The Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (MGLFF), celebrating 14 years as one of the top LGBT Film Festivals in the country, has built an international reputation for bringing premiere LGBT films to South Florida. This year’s ten-day Festival will run April 27-May 6, 2012 with screening locations in Miami Beach and Coral Gables.
The Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (MGLFF), celebrating 14 years as one of the top LGBT Film Festivals in the country, has built an international reputation for bringing premiere LGBT films to South Florida. This year’s ten-day Festival will run April 27-May 6, 2012 with screening locations in Miami Beach and Coral Gables.
The MGLFF will feature more than 65 films with 15 countries represented from around the world, including short films, documentaries and feature-length movies that support the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. As one of the first LGBT Film Festivals of the calendar year, the MGLFF will be showcasing several films never before screened.
At this year’s opening night reception on Friday, April 27, the MGLFF will be presenting the inaugural Lavender Heart Award to country singer Chely Wright, and the Angel Award to former board member Mark “MarkyG” Gilbert.
The Lavender Heart Award was created by the MGLFF to recognize an LGBT individual in the arts/entertainment industry who has demonstrated extreme acts of courage while promoting the LGBT community in a positive manner. Last year, Wright was one of the first country music stars to publicly come out of the closet. Wright recorded her struggle and journey through intimate video diaries and interviews with family members, her management team and key players in Nashville that made up her documentary, “Wish Me Away.”
The Angel Award is an honor the MGLFF gives each year to someone who has brought positive impact to art programs in the community and to the MGLFF in particular. MarkyG served the MGLFF board of directors for seven years and hosted radio shows like “South Beach Dance Party” on Y-100 and “Issues Over the Rainbow,” an LGBT radio show on the New Party 93.1 for more than four years. He is currently heavily involved in local LGBT non-profit organizations such as the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and acts as the Co-Emcee at the Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade each year.
The MGLFF will be hosting six special events that include Opening Night, Made In Miami, Men’s & Women’s Works in Progress, Friday Night Spotlight and Closing Night. Screenings will be held at the Colony Theater, Miami Beach Regal Cinema, Miami Beach Cinematheque, Coral Gables Art Cinema and The Wolfsonian Museum on Miami Beach.
For tickets, membership information and a complete festival schedule, call 877-484-8499, or visit Mglff.com
MGLFF Film Schedule from 4/27 to 5/1
Friday, April 27, 2012
Opening Night
“Kawa”
Directed by Katie Wolfe
A powerful coming out movie, “Kawa” is a gorgeously cinematic drama that tells a transcendent tale of bravery, love, family and pride. Based on the novel Nights in the Gardens of Spain by Witi Ihimaera (the author of The Whale Rider), this deeply moving New Zealand drama tell the story of a successful, businessman, Kawa who finds the courage to tell his wife and kids, his parents and his traditional Maori community that he’s gay, the struggle he endures is not an easy one.
6 p.m. Producers Circle/VIP Reception
8:30 p.m. Award Presentation and Opening Film
10 p.m. Opening Night Party
Please check Mglff.com for venue and additional event details.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
“Wish Me Away”
Directed by Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf
“Sometimes living one’s honest life is damn near impossible.” Or so it felt to award-winning country music star Chely Wright. Through sometimes-tearful interviews, video diary entries, music videos, and several of her songs, this touching portrait follows Wright through her public coming out, as she discovers the transformational power of living an authentic life.
1 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
“Gun Hill Road”
Directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green
An ex-con returns home to the Bronx after three years in prison to discover his wife estranged and his teenage son exploring a sexual transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test.
3 p.m.
Miami Beach Cinematheque
1130 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach
“Vito”
Directed by Jeffrey Schwarz
In the aftermath of Stonewall, a newly politicized Vito Russo found his voice as a gay activist and critic of LGBT representation in the media. He went on to write “The Celluloid Closet,” the first book to critique Hollywood’s portrayals of gays on screen. During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Vito became a passionate advocate for justice via the newly formed ACT UP, before his death in 1990.
3:30 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
“Ballroom Rules”
Directed by Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe
Placed in the competitive world of ballroom dancing, a club from Melbourne, Australia sets their goal to compete at the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany in 2010. This documentary explores the lives of several gay and lesbian couples, competitive or life partners, and their struggles to succeed in sports on the global stage. It shows the courage and determination that comes from dedication and persistence.
5:30 p.m.
Miami Beach Cinematheque
1130 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach
“Morgan”
Directed by Michael D. Akers
Newly paraplegic Morgan just wants his life to be like it was before the accident. A chance encounter with Dean in the park sparks a relationship. This budding romance is placed in jeopardy when Morgan decides to enter in a race as a wheelchair competitor risking his life to win and causing Dean to walk out. This pushes Morgan to the brink and has him teetering between what he wants and what he needs.
8:30 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
Sunday, April 29, 2012
“Celluloid Closet”
Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
“Celluloid Closet” is MGLFF’s retrospective screening and is a LGBT documentary classic surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of gays and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.
1 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
“Muppets Take Manhattan”
Directed by Frank Oz
The Muppets graduate from college and decide to take their senior revue on the road. They hit the streets of Manhattan trying to sell their show to producers, finally finding one young and idealistic enough to take their show. After several mishaps and much confusion, things begin to come together for them. This is a free screening for everybody and especially created for our “non-traditional” families.
1 p.m.
Miami Beach Cinematheque
1130 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach
“Angel”
Directed by Sebastiano d’Ayala
Angel, a former boxer from Ecuador, is now a transsexual prostitute living in France. In his first trip home, he is confronted with the harsh reality of his country and an ambiguous relationship with his family. Angel offers compelling insight into the complexities of identity and economic struggle while telling the touching story of a remarkable individual and her fight for acceptance. (In Spanish with English subtitles)
3 p.m.
Miami Beach Cinematheque
1130 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach
“Seventh Gay Adventist”
Directed by Daneen Akers and Stephen Eyer
David loves Jesus and wants to go to heaven, but he also wants Colin. Marcos was fired for being gay, but wants to be a pastor again. Sherri wants her kids to grow up to be good Seventh-day Adventists. All three are caught in the middle between the church they know and love, and their desire to be fully accepted for who they are.
3:30 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
“Men to Kiss”
Directed by Robert Hasfogel
Ernie is a buttoned up young banker who recently moved to Berlin, and is in a relationship with the artistic and flamboyant Tobie. Together they form an odd-couple relationship as they forge a life together. But what happens when Ernie’s female friend Uta — a trained Israeli secret service agent who will do anything to get her “man”— comes to town?
6 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
“Funkytown”
Directed by Daniel Roby
Its 1976 in Montreal and eight people who wanted to see and be seen at the trendiest disco will be juggling fame and anonymity until they will be forced to make sober choices in an era when excess was the norm, and when disco was king. Strong denial forces each character to make surprising decisions and to deal with the consequences that result.
8:30 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
Monday, April 30, 2012
“Leave it on the Floor”
Directed by Sheldon Larry
Sheldon Larry’s audacious, raunchy and big-hearted musical—with songs by Beyoncé’s music director Kim Burse and her choreographer Frank Gatson Jr. —takes us into the fabulously funky world of voguing. The setting is contemporary downtown L.A., where our hunky, homeless hero Brad is discarded by his homophobic mom. Out on the streets, Brad falls in with the members of The House of Eminence, ruled by the stern aging diva Queef Latina.
7:15 p.m.
Miami Beach Cinematheque
1130 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach
MADE IN MIAMI
“Unfit: Ward vs. Ward”
Directed by Carmichael, Edwin Scharlau and Penny Edmiston
Who is more fit to raise a child: a convicted killer or a lesbian? In 1995, a judge in Pensacola, Florida, declared the father, a convicted killer, was more fit; even though he did not know what grade his daughter was in or what school she attended. This is the story of that case and its aftermath.
7:30 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
“Habana Muda”
Documentary Director E. Brach spent three years in Havana filming Chino, a bisexual deaf-mute who works on a farm. Together, Chino and his deaf-mute friends and wife go over the pros and cons of Chino fleeing Cuba so he can join Jose. Jose is a gay Mexican who has fallen in love with Chino and is ready to help him leave the country and obtain papers to work in Mexico. Insecurity arises when Jose begins to wonder if Chino loves him or if he just wants to earn a better life and send money back to his needy wife and young children. As the months go by, we get to know each of the protagonists more intimately.
9:30 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
“Look at Me Again”
Directed by Dido Goifman and Claudia Priscilla
A road movie that whisks us away with Silvyo Luccio, (“I was born a woman, became a lesbian and am now a man”), who is now in the throes of transition. Before him lies a baking hot road through regions of Brazil marked with several encounters with extraordinary people. At the heart of his journey lies an anxiously awaited encounter with his estranged daughter with hope of a reconciliation.
7:30 p.m.
Miami Beach Cinematheque
1130 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach
“August”
Directed by Eldar Rapaport
This is the story of Troy and Jonathan, who reunite after a long ago painful breakup. A seemingly innocent rendezvous turns into an attempt to revive old passions. A rekindled romance proves difficult since Jonathan has a new beau, Raul. Forced to make a decision, will Jonathan choose the stability of his current relationship or follow his desire for a second chance?
9:30 p.m.
Regal Cinema South Beach
1120 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
We will print the rest of the schedule in next week’s edition of Hotspots. For more information, visit Mglff.com
INFO:
Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
April 27 to May 6
