Forget Cannes, South Florida has their very own film festival. The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, a critically acclaimed event, is based in the world-renowned historic South Beach neighborhood and screens films and videos in locations throughout Miami-Dade county and Fort Lauderdale. This year the event starts April 21 and runs through May 1. Below is a preview of films you won’t want to miss, so plan accordingly.
Thursday, April 21
Metrosexuality
7 p.m. at The Colony
This unapologetic gay sports movie sets a new standard for gender rules and gay camp comedy.
Friday, April 22
You Should Meet My Son
7:15 p.m. at Regal 18
What happens when a conservative Southern Mother discovers that the son she has been trying to setup for years is gay? After the initial shock, she and her sister take a trip downtown to find her son a man.
Beyond Gay- The Politics of Pride
9:15 p.m. at Regal 18
Before the 30th anniversary, Vancouver’s Gay Pride Parade director examines relevance of Pride celebrations internationally. He travels to places where Pride is steeped in protest to experience the powerful oppression that still exists.
Saturday, April 23
Kink Crusaders
5:45 p.m. at Regal 18
This film tracks the 2008 IML leather contest held in Chicago. It weaves snippets of legend, shots of past IML weekends, clips of seminars, crowd shots and emotions from contestants and spectators.
The Advocate for Fagdom
11:30 p.m. at Regal 11
This energetic documentary explores the often controversial body of work of Bruce LeBruce. The filmmaker, who is lauded by John Waters, has spent his career challenging mainstream assumptions of sexuality.
All Boys
11:45 p.m. at Regal 18
All Boys is a documentary about the Czech twink porn industry and concentrates on the lives of four individuals – producer Dan Komar and three of his stars — especially young and homeless Ruda, and their stories.
Sunday, April 24
Marylou
3:15 p.m. at Regal 18
Join Meir as he embarks on a journey to discover what happened to the Mother who left him at age ten and along the way finds his inner drag queen. Meir moves to Tel Aviv and once settled in begins to blossom.
Diagnosing Difference
5:15 p.m. at Regal 11
How does it feel to have your gender identity included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders? Diagnosing Differences answers this question through interviews with scholars, activists, and artists who identify on the trans spectrum about the impact and implications of the Gender Identity Disorder (GID) on their lives.
Rock Hudson : Dark and Handsome Stranger
3 p.m. at| Regal 11
Rock Hudson was one of Hollywood’s manliest leading men caught between heterosexual Hollywood and his life as a gay man. This documentary film shares with us candid interviews, historical footage of his career and his importance of becoming the face of AIDS when he publicly admitted to having contracted the disease.
Monday, April 25
Sex in an Epidemic
9 p.m. at Regal 11
By focusing specifically on the need for honest comprehensive sex education, this engaging documentary provides a sociocultural perspective on the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its ongoing impact on the most effected populations.
Tuesday April 26
Earwig
7-11 p.m. at 1111 Lincoln Road, 7th Floor garage
An adaptation of both “The Bacchae” and “Where the Wild Things Are”, Max is a closeted college student self medicating with recreational drugs in pursuit of an endless party. What he finds in the end. . .is himself.
Wednesday, April 27
What Happens Next
7:15 p.m. at The Colony
Two gay men from two different worlds find themselves on the same park bench. What happens next is all the neurosis and magic that makes a good love story. Wendie Malick (“Just Shoot Me”, “Hot In Cleveland”) lends star power and the necessary over the top Diva performance to ensure a hit.
