2008, 20 min)

Here’s a collection of intriguing shorts from around the world that tells us no matter the array of gorgeous looks we conjure for ourselves, beauty really is only skin deep. Gay Zombie is a hilarious, heart-ripping tale that centers around a sexually confused flesh-eater from West Hollywood who meets a special someone named Todd. Everything is peachy until his flesh eating appetite can no longer be subdued. Will his bloody ways be too much for a boy to bear? Sucker is the tale of a young man and his notable “talent.” A clever 1950s social etiquette film teaches straight men how not to look, act, or feel gay in How to Go on a Man Date. A cynical French film student is disillusioned by his experiences in London until he’s befriended by a stranger who shows him a side of the city---and himself---that he would have never seen during Le Weekend. Two warring neighbors toil with everyday existence in Rock Garden: A Love Story. An average-looking guy discovers a magic website that transforms his body into anything he describes himself as online in VGL-Hung. A girl writes love letters to a policeman and places them in The Police Box on his daily beat, but a jealous boy decides to play a trick on both of them.

Sucker (US, 2008, 17 min); Le Weekend (UK, 2007, 15 min); Gay Zombie (US, 2007, 20 min); Rock Garden: A Love Story (Canada, 2007, 10 min); VGL-Hung (UK, 2007, 20 min); How to Go on a Man Date (US, 2008, 8 min); Police Box (Hong Kong, 2007, 4 min)

From beginning to end, this collection of women's shorts spans the range an average lesbian's life experiences: from youth to maturity, sexual awakening to romantic love, as well as heartbreak, defiance, individualism, and everything in between. A young girl defies convention during her summer swim class in No Bikini. 8-year old Kristy is a feisty tomboy who absolutely loves a particular T-shirt of hers. But on the day of her grandmother's birthday party, Kristy learns that her mother has thrown it away and wants her to wear a dress! Why?  Because grandmother always confuses Kristy with her cousin, Johnny. Tokens is an experimental documentary that explores the intersection of sexuality and Mormonism at a pivotal moment in a young woman's life. In Just Me?, the only lesbian in a large, extended family discovers her great-grandmother's photo album and begins to suspect she is not alone. In Long Ago, a hairstyle that won't go away mirrors the difficulty of moving on after a romance has ended. And finally in the dark drama Congratulations, Daisy Graham, seventy year-old Daisy is having a hard day. There's a ceremony in her honor tomorrow at the local high school, but Daisy has more important things to think about. She's dug out her old rifle, now all she needs is a box of bullets.

Tokens (US, 2008, 18 min); Just Me? (US, 2008, 11 min); Long Ago (US, 2008, 13 min); No Bikini (Canada, 2008, 9 min); Kristy (US, 2008, 7 min); Congratulations Daisy Graham (Canada, 2007, 15 min) Official sites: www.juliecasperroth.com (Tokens); www.justmethemovie.com (Just Me?); www.longagothemovie.com (Long Ago);

Everyone sometimes knowingly breaks the rules set by their spouses, friends, parents or significant others. Here are six cautionary, dramatic tales about men who must confront the reality of getting what they wished for. In Solace, a lonely young man meets his dream come true…but when he heads out for a late-night hook-up, he gets more than he bargained for. A teenage boy discovers that he has a crush on his piano teacher in Trystan. And two men learn that a casual hook-up is anything but in Just. A Lesson in Biology unfolds on prom night, 1968, in the Deep South, as 18 year-old Tom confronts his biology teacher about dangerous secrets they have shared. Meanwhile, a young gay couple learn the meaning of “taking it day by day” in Laundromat. In Lloyd Neck, Alex has a crush on her brother’s friend Jesse, but he likes Alex’s brother Taylor.

A Lesson in Biology (US, 2007, 23min); Trystan (US, 2008, 10 min); Just (US, 2007, 12 min); Laundromat (US, 2008, 12 min); Solace (US, 2007, 15 min); Lloyd Neck (US, 2007, 16 min)

Witness this enchanting, heartbreaking, and oftentimes hilarious collection of tales featuring queens of all fashions! From the makers of Taco Chick and Salsa Girl comes Cooking with Kay, a laugh-out-loud comedy about a bitter cooking show diva and a former Miss Teen Tijuana (Kay Sedia) who is thrust into the limelight as her replacement. In The Red Dress, a mischievous woman honors friendship and life by fulfilling her best friend’s dying wish. Waiting for Yvette is a heartfelt comedy about having second thoughts on the eve of an operation that will change you forever. And after his untimely death, an amateur drag queen returns from the grave to lay his hands on his favorite dress in the charming comedy, What the Frock! Be forewarned: leave all your political correctness at the concessions counter when you watch Tranny McGuyver. It’s a brutally funny romp about three rookie cops who outdyke Cagney and Lacey while tackling pimps, hoes and the evilest criminals the underworld has to offer. Finally, in the true-to-life psychological drama, It’s Me, Matthew!, a young man deals with the painful effects of his past on his current life.

Cooking with Kay (US, 2008, 22 min); Waiting for Yvette (US, 2008, 14 min); Tranny McGuyver (US, 2008, 17 min); What the Frock! (US, 2008, 12 min); The Red Dress (US, 2008, 7 min); It’s Me, Matthew! (US, 2008, 15 min)

Here’s a collection of eight dramatic short women’s films that attempt to shed light on why modern relationships can be so difficult. Billie, the heroine of Dandelion Fall, is a guitar-strumming cowgirl from the sticks who must choose to stay or move on from a destructive relationship with a wealthy Manhattan socialite. Twilight’s Shadow introduces the adventure of a female vampire, caught between two worlds. But when the leader of her Coven takes revenge against the mortal she loves, Carlisle is summoned to face the creature that lurks within. In The Insomniacs, Bell can’t sleep, so she goes to a nightly Insomniacs Anonymous meeting and discovers the girl of her dreams. A woman whose thoughts and actions are controlled by a 100 year-old code of social etiquette struggles to attract the attention of a potential female suitor in Fine and Dandy. Innocent dumpster diving becomes a mood-changing experience for a woman and her friends in Mood Swing. In Trophy, a teenager’s routine visit to her father’s vacation home turns steamy when she finds herself unexpectedly attracted to her father’s fiancé. Set in 1908, The Touch is based on the true story between a well-known poet and a married Islamic woman. In Last Exit, Cody returns to her hometown and discovers that old flames still burn.

Last Exit (US, 2007, 14 min); Dandelion Fall (US, 2008, 14 min); Mood Swing (US, 2008, 4 min); Fine and Dandy (Australia, 2007, 15 min); The Insomniacs (US, 2007, 11 min); In Twilight’s Shadow (US, 2008, 12 min); Trophy (US, 2008, 11 min); The Touch (US, 2008, 8 min)